Rought Draft #1

Joshua Rentz

ENGL 101

And So it Began

Voooshhh. The snowflakes clawed at his face, the wind clouded his sight, the night sky brought peace. And so it began. This was the instant before he caught a glimpse of death. This was the instant before the near death incident. They say in the instances before death you see your life flash before your eyes. But no actually believes it until they experience it themselves.

He sits in his chair, with his gaze afar. The terrors of guilt, anger, and frustration pull at his gut. His heart is cold. The menacing clouds squeeze out rain droplets the size of marbles, wind gushes in and out of the yard, with each gush new leaves and objects come in and then seconds disappear and it happens over and over again. He jerks his attention inside. The beige walls stare at him with eariness. Pictures from his childhood hang on the wall, he sees his youngest brother in all of them and wonders will he be in the future. He scrolls through his email, when he finds the email he was looking for he quickly reacts. Eager to see what it contains he clicks on the link, brings his chair forward, and reads through it frantically. It’s exactly what he wanted, he had gotten a response from an organization that could directly help his brother and his family. His heart rate increased and the blood began to flow through his body, this email gave him hope. The Love Your Brain Foundation had formally asked him to create a story that explained what happened to his brother so they could see how they would be able to assist them. The last line struck him “we need to know about your brother.” Excitement flowed through his body he got up out of his chair and walked briskly over to his sister and other brother. “They responded.” he said, “And what did they say?” his sister asked. “They want me to write a story explaining everything that has happened, they want to help us!” he exclaimed. “Well you better get on that man, we don’t got time to waste.” said his other brother. He slides over to his computer desk, boots up Pandora, plugs his earphones in, and gets to work. They need to know about my brother.

They left school early friday the 27th of February and were headed to Steven’s Pass Ski Resort. Josh and his 2 friends sat in the back, Eli and Daniel his brothers sat in the middle seats along Daniel's friend Aiden. And then up front sat Daniel, Eli, and Josh’s Dad. They had picked up some pizza on the way to the resort and were chowing down on the road. Eager to get skiing and snowboarding they all got their snow gear on in the car. It was turning out to be a phenomenal day, 36 degrees and sunny, you can’t ask for any better ski conditions than that. They arrived at the resort and bolted for the ticket booth. “Can we get 7 all day ski passes please?!” said Aiden. We forked over our cash and snagged our tickets quickly, we clipped into our boards and skis and took off. As we took off down towards the closet lift we agreed to meet at the car at 10 p.m. Daniel and Aiden went up first. They were the most experienced of the group. They had gone down the mountain about 30 times the entire day. As the sun began to set the crowds of people began to bail out and head home. Snow began to fall, winds started to accelerate, and the night sky brought peace over the mountain. And so it began. He took off from a snow bank the snowflakes clawed at his face, the wind clouded his sight, and then there it was an element that would alter his life and the ones around him forever. A frozen over stream sat in between him and where he had to go, he thought that his elevation would give him an advantage and he would be able to cross with his friend but it was too late. The darkness had come.

Josh and his two friends were next up the ski lift. From their seat they could see Daniel and his buddy snickering away. The guys all started adjusting their equipment on the chair lift. They tighten their boots, pulled together their bindings, wiped clean their goggles, and finally slipped on their gloves and sealed them off. The chair had finally reached the top of the mountain. Josh and his best friends slid off the chair and scooted over to a clearing where they could make their final adjustments before the long day of skiing and snowboarding. “Alright boys let’s shred!” “Woooohhhh!” they all yelled. And they were off. The sun began to set and the mountain was theirs. Snow began to fall, winds started to accelerate, and the night sky brought peace over the mountain. And so it began. They took off from the peak snowflakes clawed at their faces, the wind clouded their sight, and as they cruised down the mountain they saw a frozen over stream next to the stream sat two ski patrol officers and two kids one lying on the floor and one kneeling next to him. They continued down the mountain unaware that that was his brother and friend. The clock ticked closer and closer to ten o'clock. But once they reached the bottom of the mountain Josh couldn't find his phone. His friends suggested to check the lost and found, they plowed their way through the snow towards the lost and found. The lady was just closing up shop, Josh tapped on the window lightly careful to not startle the old lady. She looked up and smiled, she slid open the window and asked “How can I help you lads?”. Josh responded “Hi ma’am sorry to bother you but I seem to have lost my phone up on the mountain, has anyone dropped off a small white phone?” She said “Let me check here hun, what’s your name?”, “The names Josh Rentz”, “Okay let's see what this comes up with.” she stated. “Umm would you happen to have a brother Josh?” she asked, “Yea I got two younger brothers, Eli and Daniel. Why?” he said. “Come with me now, we don’t have your phone and your brother is seriously hurt!” she said tears rolling down the sides of her cheeks. Josh and his friends noticed the tears and knew it couldn't be good. And so it began. The darkness had come.

Daniel was being airlifted out of the area to seek immediate medical attention at Harborview Medical Center. They rush over to Seattle which was a good 3 hours out of their way. Eli calls their mother who was about an hour away to meet them there immediately. After many many hours of excruciating silence and the spooky sounds of the hospital. An official comes out and greets the family and friends. “Daniel has been scanned and is currently having more images developed. We have concluded from the images we have gathered that he has dislocated his left shoulder, fractured his nose, fractured the bones around his left eye, his brain has internal bleeding he was born with an  AVM which has exploded, he is bleeding in the middle of his brain and on the left side, along with that he has many blood clots throughout his brain. He is also in a coma and has lost all ability to move the entire left side of his body. I’m so sorry. We are doing everything we can.”. And so it began.

Josh is back on his computer wrapping up the letter to the Foundation. He types hurriedly because the sooner he gets his message out the sooner they receive help. ‘He is now on his road to recovery, he is attending rigorous physical, speech, and occupational therapy.’ He then finishes it off, ‘I know I may not be somebody but my little brother is definitely somebody. He is an incredible 14 year old, he is one of the fastest freshman cross-country runners, an amazingly talented violinist, a very very smart A honor roll student, a sailor, a fitness freak, a great skier, a dedicated friend, and the most supportive, challenging, awesome, goofy little brother. If you could take some time and share my brothers story it would be immensely appreciated, he needs motivation and he needs stories he can relate to for he can see that he WILL be okay and WILL recover with determination and dedication. Thank you so much for your support and kindness’

“Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, sometimes in unexpected ways” - Rowling. Daniel has made a miraculous and amazing recovery, he can move the his entire body, he is back in school, he is back sailing and has now learned how to play the guitar. He continues to prove others wrong and defy what people tell him. And so it began. The light had come.