Skate

Another experimental essay I wrote for my college writing class, topic being, 'extreme body experience'

 

My feet are precariously balanced on a piece of wood with four wheels.  My legs feel uncertainly wobbly, and my head is up, eyes alert, staring at the world in front of me. I propel myself straight ahead, uncertain. I instigate a rhythmic relationship between my platform with wheels and the sidewalk, my body moving in perfect sync as I pump myself along.  I am ready for anything that could throw me off, a rock, a crack, or a person cutting in front of me.  My heart is beating out of my chest as I approach the intersection, I kick the pavement powerfully one last time and roll out and await my fate.  A car whizzes by, I lose my breath, my wheels hit a rock and my worst fears come true. My legs lock up, all balance is lost, there is no longer the rhythmic balance between me and the pavement and I am propelled from my berth and thrown into the street. The impact is like being thrown naked onto a bed of sandpaper and being scraped across at the slowest speed possible. My platform with wheels is whipped towards the sidewalk, I pick myself up and feel the blood trickling sensually down my leg.  The fibers of my now-torn jeans are sticking to my raw flesh. I run into the alley and dodge into my workplace with busted pride and my face searing red, where I am greeted by shocked faces.  I burn from head to toe but I force a weak smile from my parched, numbed lips, as I feel the blood trickle down my leg; drip, drip, drip.