Falling....for Icarus

Once when I was ten, I climbed the big maple tree, in between our house and the neighbor's house to the left of us. It was a hot summer day, and no one was around to play with.

Climbing higher, I looked down at the lawn, the dogwood tree my dad had planted(that the subsequent dwellers cut down). I sat high above my house, feeling nothing but simple joy.

Then, a sound shifted my attention. Now instead of feet dangling, I was crouching on a branch of the maple tree. Looking to see where the sound was coming from(as it was getting louder every moment)....I moved away from the safety of the trunk, further out on the branch.

In a matter of seconds, my ten year old body flew, was in flight(along with fright), landing on my tummy two feet from the base of the tree. I could not scream for my mother, as the wind got knocked out of me. Never did I feel closer to death.

Finally, I rolled over onto my back, and started to breathe. I screamed something like "help", and my mother came to help me up. I saved her from seeing me on my tummy, out of breath.