Edie C.

A change in the current

Written and Illustrated by Edie Cay

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This book is dedicated

to Jesse Corum IV as I

hope he gets well soon

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Maple Leaf Book Project

Brattleboro, Vermont

Copyright 2014

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The raw November air gave me chills as it burst through the open bedroom window, nearly sending the light curtain flying off the bright pink curtain rod. As I sat on the window seat gazing at the sparkling sea, I thought about the water rushing past my ankles as it always did when retreating from the shore. I love how just when you think it is gone forever it taps you on your ankles to remind you that it is still there. The sea comforts me with its constant moving and sweet sound as I swim through it. Water is my home.

At 2:00 I could hear the clock tower. I had been sitting at the rustic window seat for half an hour.

“Sophie, it’s time for swim team,” my mom hollered over the ringing of the clock tower bell.

“Shoot,” I whispered to myself, afraid of being late.

“Coming,” I yelled back. I slowly arose and skipped over to my chest of drawers. Inside I quickly took out my swim team suit and changed into it. The tight purple bathing suit was cold on my warm skin.

“Let’s go, we’ll be late!” my mom bellowed.

“Ok,” I responded. I shut my door, turned out the lights and darted down the stairs to the living room where I almost ran into Henry, my little brother.

“Henry, watch out!” I said just in the nick of time as I flung forward, hitting my foot on the the open bathroom door. My mom was sitting on the couch in the livingroom, car keys by her side.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Yup,” I responded.

“Let’s go,” she said cheerfully.

The brisk air rushed past my ears with a quiet noise as I stepped outside. My teeth chattered and my hands were in fists tucked under my arms.

“Wow, it’s breezy,” my mom complained.

“I agree,” I said, impatient to get in the warm car.

When we got in the car, the air felt even colder than outside. My mom immediately turned on the heat.

When the heat kicked in and my feet felt warm, I took off the coat that I had thrown over my bathing suit.

“I’m kind of nervous,” I said.

“Why?” my mom asked

“Because this is the second to last swim practice before our tournament in California,” I responded.

“You’ll be great honey,” my mom reassuringly said.

“Cookies,” I remembered out loud. “I need to make them to raise money for the trip!”

“I totally forgot,” my mom said concerned.

The car was silent.

“Can I work on them tonight?” I asked.

“You’ll have to. I’m taking you down in only a month.”

The rest of the drive to practice felt like it was taking forever.

“Come on, drive faster, we’re going to be late!” I complained.

“I’m going the speed limit,” my mom said, sounding irritated.

I focused on the constant, light sound of cars rushing past us out of the cold window.

The car pulled to the curb and I hopped out.

“I’ll see you at three,” I said.

“Sounds good, I love you,” my mom answered.

“Love you, bye,” I replied.

I skipped into the large building that stood before me. I felt a wave of happiness wash over me. Being in the water I loved so much, and swimming competitively, were the most important things in my world. The bright walls welcomed me inside as did the woman at the front desk, Melissa. I ran past the front desk, through the locker room and to the pool. There I put my coat, bag of clothes,and shoes in the corner and dove into the chilly water. Under water I could hear the sound of my teammates arms thrashing through the water. When I came to the surface, coach Kay was in front of me.

“Hey Sophie,” she said calmly.

“Hello,” I responded.

I joined into the other girls swimming laps. I purposely joined in next to coach Kay’s daughter, Katie because she’s my best friend.

Four laps later we were done.

“ Next, we are going to play under water tag. Katie, you’re ‘it’ first. Ready. Set. Go.”

Everyone dove this way and that for about ten minutes until we were all ready for a long rest.

“Good job, Katie,” coach said.

"Yeah," everyone chimed in.

"Thanks," she said.

"We have ten minutes left, what do you guys want to do?" Coach asked.

"Play with the little kid balls," Katie replied.

"Does everyone want to do that?" Coach asked.

The large majority of us wanted to so we threw the balls back and forth for the last couple of minutes until practice was over and we had to go home.

Coach pulled me to the side before I could dry off.

“Sophie, your kicking is getting really powerful. If you stick with it you have a big potential. Great job today,”

“Thank you,” I said.

“ No problem,” she answered.

I took my towel and wrapped it around me until I was dry. I pulled my clothes over my bathing suit and walked with Katie, my best friend, to the lobby where I found my mom and left.

"How was practice?"my mom asked.

