Short Story Essay Example: An Open Mind
My body sunk into the couch. Silence was surrounding me and all I could hear was my own breathing. I thought about myself a few months ago… I looked into the doctor's eyes hopelessly wanting good news, knowing I wouldn’t be getting it. “Yep, it’s injured.” He said it with sympathy in his tone. An injured ankle sucks, and here I am with one. He was looking at me as though there was something I should say. Thanks? My lips wanted to move. Just say something to put an end to this horrid silence. Nothing came out as I sat there. I remember not wanting to stop playing soccer but what else could I do? I have lost hope; now I don’t know if I can get it back. I don’t want to further injure myself and that is not just something that I can forget about.
The couch felt velvety on my dry skin. I felt a tear wanting fall on my cheek but I was holding it back. My healed ankle is paler than the other. Staring down at my white ankle I thought about the decision I am making; leaving soccer forever. It seemed as though by the second I could feel myself sinking lower and lower into the couch until I was in a black hole of only my overwhelming thoughts. Before I could even control my own brain I was back in the doctor's office. Fear was the only thing in my mind as my face got paler and paler thinking that feeling of fear would never end. Suddenly, I was back on the couch and reliving that moment makes me realize that I never want to go back. I don’t want to feel my hands sweating as I powerlessly sat in the doctor's office. But going back to soccer means that I might get hurt again, multiple times.
Needing comfort, I looked outside. The green and orange trees blew ever so slightly. Watching the leaves go back and forth like a hand was pushing them made me lean back and close my eyes. I could hear my own heartbeat in my head. Finally, as I got rid of my thoughts, the wooden floor around me started to creek. I opened my eyes and turned to look at who's behind me. My nose is the slightest bit scrunched. After all, I was just starting to get calm. I saw my aunt standing next to the couch. On her slim figure I could see goosebumps. Her loose dress lightly blew in the air conditioning wind. “Hey, are you ok?” She said it so calmly it was almost as if her mouth barely moved while asking me. My lips wanted to explode with words, giving her the whole story. My brain stopped me and I started to overthink everything.
One foot in front of the other, she gracefully walked around to the couch and sat down. She put her hands on her knees and looked right at me. I had never faced something like this where I could just pour out all of my emotions to someone besides my best friend. I heard only my thoughts as my aunt was staring at me. “Well… I just don’t know if I wanna do soccer anymore.” I had a slight crackle in my voice as I finally told someone my decision. Her eyes dropped like a rock in water. My shoulders were plunging by the second and I felt like crawling into a hole. On my aunt’s face I could read the signs of sadness. Unlike before, she was looking down and not right at me. Her hand was running up and down the couch, her brain moving through things to say. Isn’t it amazing how just by looking at someone you can tell their emotion?
My Thoughts on What to Do
As her hand swiped up and down the brown couch the shade of brown went from lighter to darker and repeated across the different layers. “Why?” It took her so long to ask such a simple question. Finally making eye contact, I didn’t know what to say or do. Do I tell the truth, or lie? If I tell the truth I may appear weak, scared, or even hopeless. I sound like a quitter if I lie. Neither of these options are sitting well with me. My head started to hurt almost like I had just finished a complicated test. I felt as though my head was split into two sides, one screaming at me to lie and the other screaming at me to tell the truth.
Finally I blurted out everything. My lips were moving so fast I couldn’t even keep up with myself. “I am afraid that if I go back to soccer I am going to get hurt again and I do not want to get hurt again! What if I go back and I have become really rusty over these past few months?” Taking a deep breath I finished what I was saying and then looked up to see my aunt’s face. She is probably going to laugh at me or think that I am weak and pathetic, I thought. Slowly lifting my head and raising my eyes I saw a smiling face looking at me. My forehead scrunched up a little as I looked side to side. Why is she smiling? Sounding very cliche she said, “If you let fear stop you from what you are doing then you will never succeed in life. You have to have an open mind. Things will get better, just like your ankle did. You will have your mom, dad and I to be your support.” The corners of my lips curled up to my ears. Beaming, I felt instant joy. Now I know that I can always talk to my aunt about anything and everything. My brain pondered for the millionth time today. “Wait, so you think that I should go back to soccer?” Once again, I was very confused. After all, this is a very big decision that I could be making. “Yes! Of course you should! Just try it out and if you don't like it then you can stop. But if you never try it you will never know what the possibilities could be.”
I analyzed this pep talk over and over. Even though it took me a while, I realized that she was right. My face perked up and suddenly my shoulders raised and I was sitting up on the couch. “Ok, I will go back to soccer.” My aunt's face glowed up like I had never seen before. She now sat with her shoulder up. Matching mine, she was smiling from ear to ear. I blurted out before she could talk, “But only for a year and then I will see if I want to keep going!”
If it weren’t for my aunt that day I would not be in the position I am right now. Currently I can proudly say that I am the team captain of my soccer team. My aunt and I grew so close after that talk and I now know that I can talk to her whenever I need to. She has forever changed from my aunt, to my friend.
