The gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. Also known as your calf. This is the source of a fateful moment one Saturday night in 2014, one of the most confusing and terrifying moments I have ever lived through. The night half of my family laughed at me while I begged to go to the hospital.
I was 12 years old. My mother, my older brother, Jalen, and I were watching Saturday Night Live. On the couch, wrapped in a throw blanket, everything was fine. I was cackling like a hyena at the last skit before the commercial break. Suddenly, as a commercial for an F-150 came on, I felt a painful knot being tied in my calf. I thought I needed serious medical care. I wondered if I could even last the 10 minute car ride to Summa Urgent Care. I doubted it. I …show more content…
Otherwise, I’m going to start locking my doors at night. But what made this moment so terrifying to me was the fact that I was laughing too. I was rolling around, laughing, and almost crying while trying to find the reason for the pain. And this storm of misery wouldn’t go away. It was as if Hercules himself was holding it in place, pulling it tighter and tighter. This Gordian Knot in my calf was killing my soul. To this day, the confusion, terror, pain, and leftover laughter combined with the dark room and bright colors from the screen, and the soft, tickling material of the rug make up one of the craziest moments of my life. I rolled and floundered around on the floor for a bit longer before my mother and brother decided to take mercy on me and tell me what was going on. A Charlie Horse. Something as common as a Charlie Horse, that’s all this moment was. My mother told me to stretch my leg and keep it extended at all times. At this point, my father and younger brother, Xander, emerged from the basement. Jalen and my mother, being the incredibly nice and wonderful people that they are, told them in tears of laughter what had happened to me. Then Xander and my father began to laugh at me. I was not laughing at this point. The pain started to subside. The crazy 5 minutes were over. Saturday Night Live came back on
I was 12 years old. My mother, my older brother, Jalen, and I were watching Saturday Night Live. On the couch, wrapped in a throw blanket, everything was fine. I was cackling like a hyena at the last skit before the commercial break. Suddenly, as a commercial for an F-150 came on, I felt a painful knot being tied in my calf. I thought I needed serious medical care. I wondered if I could even last the 10 minute car ride to Summa Urgent Care. I doubted it. I …show more content…
Otherwise, I’m going to start locking my doors at night. But what made this moment so terrifying to me was the fact that I was laughing too. I was rolling around, laughing, and almost crying while trying to find the reason for the pain. And this storm of misery wouldn’t go away. It was as if Hercules himself was holding it in place, pulling it tighter and tighter. This Gordian Knot in my calf was killing my soul. To this day, the confusion, terror, pain, and leftover laughter combined with the dark room and bright colors from the screen, and the soft, tickling material of the rug make up one of the craziest moments of my life. I rolled and floundered around on the floor for a bit longer before my mother and brother decided to take mercy on me and tell me what was going on. A Charlie Horse. Something as common as a Charlie Horse, that’s all this moment was. My mother told me to stretch my leg and keep it extended at all times. At this point, my father and younger brother, Xander, emerged from the basement. Jalen and my mother, being the incredibly nice and wonderful people that they are, told them in tears of laughter what had happened to me. Then Xander and my father began to laugh at me. I was not laughing at this point. The pain started to subside. The crazy 5 minutes were over. Saturday Night Live came back on