Once Upon A Time...

Once upon a time there was a young 14 year-old girl who was in her last week of the 8th grade. She was anticipating the fun, end of year activities. But most of all, she was anticipating the summer.

The night before the second to last day of school, this girl went on a hike with her young women's group. Being the competitive type, she challenged another young 14 year-old to have a race down the mountain. (The winner of the race is irrelevant to the story...) At the bottom of the hill this girl's toe made the loudest POP you ever did hear. It was heard 'round the world. These young girls laughed and joked about how 'old' they were getting. (Ironic, considering the events to follow.)

Well her toe popped, which didn't really hurt, and she thought nothing more about it. The next morning she got out of bed and fell when she tried to take a step. Her toe was in so much pain! So she hopped to the shower, but the toe eventually got better to where she could put some pressure on it and limp to get around. (Being the second to last day of school, she chose to suck it up.) But, sadly, the pain progressed during the day and when she got home she showed her mother. Lucky for her, her mother is a registered nurse. Turns out she had GOUT.

GOUT = a form of arthritis most commonly found in men of 64. (Interesting fact: It is commonly referred to as "the disease of kings" or "the rich man's disease") Yeah, who's old now?!

Her aunt just so happened to have one of those black boot things. This help take the pressure off of the foot so you can walk. However, her aunt is much taller than her and the boot goes past her knee (which caused some challenges in walking). It was the last day of school and she had to wear this black boot that was much too tall for a 14 year-old and also was just ridiculous looking... but she enjoyed her last day of school anyways.

First day of summer came. Still in the boot.
Second day of summer came. Still in the boot.

Third day of summer - FREEDOM!!! Finally all this anticipation came to an end and she started to enjoy what she had been waiting for! At 14 you're too young too work, but you're old enough to go out and do fun things. It's the time of a young girl's life!

3 days later, however, she got a seriouly bad case of pneumonia.

So long summer...

(TRUE STORY)