The Most Beautiful Day
I sat, in silence. It was the most beautiful day, maybe even the best day of the year. You know those days, where it is perfectly warm that you can wear a tee and shorts and not be too hot. A few white clouds paint the marvellous blue sky. The grass was the greenest you have ever seen. The gold sunlight gave the day a timeless feel. And the blood was as red as a fresh rose. So much blood you could have drowned in it. My body had already begun the stages of shock, I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, my face was as white as the clouds above me. And the pain, the pain was one of the worst I have ever felt. The kind of pain that you feel will never pass.
I still can’t believe the day changed so quickly. It began like most other normal Sunday mornings. James stayed at mine the night before, for no particular reason. We have been best friends for as long as I can remember, I gave him the nickname ‘Davo’ which everybody calls him now. I don’t remember one significant moment when Davo and I became friends, it’s just always been that way. So Sunday morning conversation starts. “What do you wanna do?”
“Dunno, what do you wanna do?”
“Dunno.”
As you can imagine we got almost nowhere. We threw around some ideas; basketball, footy, make a movie, watch a movie, watch a movie and eat food, drive to the shops, walk to the shops. And that’s when we had the best idea; skate to the shops. Something you should know about James is that he is an unbelievable skater, if you saw him you would think he came out of the womb with one attached to his feet. Me, on the other hand is a different story. I like to think I’m not terrible, but don’t we all.
“Here I’ll take the longboard and you can take the skateboard” I say to Davo. It only makes sense as he has way more experience skating and longboards are supposedly easier. “Helmets?” he replies with. “Nahhh, she’ll be right.” Mistake number one. “We only have old ones anyway and it’s not that far.” MISTAKE NUMBER ONE! If only I can go back in time, we have all looked back on a moment in time and wish we could change one thing we did, well this is mine. I would hold myself by the shoulders and say in a calm, forceful voice “wear a helmet, you colossal fucking idiot.” But nope, can’t be done.
So we set out on this amazing adventure, wearing absolutely no protective gear whatsoever. All I have to keep me safe apart from my cotton tee and chino shorts is a knockoff pair of conversers from Bali. James had it a little better, he decided to wear a thin jumper as well. Get that extra layer of protection. Something else you should know is that I live up in the hills, not a lot a flat roads, as the name suggests. This is not our first skateboarding adventure either, we’ve been on quite a few during our time. This one however felt different, from the moment we stepped on our boards. I’m still not sure how I knew or what the defence was, it was just different. Davo didn’t notice, good old Davo, so oblivious of what’s to come. I forgot about it though as we were chatting, laughing, reminiscing about previous nights. For a moment life was perfect. Then we pulled up to Baby.
Baby is a hill, it’s called Baby because it looks like an easy ride, but really it is your worst nightmare, just like a baby, all cute but it’s actually the worst thing imaginable. We stand at the top and look down, and just like always, it looks so accomplishable, Davo and I however know its secrets. Usually when we get to the top of Baby we walk or sit on our boards and use our heels as breaks. But like I sad, this time was different. “I reckon we can do it.” Davo breaks the silence with the second stupidest thing I have ever heard. “I think you’re right.” - The number one stupidest thing I have ever heard. And also… MISTAKE NUMBER TWO, for those of you keeping count. If you think about it the whole day was a mistake, why couldn’t we have just sat inside and watched do nothing? But who could waste such a perfect day?
James could see the fear in my eyes, and I’m not too proud to admit it. I was scared, I was so unbelievably, extraordinarily scared. But not James, James never got scared. “Here, I’ll go first and you watch, and remember you don’t have to do it.” That’s what I admired about James, he always respected my decisions and was caring.
James places one foot on the skateboard, faces down the hill, closes his eyes before taking one deep breath, and then attacks the slope. It’s an amazing thing to watch, if you couldn’t see the ground you would think he’s on water, think of a swan on a lake, but going 45km/h. He made it, he got to the bottom, and just as the road began to flatten a car backed out of a concealed driveway, James just saw it and managed to turn just in time to swerve around the back tail light, not quick enough to miss the towbar though, it took out his legs and I lost sight of him over the other side of the car.
I sat, in silence, holding James in my arms. It was the most beautiful day and I didn’t even care. The pain was one of the worst I have ever felt. The kind of pain that you feel will never pass, and it never does.