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Photo:
Tim
All
of a sudden the fear and terror of the
injury throws me into a panic. I feel my
legs shake and my heart pound
vigorously.
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Stitches
on My Eyelid
Woo
Young (Eric) Im
"Oh,
finally school is over!" I instantly reach out for
a broom and a dustpan. I am nine years old. I am in
my elementary school in Korea, and right now the
only thing that is in my mind is to finish cleaning
and go home. I sweep the floor with ease so that I
don't dust the entire classroom. From corner to the
center, it's easy to sweep daily dust off the
floor.
On
the other hand, it seems like it will take me
forever to finish the floor if I were to do it
alone. I look around to find someone to help me
with the floor. "Gosh! They are so lazy; they are
just talking and fooling around!" All the sudden I
feel so left out doing all the work by myself.
Meanwhile,
my friend Johnny tells me that we must empty out
the waste bin. It is just a blue plastic bin that
comes up to my waist. So, I drag it out to the hall
with Johnny. To get to the big dumpster outside, I
must carry the entire thing alone. Since the way
down to the dumpster is straight, I figure that it
would be easier to just slide down the hall towards
outside.
Johnny
wants to help me to slide the garbage box. I hold
the box firmly attached to the ground and begin to
push. Plastic bottom of the garbage box matches
well with the slippery surface of the tiles. As I
gain some speed while Johnny pushes me from behind,
I begin to feel nervous about falling down.
Just
as soon as I slow down to stop, the bottom edge of
the garbage box gets stuck between the two tiles on
the floor. Johnny does not realize what is going on
ahead of him and keeps on pushing me.
Due
to the sudden stop of the garbage bin, the top of
the bin is pushed over and I am seeing the sharp
bottom edge of the bin. Bam! There is a deep
burning sensation in my right eyelid. My right eye
feels numb.
All
of a sudden the fear and terror of the injury
throws me into a panic. I feel my legs shake and my
heart pound vigorously. I start to cry and I can
feel the big warm drops of tears rolling down on my
cheeks. "Will I be able to see?" "Will I be able to
live?" I am feeling very anxious because I think I
might not be able to see through my right eye. I
can't help crying because I don't see my mom.
Nobody is there to help me, but Johnny.
Eventually
Johnny leads me to my teacher to call my mom. The
result is 8 stitches, which lasted over 4 weeks
plus antibacterial treatment. This is my early
childhood memory, which still gives me shivers
sometimes because I could have lost my sight that
day at school.
More
Childhood Memories:
Big
Kids
| Toboggan
Rush
| My
Spot
| The
Good Ol' Days
Racing
the Cars
| The
Dog I Teased
| The
Last Days for My
Grandpa
First
Time Being a Big
Sister
| Bike
Riding
| Snow
Trek
Thoughts
about Music: Music
Uncomfortable
Moments:
Santa,
Where's My Mommy
| My
Drowning
Experience
| Little
Green Alien?
My
First Kiss
| First
Kiss
Return
to: Students
Stories
| Teacher's
Comments
| Issue
24
| Home
Page
TOPICS
Online Magazine
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- Sandy and Thomas Peters
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