The Girl

With the sun beating down her face, Akari stared at the goal post. Her dark chestnut hair was tied back in a high ponytail and beads of sweat were beginning to form on her forehead. She moved her leg back and kicked the soccer ball towards the goal, it hit the net with a loud thump and Akari cheered happily while throwing her hands up to the sky. A bright smile on her red face, she made her way to her sports bag which was sitting on top of a park bench. The sun was beginning to go down and Akari quickly picked up her water bottle before drinking the remaining water. Moments later, a shrill tone rang out in the silence and Akari glanced down, realizing that her phone was ringing. She checked the caller name and slid her thumb across the screen.

               "Hi mom!"

               "Hello, when are you coming back home?" her mom asked and Akari looked at her white digital watch.

               "Um... About 5 minutes, I'm just leaving the park," she replied and picked up her bag, walking towards the exit of the park.

               "Ok, I'll see you at home." Her mom said and Akari muttered out a quick goodbye putting her phone back into the bag.

               Her mother was a caring lady but sometimes, she was a bit of a worrywart. Akari's mother was from Japan and her father was from Australia, they had moved to Japan from Melbourne, Australia for a year now because of her dad's finance job transfer.

               There were no traffic lights across the park from her home so her parents always reminded her to check both sides of the road before crossing, Her eyes swiveled to both sides and she decided that it was safe to cross. The road was quiet that evening and there was a beautiful pink sunset across the clear sky. Moving in Japan has been a huge change for Akari. Here, not many people can speak English and the seasons of weather were different. Right now, it was August and the weather was very hot in Japan but back in Australia, the weather was the exact opposite. There were only a few meters left on the wide road and she quickened her pace.

               Suddenly, everything seemed to be in slow motion. A blaring horn rang out and Akari pivoted to her side. She found herself facing a truck that was heading her way and showed no signs of stopping. The headlights were bright and panic rushed to her face. Her legs turned to jelly and Akari's whole body was shaking as her mouth let out a high pitched scream.

               Everything turned black.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Akari woke up with a start, her heart thudding. She drew in a shaky breath and looked around the room, noticing that an IV was injected into her arm.

               "Akari?"

               She turned her head to the side and saw her mom looking at her with tears in her eyes.

               "Hi mom, what happened?" Akari croaked out with a raspy voice and a loud snore rang out in the room. Akari glanced to the other side of the room. Her dad was asleep, slumped uncomfortably on a chair while snoring loudly. Akari's mom quickly rushed to her dad and shook him awake.

                "Huh? Oh, you're awake Akari!" exclaimed her dad, grinning widely. Then, Akari was suddenly aware that she couldn't feel her legs.

                The doctor was outside of the hospital room and Akari could hear snippets of the conversation. Her mom was also crying which was probably a bad sign.

               "Spine... MRI... Walking... Vertebrae..." The doctor continued to talk to her parents and Akari stared at the white ceiling with paint chipping at the edges of the walls. The door opened and a male doctor with a balding head stepped into the room, her parents following him inside.