11.23

The weather was perfect, finally. I ran outside and picked up my bike, ready to go to the park. From inside, I heard a distant voice: "Wear a helmet!" Ugh, parents. I turned around and had to tramp all the way back to the closet for my helmet. I clipped it on and ran back outside, jumping the two steps down the porch.
I swing my leg over the bike and rip off down the sidewalk. I'm pedaling as fast as I can because I'm afraid I'll be late to show up. All my friends are going to the park because it's the first perfect day of summer, and the pool is about to open. Everybody's going to be there, and I'm going to be late because I had to take out the trash and clean my room first. Parents! I'm flying down the sidewalk now, my feet going a hundred miles an hour. I can hear the wind in my ears roaring like a hurricane. Maybe I will make it on time, if I keep going like this.
Except: I still have to go down Creedy Hill.
I brake hard at the top of the hill, breathing hard. The hill seemed to go down forever, and down there, at the bottom, was the park. Down there, the pool and the creek and the playground waited. Down there, kids were lining up to jump in the pool, to zoom down the slide, to scream and slip and swim. Up here, I had only Creedy Hill between me and paradise, and Creedy Hill was a killer. One time, I heard about a kid who tried to ride a skateboard down it and ended up in the hospital because he went through a wall at the bottom. The last time I went down the hill, I walked my bike. In fact, I have walked down the hill every time I ever come to it. But I'm late--the only way to get to the pool in time is to ride down the hill on my bike. So I take a couple deep breaths and push off.
Already, I'm going too fast, and I pull on the brakes, but it doesn't slow me down as much as I want. I start to see the houses as a blur and the road races under me like I'm riding a rocket. I'm trying my best to steer straight down the sidewalk and not fall over, and the whole time my ears are full of such a huge woosh that I can't hear myself yelling. All of a sudden, I'm on the ground. WHACK. I can hear my bike crashing down the hill, and I'm gasping for breath. I stand up and check that my arms and legs are still attached, and when I do, whack! I hit my head again! Right above me, there's a huge, low-hanging tree branch that must have caught the top of my helmet and knocked me right off the bike. I pull the helmet off and I can see an enormous crunch in the top. Man, if I hadn't worn that helmet, the branch would have taken my head right off. I run to grab my bike and jump back on the bike, not afraid of anything. I'm super excited to tell my friends how I survived Creedy Hill.