“Ouch!” my eyes welling up with tears of pain. I was sitting beside the orthopaedic doctor who was supposed to plaster my fractured foot. Going through check-ups and x-rays, my patience was wearing thin. The doctor desperately tried to convince me to get my foot plastered and he couldn’t help smiling on seeing me clinging to mum and insisting that my foot should be left as it was. It was two against one, I was out-voted!

I was sobbing every now and then as I was driven home. Pathetic! I couldn’t imagine myself lying down on my bed and my cousins jumping around the house and having fun. But deep down, I felt that it was all my fault — I had jumped down from the stairs wearing high-heel shoes.

When I reached home, I headed straight to my room, ignoring the worried expressions on my cousins’ faces. But deep down, I couldn’t help smiling to see myself being the centre of attention. Later that day, I heard loud noises and bangs. I figured that my cousins were playing ‘hide and seek’. A sad feeling washed over me.

“There is no sympathy at all,” I sighed.

Due to my aliment, my studies suffered a lot. My sweet brother used to bring me the homework assignments from school so that I could catch up somewhat with what was being done at school. I really missed the hustle and bustle of the afternoon traffic while returning home from school and the jovial atmosphere of my class. I used to chat regularly on phone with my friends and hear juicy gossips!

The only thing I ‘enjoyed’ while I was ill was to see my sister, who never used to clean her study table, would keep my room and things tidy and even smiled at me sometimes. My mum would also sit and chat with me. Even my dad had a few nice words to say rather than just “Study, study and study!”

As I started getting better, I was really happy and looking forward to joining the school. Although my parents and cousins were also very glad to see me roaming around, rather than just sitting, they stopped rushing to do my chores. I felt good to do everything on my own and not be dependent.

From this bitter experience I have realised that this life is a gift of God and we should try to remain fit and avoid being too careless about our health or take unnecessary risks.