Tanner Olsen
Falling in Darkness
Standing at the plate relaxed, concentrating, and feeling the sense of deep anticipation. Looking over to my coach as he signals me to believe, and to have fun. Watching the pitcher as he grasped the ball. As he goes into his progression my mind goes blank. I focus on the ball, zoning everything else out of my mind. Suddenly everything changes, instead of swinging for the ball I’m in the dirt. Then I’m floating in a dream.
I don’t feel any sensation in my body. It feels as though I am suspended above my body watching as everyone runs over to me. My body remains motionless as I stare at my lifeless figure. I yell at myself to wake up but nothing changes. The horrible feeling of maybe I won’t and I’m dead never to move again. I can hear a voice calling my name, but who it is my brain is unable to identify. I try to callback but my voice won’t function. Even though I try as hard as I can it’s like my mouth is covered with duct tape. After watching everything happen suddenly I hear a voice inside my head telling me to come back.
As I open my eyes I’m blinded by the bright stadium lights. The umpire, my coach, and my father are all hovering over me asking if I’m ok and checking for any abnormalities. They explain to me that I had been hit in the back of the head. As they check to see if they need to call an ambulance I get the chance to ask how long I was unconscious. According to the umpire I was only out for 2 minutes which to me felt like hours. After they determine that there is nothing immediately wrong with me they help me slowly to my feet. The moment I get on my feet I don’t have any balance and I feel sick to my stomach. With one more half of an inning to play if I sit we have to forfeit but if I finish, we win.
As I’m playing third I’m hoping that the ball isn’t hit towards me because I couldn’t even walk straight. Before the inning started the told me to try throwing a ball. The result was me throwing about 30...