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A Day I’ll Never Forget...
By
Eddy Sanchez
It’s been nearly 28 years and I still remember the day that changed my life. I woke up, like I did every other day, tired and unmotivated to go to school. As a youth, I simply didn’t understand why school was so important. I just knew it was a place that every kid was forced to attend. I was fourteen, and all I wanted to do was watch movies and possibly talk to girls. My room had a small TV and a VCR with a stack of tapes resting on top of it. That morning, I woke up and looked around. It was abnormally quiet. I called my mom to make me breakfast, but no one answered. I walked over to my mother's room, and I noticed I was the only one in my apartment. My brother, sister, and mother had already left. I took my time getting ready. Afterwards, I went to the cabinet where we stored food. I started searching for a snack. After twenty minutes, I hadn't found what I wanted to eat. Suddenly, when I looked at the time, it was seven forty-five. I had fifteen minutes to get to school. I ran over to the fridge and grabbed one of those meal replacement shakes. I believe it was the banana flavor that was my favorite. Then I bolted out the door. I returned through the door a few seconds later. I rushed over to the bathroom and I started combing my hair. I had to make sure it looked right. Once my hair was just right, I ran out the door again.
To no one’s surprise, I was late to school. I ended up having to get a hall pass. When I finally walked into Mrs. Sheffield's English class, everyone looked up for a brief moment and then went back to work. Mrs. Sheffield gave me the look, and I quickly handed her my hall pass. As I was about to take a seat, my teacher called me back to the front of the class in a firm voice. Immediately the kids started making noises like, "ooh" and the very popular, "he’s in trouble." As I slowly turned around, my heart began to race. I faced the teacher, and I was just about to say something. Out of nowhere, the teacher handed me a book from her desk. I couldn't even look at it because I was too nervous. I was told to read the first chapter. She said that the next day there would be a test. I hurried over to my desk. It wasn't until I sat down that I looked at the book she handed me. It was called "Catcher and Rye by J.D Salinger." At first, I didn’t really understand the name, but once I started reading it, I felt like Alice from "Alice in Wonderland." I was curious and I went down the rabbit hole. I was lost in the book until suddenly I noticed that the bell had rung and I was the last person sitting in class. Mrs. Sheffield walked over, patted me on the back, and said, "So, I see you liked the book." She smiled and walked out. This was the first time I fell in love with storytelling. It was the day I decided I wanted to be a writer.
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