Quoted Anonymous

“This looks not like a nuptial” - Much Ado About Nothing

For a split second hanging in the air, I could feel the forces of gravity drag me toward the packed-down snow. The knowledge that I had made a horrible decision swam through the pink folds of my inner thoughts. Something completely unexpected physically stole the breath from my lungs as my lime-green POC helmet slapped against the white “brick floor.” On the eve of the twelfth year of my life, there was no possible way to anticipate what would follow.The simplest of tricks gone wrong; years of training -- countless hours of practice -- for the whole journey to quickly end during an accident in the warm-up. Nothing could have prepared me for what happened and the delicate balance of life immediately thrust to one polar end of the spectrum. I dreamed for years of skiing that trail -- “Avanti” -- but unfortunately the reality ended in a ferocious crash. The ability to remember vanished in an instant--the same instant that spurred a neurochemical reaction caused by the harsh impact, which knocked me out cold.

The December day was stale, cold, and gloomy. Finally, I pushed my poles into the ground, broke the thin layer of ice, and skated toward the jump. On the first...