instinctively pulled his arms into his torso to protect his vital organs, but he failed to realize that his most vital real estate, his head, was leading the way and very unprotected. The right side of his face was the first to make contact with the ground. His right cheek struck a small stick, which opened a two-inch gash on his face as his body weight came in behind his head, acting like a sledgehammer driving his face into the ground. The small harmless stick sliced his face open like a rusty, jagged scalpel. It rolled under his cheek, ripping and tearing the flesh apart as his head skidded to a halt with the remainder of his body in tow.
The smell and taste of blood and dirt consumed his senses. The world was dark because he had not yet opened his eyes. He began to choke and cough as his nose and mouth were no longer taking in oxygen. Blood and portions of Flowers’ Mountain were being inhaled and forced into his lungs. He was still face down on the ground with clouds of dirt and sprinklings of blood flying about as he coughed and struggled to breathe.
He lifted his head to the sky and began to take air into his lungs. His eyes were still squeezed tightly shut as he mentally searched his body for pain detections. There was a slight throbbing in his face that began to increase with every breath, but nothing else was causing discomfort at that moment. His face felt cold as the summer wind struck the fresh blood. His body was telling him that he was okay, so he released the tight clinch of his eyelids. Gran was just steps away and running faster than possible for a woman of her age. The Colonel was not far behind. A look of worry and concern replaced the pure joy expression that he had displayed just seconds prior.
Gran wasted no time in bombarding Seven with a volley of ridicule coupled with worry and concern for the boy. She quicky grabbed Seven and brought him to a standing position. “Damn fools, the both of you,” she shouted, clearly defaulting most of the blame for the boy’s injuries to his grandfather. She performed the quickest of triage techniques and calculated that the boy was fine except for the