When I look back on it all now I think that, well, I should think more before I race my bike near a cliff face. That sounds so dramatic but, to be fair it was.
I try to shift my position in the hospital bed but my knee throbs painfully. It had been such a wonderful day. We were on holiday at Pullorn farm in Cornwall. By we I mean me, my mum, my dad, my brother and my sister who, incidently are twins. We had been going to the beach nearly every day. My dad and I liked going fishing for crabs. We have very different techniques. My dad attempted to catch some crabs but as soon as a crab lashed out he jumped away in fright. Where as I just stick my hand in, feel about if I get a nip then I scoop up the responsible crab and chuck him in the bucket!
But it all changed in that split second. I had been racing my brother to the ice cream van. I was streaking ahead, beating him by miles. I reached the ice cream van and then I was past it. I tried to stop, squeezing the brakes frantically but they just wouldn’t work. I tried screaming but obviously that didn’t make a difference. But then I was over the edge falling down and down and down.
The next bit is actually rather crazy. It was like in one of those cartoons you get on the telly. There was a large stick jutting out of the side of the cliff. One of the wires from those treacherous brakes got caught on it. A big black shadow loomed above me. For a moment I thought of giant hawks coming to eat me up. But then I pulled myself together and realised that some brainy person up above had probably called a helicopter to come and rescue the "damsel in distress".
Normally, when you are dangling 50 feet above the ground with nothing but a twig stopping you from falling to your death, seeing the winch helicopter arrive would be the answer to your prayers. But not for me. The strong winds coming from the helicopter's propellors made the bike swing even more.
Suddenly it smashed against the rock face, I felt my kneecap shatter. The pain nearly made me faint and let go of the bike but I just managed to hold on.
And then a winch man was beside me, lifting me up onto the stretcher.
“You’re being very brave” he said.
“Does anything hurt?” he asked.
“What do you think?” I gasped raising my tear stained face to look at him. He laughed and I tried to manage a smile but it turned out more like a painful grimace.
“Have you ever dropped anyone?” I asked him.
“Of course not.”
I imagined the rope breaking and falling down into the wild ocean below, unable to swim because I had been tightly bound into a stretcher, and I shivered!
The next thing I knew I was lying in a hospital bed with an empty stomach and a very itchy plaster around my leg. The door swung open and my brother bounded in.
“Hello Lucy!” he shrieked bouncing onto my bed.
“Go away Max! That hurts!”
“OK, I’ll just eat your ice cream then.”
“My what?!”
“Your ice cream. You never got to the ice cream van so we thought we’d bring it along. It’s a 99 with flake and chocolate sauce!”
I took a lick.
It was good but it would have been better without all the trauma.
The End
My best friend comes from Monster Land. She is called "Albert" the Monster Girl. We do everything together.
Once when I was over at her house drawing, she asked her mum, "Mum, why am I called Albert?"
"Because you're named after Great Aunt Albert," her mum answered.
"But mum, it's a boy's name," replied Albert.
"Albert, if you want to change your name, you can go to the monster naming people, you can take Libby with you if you like."
So we set off to the monster naming people.
"Hello Albert and Libby, what can I do for you today?" asked the head of the monster naming people.
"Hi," I replied. "Albert wants to change her name."
"Why is that Albert?" asked the head of the monster naming people.
Albert explained that she was named after her Great Aunt Albert.
"Sorry Albert, we can't change your name," he said.
"But it's a boy's name," said Albert.
"It's because you're named after your great aunt so we can't do it. You'll have to go and ask the Mysterious Queen."
The Mysterious Queen moved into Monster Land long ago but nobody knows her name, we just know she is very beautiful. She has hair as golden as daffodils and lips as red as roses.
So off we went to the Mysterious Queen at her castle. Her castle was so beautiful with lovely daffodils as bright as the sun and roses as red as cherries.
"Welcome," said the Queen. "What can I do for you?"
"Hi, I'm Albert and this is my friend Libby. I'm here to change my name," said Albert.
"Fine, I shall change your name. But it must be changed to my name!" said the Queen.
"But nobody knows your name," I said.
"My name is Albert," said the beautiful Mysterious Queen.
The whole of the castle gasped!
"OK, thank you," Albert said.
Albert and I went back to Albert's house, skipping happily.
"Hi Mum, I got my name changed," said Albert.
"Oh, so what is your new name?" asked Mum.
"It's Albert!" exclaimed Albert.
"But your name was already Albert?!"
"Yes, but now I'm named after the Queen."
The End