"Good," I replied.

"Did you learn anything new?" she asked.

"No, not really," I replied.

"Well was it fun?" She asked.

"Yes," I said quietly.

"Do we need any ingredients for the cookies?" I asked.

"I think we have everything we need," she responded.

As the car pulled into our driveway my brother ran in front of the car and it came to a quick halt. He was always doing dangerous stuff like that. One time he even went into the middle of the road with his friend and lay down in hopes a car would come and they would have a chance to run away and hide behind a bush.

"Henry!" my mom yelled out of the door.

My mom was scared, but her feelings came out in anger.

As my mom was talking to Henry, I went inside to start making cookies.

The air was warm and toasty but cool enough to bake something and not make the kitchen too hot.

I took out the flour first and poured it in the measuring cup and then the bowl very carefully. I did the same with every other ingredient and then stirred them together slowly. I made sure to not knock any ingredients out of the bowl.

When the batter was ready I laid it out in small balls all over the cookie sheet. I set the timer and started to wash the dishes when my mom and Henry walked in. Henry was smiling sadly and my mom was the same.

"Are they baking?" my mom asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Do you want me to do the dishes for you?" my mom asked.

"Um, if you want to," I responded

"Sure, I'll do them," she answered.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

I set down the rubber dish gloves and bounced up stairs to my bedroom where I plopped down on my squishy bed. I was happy, everything was happy.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. The timer for the cookies was startling. I ran down stairs and got the oven mitt out of the squeaky bottom drawer. I opened the oven and pulled out the cookies on the shiny trays.

Henry ran by with a play airplane in his hand.

“Bam!” the cookie pans both landed on my bare feet.

That is when I started to scream. I didn’t stop screaming. I looked down and my skin was peeling off my feet! Fast! I screamed louder. It was the worst possible pain I could ever imagine. It was like sticking my feet in a fire. A blue, scorching, bubbling fire. My mom rushed to my side and drenched my feet in freezing cold water.

The cold made them sting. I screamed louder! In the background I could hear my mom calling 911 as my dad and brother raced down the stairs.

MY FEET WERE PEELING AWAY!

The next thing I knew, I was in the back of a large white truck with an EMT standing over me as Mom was crying by my side. The EMT was a large, burly man with beard, but I hardly paid attention to him. I was still screaming at full force and my feet were wrapped in freezing cold towels. I was on a stretcher and I felt like the walls were closing in.

“Stay calm, it’s going to be alright. We’re almost there,” the EMT kept saying as he shot painkillers into me.

“Mmmmooommm!!!” I kept screaming. Over and over.

The next several hours were a blur.

When I woke up. I didn’t know where I was, what day it was, or how long I had been asleep.

As I came to, I was scared. Looking around I saw a window with the shades down, white walls, and a small TV at the foot of the bed.

I heard in the background, “Sophie? Sophie?” As my awareness shifted more to the room I realized it was my mother’s voice. I turned and saw her sitting next to the hospital bed. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days.

Then my awareness shifted to my feet, sticking out from under the covers. They didn’t look like my feet. They looked like mummies, wrapped in thick, white bandages. Not too loose but not too tight. Wrapped with tender care. As I stared down at the mummies, I began to relive the moment and feel stronger pain. I restrained myself from looking as much as I could.

“Sophie!”

My awareness suddenly shifted again to my mom. “Where am I ? How long have I been here?”

My mom started to cry and images came rushing into my head. A baking sheet full of cookies, my brother’s airplane, a loud crash and then...pain: searing, unending, unimaginable pain.

“We stayed overnight last night, here at the hospital. You have a third degree burn, so we will be here for another couple days.” my mom answered.

The doctor walked in. “How are you?” he asked.

“Ok,” I said slowly.

“That’s great. We are going to try to get you home by the end of the week,” the doctor said.

My brother and dad came in. They had been in the cafeteria eating.

“Hi sweetheart, how are you?” my dad asked.

“She’s fine,” my mom answered.

“She should be able to leave by the end of the week.” the doctor said to my dad as he left the room.

As I sat in the hospital bed, fears rushed through my head. Will I heal properly, will my scars embarrass me, but most of all, will my scar tissue prevent me from swimming competitively?

“What will I do about raising money to go to California?” I asked worriedly.

“Do you know what, our church is raising the money for us.” my mom replied.

“Really?” I said.