Most kids my age would be outside playing baseball, basketball, soccer, and any other sport there is in the world. But not me. This is my fifteenth summer since I was born and instead of being outside with my friends, I find myself stuck in a trailer thousands of miles away from home. I still can’t believe this happened to me just because of that stupid accident a few weeks ago. I cross my arms and lay against the old couch that smells of cat litter. Closing my eyes I try to recall all that had happened to bring me to this pothole of death.
I remember waking up to the voice of my mom yelling “Alexandraaa!!! Wake upppp!!!” from the kitchen to my room. I groaned as I opened my eyes to stare at the alarm clock beside my bed. The red light kept flashing 5:30 over and over again. I can’t say for sure whether it was A.M. or P.M. but that doesn’t really matter. I yawned as I got out of bed and threw on the rumpled clothes from yesterday back on. No one really cared what you wore these days and I was in the mood to wear day old clothes, so sue me.
“Alexandraaa!!” Mom yelled once more. I walked over to my door and shouted back. “Don’t call me that!” For those who are confused, I do not like being called Alexandra for one and one reason only. I AM A BOY! You would think that my two parents, who are both college professors, can tell a boy from a girl and choose a right name for their only child, like John or even Kevin. But no. My parents wanted a girl with black hair and green eyes named Alexandra. Instead they got a boy with blond hair and blue eyes. Since my gender, hair, and eyes were not what they wished for; there was no way they were going to give up the name. So there you have it. I am the only boy in the state of Texas who is called Alexandra, but only my parents call me that, everyone else calls me Alex, and don’t forget it. Seriously.
Anyway, I remember waking up, getting dressed, and heading outside to do something. I can’t really remember what that was, but I think it has something to do with Todd Beamer, the biggest bully in the school. I’m pretty sure we fought in the outskirts of town. How else am I to explain the bruises the size of fists parading up and down my body? I’m not sure whether I won or lost but I count it as a victory considering I’m still alive. I mean if you had to fight someone who outweighed you by size and height, I’m pretty sure you would be the color of a penguin, white with black all over you. Now I’m not a fighter, but if you aggravate me enough, watch out or I’ll go Kung Fu Panda on you, which I believe I did on Todd. So there I was lying on the ground, resting after the fight, which ended after Todd ran away from my awesome and powerful moves, when the sky suddenly darkens and rain comes pelting down on me. The rain hitting my skin felt like a whole lot of needles sticking into me like a pincushion. I jumped up and ran for the cover of the nearby trees just as the lightning made itself known to me. And by known, I meant that as I ran for cover, the lightning decided to say hello by tapping me on the head and let me say this, it was no friendly pat. Next thing I knew I was face first in the dirt and my mind going from full color to complete darkness.
A few days later I wake up in a hospital bed. Now the people in the hospital were all very nice. This one nurse, named Nurse Susie, even played baseball with me when I was well enough to go outside. Everything was fine, people were nice and there were no bullies, although I would say that the food those nurses were stuffing us with had the power to kill a full, grown man, but I lived was pretty content watching bugs bunny cartoons and being lazy, that it until that first night when I had the first dream.
It was late at night when I suddenly felt really hot. Not the fever hot but the boiling water hot and it was really uncomfortable. I tried to get out of bed but found that I couldn’t. I opened my eyes and found a roaring fire blazing around my bed. I screamed for help but no one came. I started to cry as the fire came closer and closer. Then I woke up to Nurse Susie shaking my shoulder and asking, “Alex! What’s the matter?” Gasping all I could say was that I wanted another room. So in the morning the nurses and doctors put me in an empty room a few doors down, no questions asked. I liked that about this hospital, but what I didn’t like were the stares and weird looks I got the next day when they heard about my dream. You see, I didn’t want anyone to know about my dream, but the doctors forced it out of me. I mean they were like good cop bad cop and I was the criminal. It was either tell them why I wanted another room or be tortured to death with hospital food. Seriously, if I wanted to eat dirt I would have gone outside, it might have been tastier. Anyway, later I found out that the spark plug by my bed had overheated and caused a fire. By the time the fire was put out my bed had become ashes. If I had stayed in that room and taken those sleeping pills the nurses gave me each night, I would’ve been burnt alive.
