The End of Summer, At the Start of Summer

It was the end of the school year. The air was filled with the joy of what was to come but also nervousness about the upcoming transition into middle school. We had just been let out by bittersweet teachers and were having a chance to say farewell and exchange contacts. It was time to play outside. It was time to say goodbye to some and hello to others. It was time to be a child goofing off in summer. That’s when it happened. I felt a sharp pain in my stomach as if someone had punched me but their fist gouged through my skin. It was enough to curl me forward as if I were on the verge of throwing up. This is my joyous end to fifth grade?

A day passed, I thought it was just an occasional stomach bug. Then it got worse. I couldn’t stand up straight when I walked. I felt like an old man with a cane. The only position that brought me some comfort was on my left side in bed.

I came to the realization that nothing I ate in the past two days had come out. My mother suggested that I eat some figs, so I did. It just led to a feeling of pressure in my abdomen. I heard a grumble from my stomach, except I had been eating normally. My parents brought me to the local health center. The doctor there was not sure what had occurred. I had two uncommonly matched main symptoms. I was instructed to go to the nearby hospital in Norway, Maine. The doctor there didn’t know why I was constipated; however, they had a theory on my stomach pain. I needed surgery. I had never had surgery before, I was nervous but the pain distracted me.

I don’t remember most of the ambulance ride. I only remember the hazy city lights as it pulled into Maine Medical Center. When I awoke I was in a bright room on a stretcher, my surgeon noticed and introduced himself. The hospital felt too bright. I was squinting looking up at him. He explained to me and my parents that he thinks my appendix had ruptured or as I like to say now, it exploded. I spoke to my parents softly for a minute and then it was time to go under. A teddy bear appeared by my side as it went black. I felt like a computer rebooting.

I woke up in a room with my dad by my side. I couldn’t move but the pressure was gone. It was explained to me that my appendix had ruptured with enough force to wrap around my intestine like a boa constricting its prey. I was lucky to have my dad staying by my side, I couldn’t get up on my own for the next two days. 

The smell of the room took my interest. It smelt sterile yet I could faintly tell that it had gone through a range of smells many times. After the smell lost my interest I began to start reading and walking with my dad. It felt as though I was intellectually growing while physically becoming younger, slowly losing the feeling of being eighty over the next few weeks. I thought summers were meant to be a fun time. The start of my summer wasn’t particularly fun.