Falling Down The Stairs

I don't know.

That's what I always say when I'm asked how the heck did I manage to fall half way down a flight of stairs. As far as I remember, I was talking to Gang and Pepe. I hit the landing, and just as I was about to go down, my foot landed on air. The next thing I knew, my left ankle twisted, I was propelled downwards with both shins dribbling on the hard wooden steps, my face seeing the junction of the iron railing and the steps very very close. My left hand blindly gripped the railing and held on for dear life. Everything was quiet and I was devoid of thought.

The first thing I heard was Gang saying "Ags, Ags, Ags... I'll go get Nards." Then I heard Paolo asking me loudly, what hurt the most. I told him my shins and it was too painful to move my left ankle. With Paolo on my left and Pepe on my right, they both hauled me up six steps and on to the landing above. There was noise all around me but I couldnt' understand any of it because I was too aware of the pain jabbing on my legs, ankles and feet. All I hear was Paolo repeatedly asking if I could move anything. I didn't even realize that he had removed my sandals. Then Nards came, and he examined my ankles and my legs. Then he lifted me on his back and carried me the remaining five flights to the ground floor. Beng parked the car near the door and Nards carried me once more and placed me gently on the front passenger seat.

Two days later, when Leslie and I sat waiting for Beng outside the operating room, that's when I found out, how the others were surprised at what happened. They crowded around me on the landing and were all peppering me with questions.

And apparently they were laughing.

Hilarity at that moment was a foreign concept to me. (This is not to say that I wasn't uproariously laughing at my own clumsiness later on, when I was comfortably ensconced on my favorite blue chair with an ice pack on my ankle and both legs up.)

Oh well. I did say before I'm 100% klutz. Slicing fingers, falling down the stairs... the list goes on. Even my Mom says that she cannot fathom how someone of my age can be so clumsy.