Wanna Play Tag?
Although my legs were not as long as they are today, they were moving with great pace. I felt like I was flying. Running around the school yard made me feel like I was Usain Bolt. I usually had so much energy from sitting in history class right before lunch break. I also knew that I had nap time right after lunch so I always ran. Nothing ever stopped me from running during lunch time, until one day something did. It was a cloudy day, the leaves were changing color as fall was just around the corner. There was a light sprinkle of rain that made the black cement a little slippery. There were plenty of kids in the schoolyard playing tag, four-square or groups of girls gossipping about who likes who. I was one of many playing tag.
I was just 8 years old when I developed a fear of running around school buildings. I became scared of playing tag. After the incident, immense fear always grew inside of me when tag was brought up. Ever since then, I played four-square during lunch, built snow forts if the snow was moist and could hold its form, or played soccer on a clear open field. You even saw me gossiping with all the girls once or twice a week. In fact, I did absolutely anything except play tag near school buildings. I think I would have rather read a historical fiction novel inside the old, stale library than run in close proximity to a building. I also learnt to never run on slippery concrete. It is a lesson I will definitely teach my children in the future. I never want anyone to be in the same pain I was in, so if I can do anything to prevent it, I will.
It was September 27th, 2013 when I stopped playing tag, and it was one boy’s fault. It was a boy I really liked at the time. Chris Mentzelos was his name. Chris was around my height at the time, he loved all sports, he was funny, and he had the best family in the world. They truly were my second family. He was my first friend when my family relocated to Montreal for my father’s work. I loved living there, but having a friend like Chris made me fall in love with the city even more.
“If my parents died, I would move into your family,” I recall saying to him or his mother multiple times.
Chris was a triplet with two sisters, Alexandra and Victoria, who I counted as my sisters too. They were just like me. All very athletic. We always hung out. We played tag nearly everyday. If we were not trying to run away from the person who was it- we were playing soccer, playing catch with a football, or bouncing on the old rusted trampoline. Weather never stopped us from being outside. We were kids that loved any type of physical activity. Rain, hail, snow, or shine- we were playing outside together. There were often heavy snowfalls in Montreal. Many inches of it actually. When we played tag in the snow, the coldness was worth it. The rush of excitement I had when I dove at Chris and his sisters to tag them without the risk of getting a scab on my knee was a bonus. We also threw snowballs at each other to tag each other- that was fun!
Montreal was a beautiful city. There was so much to do. I spent most of my time outside, including when it was -31°F. Montreal was the city where I fell in love with hockey. My dad used to build a rink in the backyard. It was approximately the size of the neutral zone of a standard NHL sized rink. Although I thought the ice was amazing, it still had small cracks in it where leaves had fallen and frozen over, the lines were not super straight even though my dad
used a meter ruler, and the boards were not even so pucks flew over them into the neighbors yard many times. The rink was definitely a lot smoother than the slippery black pavement that I fell onto many times during lunchtime while playing tag. At least when I fell on my backyard rink, I did not end up with a lot of infected cuts and grazes. I only ended up with bruises that I also got when I fell on the rough schoolyard pavement.
Hockey was my winter sport. Tag was my all year sport- rain, hail or shine. Although tag is not really a sport, I still counted it as exercise and spent pretty much all my free time playing it, whether it was with my friends, my sister, or even my dad. I would get anyone to play it with me because I think everyone knew how much I loved it.
“We should go outside and play tag,” I always said.
It was always a statement, never a question because it was happening no matter what. I really do not know why I loved it so much. I think it was the fresh air that blew on my face, which made my cheeks all red and rosy. The rush of happiness I got when I caught the fastest boy in my grade, which happened to be Chris at the time. The thrill of being faster than most girls and boys in my grade so that I was always a target. Kids always wanted to catch me as it was something to be proud of. All of these things definitely made me enjoy playing it from kindergarten till around grade 3. I still do not know if I would have continued playing it if something had not happened to me or if it is sort of an aging out of game.
I would have never thought I would stop playing tag. It was my thing. Everyone has a thing they enjoy so much. Hockey is now my thing- tag was my thing back then. On September 27th 2013, it was not my thing anymore. The pain that I was in was something I will never forget.
Chris was it. He had just been tagged by his twin sister Alexandra, and I knew that he would be coming for me. I thought I was safe and that he would never catch me. He was a smart guy so he decided to go the other way around the old brick school building so that we would go face to face around the corner. We literally did go head on. Bang! Our heads clashed. I fell to the ground. I screamed.
“My head! Chris, why would you do that to me?!” I exclaimed.
I had buckets of tears run down my face and my head pounded like I had just got hit by Muhammad Ali. I remember that day so clearly. Chris and I both cried on the slippery pavement when a teacher came up to us and brought us both to the office. I got an ice pack from the nurse and got sent back to class because they believed I was fine. I was most definitely not fine. As soon as I got to class, the lights were too bright, and I felt nauseous like I had just gotten off a twelve hour boat ride. I was in class for approximately five minutes before I felt the nauseousness actually turn into me being sick all over my first pair of laced up Nike shoes. It was so embarrassing. Every head turned towards me.
“Ewww! Nikki threw up Miss Jennifer!” one said after another.
“Can I take her to the nurse please?” Victoria asked so she could get out of class. Soon enough, I was sitting in the nurse's office waiting for my mom to pick me up. She had been called at 1pm and did not arrive until 1:30pm. Between that time, I had thrown up two more times and had the most intense headache one could ever imagine. It was like I had been on every rollercoaster to ever exist and immediately after someone had shaken my head trying to rip it off.
My mom finally got there, which felt like years later. She had to carry me to the car which I doubt she ever wanted to. I was quite tall for my age. I can blame my parents for that
though- I definitely got their genes in that regard. Once I got in the car, I felt another wave of sickness and soon enough I had filled up two buckets with vomit. My mom rushed me to the hospital. I went straight to the emergency department and as soon as I walked in, the lights blinded me so I put on my mom's cool 1970 style RayBan glasses. At least I looked sick being sick. My head continued to pulse and I was not getting any better with the Advil they had given me to relieve some pain. I got X-rays done because they thought it could have been a possible brain bleed. I was very lucky it was not because I knew how hard my head hit Chris’s head and then how hard I then hit the floor after bouncing off of his.
It was a severe concussion. I was not allowed to go to school for two weeks and was pretty much bed bound until then. Luckily I did not have a phone at the time so not being allowed to use one due to my concussion was not a problem. I was allowed to watch TV though. Good Luck Charlie, iCarly, Phineas and Ferb- I watched whatever was on Disney Channel or Nickelodeon. My mom did pretty much everything for me. She made me my favorite Vegemite toast with some thinly sliced apples at least twice a day.
“Mom! Vegemite please!” I often said when I was hungry.
Although my head was constantly spinning, I was relieved to take some time off from school. I prayed that no one would remember that I threw up in class. It turned out that they had not forgotten at all. Up until the day I returned to Australia, I was made fun of. Luckily, I was only at that school for two more months before we set abroad. I wonder if anyone would remember that day if I ever returned to Montreal. I wonder if anybody still recalls how much I loved to play tag. I wonder if Chris even remembers that love for tag that we used to share. I merely hope that everybody who saw the incident will proceed with extreme caution the next time they run close to a structure.
I never played tag again. I now have a fear of running in close proximity to a building. My head still hurts when I think back to September 27th, 2013.
~Nikki Sharp