115. Black and Blue: Write about a time you’ve been physically hurt.
Soon after I was installed as a fresh-faced Clubmate in Saipan, a tropical storm rolled over the island. Most of the other Clubmates were recent college graduates wrapped in youth invincibility delusion, so my comrades who weren’t working piled into a jeepney to find the best place to watch the storm. I didn’t know what to expect nor did I expect any danger because I didn’t know what I didn’t know. The waves crashed so hard and so high that they reached the cliff we were standing on and as we watched this huge wave barreling toward us, we ran away toward the land. There was so much water in the broken wave running toward us that it swiped my feet from under me and then began pulling me across the lava rock toward the edge of the cliff. I was terrified in the moment and thankfully was scooped up by 2 guys but the relief of being alive was soon replaced by the searing pain of my legs that were shredded by the lava rock. I had bruises and deep cuts that took a long time to heal but I did learn not to play with tropical storm waves.
