CHAPTER 7

BEAM DISASTER

The fear and dread Sofia had been carrying for days slammed into her. She had to do the beam. Except she couldn’t. She knew she couldn’t.

Somehow Sofia found herself on the mat. The beam loomed in front of her. Her breath came in gasps. She couldn’t feel her hands.

“Athlete, please begin,” the head judge spoke into the microphone. A mechanical beep sounded through the gym, signaling the start of judging.

Sofia felt like she was trapped in her nightmare. She was going to fall. She could sense it. She stared at the beam, and all she could see was her head hitting it.

Move! Sofia screamed inside herself. You can’t let your team down. You can’t let Coach Jackson down. Move! Everyone is counting on you.

“Go, Sofia!” someone shouted behind her.

The music started, and Sofia forced herself to walk forward.

Get on the beam, she ordered herself. Get on.

She was supposed to run forward and jump up to mount the beam. But her wooden legs wouldn’t do that. There was no way.

Sofia walked forward like a robot. Panicky, she tried to scramble up onto the beam. It was a move she hadn’t used since she was a five-year-old novice.

Sofia’s ragged breathing seemed to echo in the gym. She fumbled with the beam, one leg up on it and the other foot still on the ground. She grunted, then fell to the mat with a thud.

“Sofia?” someone said quietly beside her.

Sofia looked up. Coach Jackson stood there. The coach slipped a strong hand under Sofia’s arm and hoisted her to her feet.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Are you sick?”

Sofia looked up at her coach’s concerned face. She opened her mouth, then closed it.

Finally, she made the words come out—words she’d needed to say since her injury.

“I need help,” she croaked.

Coach Jackson put her arm around Sofia’s shoulders, shielding her from the shocked stares. “And you’re going to get it,” she said. “I’ll make sure of that.”