Disastrous Competitions

When I was about 12 years old, my friend Megan and I, were walking on a trail by my house, when suddenly we spotted one of those playground merry-go-rounds. We were both really excited, because they have been taken out of a ton of playgrounds, because they are so dangerous. That thought, of course, did not occur to us when we decided that it would be so much fun to go play on it. It started out as just two people having a really good time sitting on the playground merry-go-round, but it turned into a competition. When you think about it, doesn’t everything people do turn into a competition in one way or another? Whether it is playing sports, or who got the better grade, nothing in life can just be simple.

Megan and I had the brilliant idea, that it would be lots of fun to see how fast we can spin the playground merry-go-round, with one of us on it, and then see how far we can jump off of it, while it’s spinning. Well, come to think of it, the idea came from Megan alone, but being the competitive person I am, I joined in on the idea. Megan decided that she would go first, so she sat down on the playground merry-go-round, and I spun her as fast as I could, until I eventually became very dizzy. The next thing I knew, Megan was standing up on the equipment, while it was spinning, and I see her jump off. She flew off that thing so far, I couldn’t believe it! My competitive nature kicked in, when I jumped onto the merry-go-round, saying, “What? That’s all you’ve got? I can jump so much farther than you just did.” I should have known right then, that my cocky and competitive attitude when turn around, and end very badly for me, but of course, I never think about that until its over.

I get on the merry-go-round, and I don’t even sit all the way, I just kneel down, hoping that I would get more distance if I got up quicker. I know, that is the stupidest thinking ever, but who knows what is going through people’s minds, let alone mine, when they have a mission to complete. When Megan started to spin the merry-go-round, I got up really fast and jumped as far as I could. I ended up landing on the toy teeter-totter that was next to us, and got the air knocked out of me. I don’t have any knowledge of having as much pain as I did right then. I couldn’t even cry, because I couldn’t breathe well enough to start crying. When Megan saw me just lying on the sand pebbles, she leaned over me and kept asking, “Are you okay? What can I do? Do I need to call an ambulance?” I was finally able to get enough breath back to tell her I was fine, and of course ask her, “Did I win?”

I won.