The walk

to our cabin

was horrible.

Hope,

very bouncy and happy,

led us down a steep path

through tall trees

that let in small patches of light.

“We’ll see the lake in a minute!” she said.

She moved fast down that path.

It was hard to keep up.

I had to wave swarms and swarms of gnats away, too.

They hovered in groups on the path,

not scared of me at all.

Like pigeons.

One even got on my tongue.

I was trying to pick it off

while I was hurrying to keep up with Hope,

so I wasn’t paying attention

and I didn’t see a tree root

that popped up out of the ground.

I tripped on it

and

flew.

When I finally landed,

skin had scraped off my hands

and my knees

and the bottom of my chin.

I just lay there,

sprawled on the ground

like dirty underwear.

And stinging all over.

“Eleanor!” Joplin shouted from behind me.

In a flash, Hope ran back up that steep path

and kneeled beside me.

“I’m so sorry!” she said.

“I was moving too fast!

I’m used to the roots now.

They’re tricky, aren’t they?

Everybody trips;

I don’t want you to be embarrassed.

Come on up—

we’ll take you right to the infirmary.”

“No!” I said

as she helped me up.

I looked at my dirty red scrapes.

I didn’t want to go the infirmary.

I wanted to go home.

I wanted my mom to sit me down in my bathroom

and wet one of our washcloths

with cold water

and dab it gently on my knees

and hands

and chin

until they were cool and clean.

Thinking about her—

I couldn’t help it—

I started to cry.

“I’m fine,” I said,

turning away from Joplin and Hope.

But I sniffled when I said it.

Hope reached to take my hands,

carefully,

and inspected the scrapes.

“It could’ve been worse,”

Joplin said.

“Last summer a Cicada fell out of a tree

and broke her leg.

She had to go home.”

“Oh,” I said,

still sniffling a little.

I didn’t think I’d broken anything,

which was good.

But—to get to go home! How lucky!

“Can you walk?” Hope asked me.

“Yes,” I said, wiping my face on my sleeve.

“There’s a bathroom nearby,”

Hope said,

“with a first-aid kit.

Let’s go clean you up.

Then, if we need to,

we’ll take you to the nurse.”

“OK,” I said.

“We’ll move very slowly,” Hope said.

“Sounds good to me,” Joplin said.

They both stayed beside me

as I limped down the path

ignoring the gnats

and avoiding the roots.

At the bottom

I saw a big, sparkling lake with wooden docks.

And,

off the end of one of the docks,

a floating trampoline.

I tried to imagine jumping

high and happy

on that trampoline.

But my knees screamed

when I thought about the landings.

So I ignored the trampoline, too.

And focused on the path beneath my feet.