In Her Own World
Her thin long black hair whips through the air as she plants her feet back into position after hitting the volleyball straight down the opposing's left side of the court. All she can think about is swinging faster and hitting harder. She is too concentrated on the next play and she doesn't seem to realize the remaining 5 players on the court. Although the bleachers are packed with adoring fans from all around the state, they are non-existent to Jamie. The court was polished that morning and the smell of evergreen mint still lingered just above the ground. The banners and cheering make it hard for even a deaf person to ignore but Jamie is in her own little world and no one is allowed to enter when she is in her world.
She serves next. She wipes her shoes on the insides of her calves so her yellow gum pasted court shoes are restored to their original grip promise. A forward toss in the air, 3 steps plus a jump equals a perfect jump serve. Her team huddles in together for a team cheer but Jamie is still in her world. In Jamie's world, there is no crowd, there is no team; only the ball and herself. She watches the ball as if easy prey to kill. She knows her boundaries of how far she needs to scoot up or how far she needs to step back without receiving any penalties from reality.
Lost within her world Jamie is safe. She has no limits but the limits she has already placed on herself. "Jaime!" a voice far away is calling her "Jaime! High C!" she hears the voice like a whisper in her ear and understands what she is supposed to do. She takes three large steps in a run, squats low with arms pulled back to give her more velocity for the jump, and she soars into the air. In her own world, all she could see is the ball. Her hand meets it and she can feel the stinging sensation she loves to endure on her sweaty palms. But, something within her made her sick.
She felt her body slowly come back down to the physical earth she was bound to. Silence. "Where's the ball?" she questioned out loud. No response. The sickness rolled in her stomach once more almost making her drop to her knees. She lifted her head and realized that she was alone on the court. Slowly she lifted her nauseous body until she was steady on her feet and then realized that the whole gym was empty. No one on the bleaches, no adoring fans, and no one there to tell her to do her special move.
Instead of the banners and the newly polished court, the floorboard was shredded into strips of chaos and the banners were hanging on the walls by a thread. The whole gymnasium could fall apart if Jaime breathed a little too hard. The queasiness lodged in her stomach began to grow by the second. Soon the pain became too intense her Jaime to handle. Plop! Jaime's body finally gives out and she becomes unconscious on the ground.
Time passes by and gradually Jaime becomes conscious once again. She finds herself surrounded by the perfect world of her and the ball. She dusts herself and gets back into receiving position so she can make the best defensive play. Jaime is stuck in her own world. She has no limits but the limits she has already placed on herself.