Searching History

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Cameron gripped the bat waiting for the pitcher to throw the ball.  He was sweating profusely and felt a little nauseous from the 104-degree weather. His throat was dry and saliva would fill his mouth every five seconds.      His knees were sore and shaky from the previous practices leading up to the game. He could feel the bat slowly sliding down the middle of his palms, he didn't know if it was from the heat or his nerves. He could feel his feet sweating through his socks. It was a bit uncomfortable saying that the rocks and dirt would also stick to the bottom of his grimy socks. Then, he thought of the crowd's reaction to the great hit he could score. Their screams and applause would erupt in the stadium while he would drop the bat and sprint to first base.
Meanwhile, The pair in the crowd seemed to look at the scene with intense nerves. Elliot was chugging a bottle of water trying not to overheat. Claudine's leg was shaking out of anxiety while she wiped the sweat off of her face. Once the time came, Claudine and Elliot glared at each other waiting to see if their friend would hit the ball flying at the speed of light. The pitcher finally chucked the filthy ball towards Cameron, he flung the bat forward and time seemed to stop. When he looked ahead the ball smashed right into his face.
      He scrunched his face and waited for the pain to come. He felt the blood rush down his nose and he didn't care. Cameron blew his once chance of impressing his teammates.  He stared at his coach screaming his name while tears formed in Cameron's eyes. His throat was dry and he felt like it was about to close in on him. He swallowed, trying to make the feeling go away, but it didn't. His stomach was swirling, it felt like eventually, it would twist inside-out. The wind blew into his eye making the tears pour. Then he thought of how mad his parents would be, making the situation even worse. They cared so much about sports that it was starting to feel more important than school. He knew he had to get out of there to avoid the humiliation. He thought about how his dad would lecture him about how he "Should try harder," or "Be more like his siblings."
He was so caught up thinking about his parents yelling at him that he forgot to stop running. He collided into the gate like two pieces of bread in a sandwich. The momentum of the clash pushed him back onto the ground.
Once Claudine saw her friend slam into the gate she stood up and tripped over 10 flights of bleachers, slitting open her knee in the process.  Elliot followed behind stepping more delicately. He would tiptoe over the steps trying to avoid every possibility of getting hurt. Claudine felt her knee sting. She had felt this pain before but it still felt fresh at the moment. She rubbed her knee trying to reduce the pain. Her knee stung more after the filthy hands stuck to the gash.
Meanwhile, Elliot was moving at a very slow pace, still trying to avoid injury.  Even though he was conscientious he still ended up tripping on something. The stadium was filled with concession stands and people. She scanned the atmosphere until she spotted the gate. Elliot caught up to the girl and stood next to her.
It was a matter of time before Cameron's coach and teammates would make it to the area where his limp body lay. Claudine knew she had to get there before the lecturing started. Before she could start running again, Elliot grabbed her by the arm making her body tilt slightly forward.
"What?" Claudine grunted at Elliot with an annoyed stare. The blood dripping down her knee didn't affect her so she was confused why he grabbed her in the first place.
"You're bleeding," Elliot told Claudine. She looked at the deep cut and rolled her eyes.
"Who cares, let's go!" Claudine started sprinting still holding Elliot's hand. Elliot tripped over his untied shoelaces and stumbled back to his feet, slowing Claudine down.
    Cameron slowly opened his eyes while squinting at the sun. He looked around the field confused, he stared at the two figures running toward him. Before thinking of a reaction, Claudine and Elliot barged through the gate still interlocking arms. He stared at the blood dripping down Claudine's leg. The blood was tumbling down her leg at a fast rate.
The parents of Cameron stared straight at the boy's friends. The scene was playing in slow motion through Cameron's mind. He made eye contact with his two friends and squinted once again. By this time, the blood dripping from Claudine's leg dribbled on her worn-down converse.
    Elliot held out his sweaty hand to Cameron's face. Cameron stared at the hand with confusion. His mother slapped his hand back. Claudine glared at the woman and opened up her mouth to confront the woman.
Before she could get a syllable out her mouth was covered by a sweaty hand. It was indeed Elliot's sweaty hand that had been intertwined with hers moments before. She mumbled like her mouth was sewn shut. Elliot glanced at the struggling girl and gave her the "shut up," look. After a few seconds, she accepted the fact he would never let go. While Cameron's parents looked back at their injured son, Cameron sat up slowly still trying to adjust to the brightness change. He squinted his eyes for the fourth time in the last 15 minutes and finally comprehended where he was. Claudine looked to the side to see that the game was still continuing without Cameron, which made her extremely agitated. Cameron stood up with his knees still shaking in place and walked to the pair in front.
    Then a ringing sensation echoed in his ears. He thought it was just a side effect of the many head injuries he had that day. He knew it would stop at some point because he's experienced these types of things before. But it kept going, and going, and going. Until the world stopped. Every person in the crowd and in the concession stands stopped.
Cameron clenched his head in pain. The pain wasn't the throbbing sensation he felt in his nose, it was different. It was sharp, it had the uncomfortable sensation of nails scratching on a chalkboard. It felt like his brain would slowly collapse until he couldn't think anymore. He wouldn't want to die in a baseball stadium with hundreds of people seeing him suffer. This was the worst place to die.
  He scrunched his nose once again and looked to the side to see his friends doing the same thing he was doing. The sense of pain Cameron was blocked out with confusion, why were they feeling this too?  It was like the three of them and only them could feel this uncomfortable sensitivity.  Claudine was trying to keep her screams in, but that idea declined quickly. Elliot didn't waste a second and was already screaming bloody mary. Their faces were turning bright red projecting the pain they were in. The three of them fell to the floor in agony.
Their lives were flashing through their minds as a picture book read to children. It felt like they were re-living their life in the most unpleasant way humanly possible. How can this happen to a group of semi-healthy teens?