username; Bettalong
name; Christoph
gender; Male
art/writing;
"The moment we've been dreaming of, Christoph! Finally! I would never have thought that we'd get to snowboard down any mountain! Well man... Ready?" Chills of excitement ran down Christoph's spine as the chilling air of the environment coursed through his short fur and through his coat. Ever since his childhood, the Goblin Gator had dreamed of snowboarding down the tallest mountain he had known with one of his friends. The two shared many dream goals - but above all dreams, snowboarding had always kept its place in their minds. Today was the day, finally.
Today was the day this long held dream would be accomplished.
"Ready as ready gets!" Christoph laughed off cheerily as the bitter cold snapped at his fingers.
"Ready then... Steady... AND WE'RE OFF!!" Christoph's friend declared - seemingly flying on the shimmering snow as the snowboard and its rider raced down the steep mountain.
"It has always been my dream... But... Well.... " An uneasiness steadily grew in Christoph's heart as the cold progressively got worse. "I've got one life.... I have got to make the most of it!" Christoph finally announced to himself, slowly giving his trip a start with a somewhat renewed confidence.
It had begun.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~What started slowly, however.... Did not progress slowly. Having only gently pressed the snowy ground for a start, Christoph's snowboard dashed down the steep mountain -- being so swift that Christoph barely felt like his body was really following the ridiculous speed at which his snowboard seemingly decided on. Tears involuntarily welled up in the GG's eyes as the piercing snow constantly struck against his eyes. Christoph gasped for breath as he tried to comprehend his surroundings in vain, forcing him to keep his eyes shut as his heart beat wildly against his chest.
"What have I done.." Christoph could only so regretfully think to himself as he constantly made brief attempts to get a good look at where he was even going. Despite the fact that he was able to keep his footing on the snowboard as he had practiced for this dream, the weather had plans - all but to make this GG's dream a success. By then, Christoph's snowboard began to hit rougher terrain - causing slight jumps. Much to his dismay, the GG could tell that this snowboarding path would no longer be quite as smooth as it had been when he started, and it would prove to be much more a problem without getting a good look at the world around him. As the snow harshly beat Christoph on his cheeks, he mustered up the last of his eyelids' energy to get a glimpse at where he really was. It wasn't quite a nice surprise, however.
As Christoph opened his eyes once more, he could only so shortly see the fate that awaited him as his snowboard hit a wedge-like rock that abruptly sent him flying into a series of pine tree branches face-first.
It was then that it all turned black......
..
"Wh... Where? Am I???" Christoph feebly woke as he gradually opened his eyelids. His eyes failed to return any images to him, this time. The GG could only feel a bitter soreness throughout his body - most specifically where his functional eyes used to be.
"Oh, he's awake? Ah, yes, he is awake.. Well, I'm so very sorry to be the one telling you this, but you got into quite a major accident, there. You're very fortunate to have been found so soon after the incident." A voice replied shortly to Christoph.
"I.. I didn't mean why I'm here.." Christoph meekly started as he tried to find the strength to reply. "W-where am I?"
"Oh, well you're in the hospital, of course! You might be staying here for quite some time until you can regain enough strength to be on your way again."
"Huh..." Christoph quietly set his tired head down on the dense pillow as he lay silently on the hospital bed. It had been a rough day to take in, and a new challenge was presenting itself in Christoph's face - literally. He would have to adjust to this new disability. It hadn't originally come to his mind, but a perplexing thought hopped in.
"I..I know I've gotten into an accident, but.. I had a friend with me w-who was snowboarding too. Is he o-okay?" Christoph anxiously asked in a barely audible tone.
"Ah, about that..." The doctor started. "I don't know much, but the rescuers who found you took note that they could not find your friend on the path they took. It seems likely that they're doing just fine, though, as the rescuers did not find any traces of accidents along your friend's path. It's something we can just hope, though."
"Oh." A sadness made its way into Christoph's heart. Something in him hoped that his friend was okay, but another something in him was angry and confused. If his friend was indeed okay, why had he not been there for him afterwards? Whatever the answer was, Christoph knew he would have to simply accept what has happened to him.
"Today. Was supposed to be the dream day." His eyelids gradually closed over his now dysfunctional eyes as he dosed off into a light slumber.
"The dream day."
Afterwards;
After having become blind, Christoph learned to use his other senses to accomplish things in life. Though he cannot say that he enjoys being blind, it has taught him to withstand the harder path of life. It certainly wasn't a lucky day, but Christoph still considers himself fortunate for the after effects, as not only was he rescued from the sight of which he could have frozen to death in, but he was shown great compassion from others during the difficult time - friends and strangers alike. He was gifted his sweater shortly after returning from the hospital by one of his compassionate friends, and though he cannot see it, he wears it almost every day. However, the trip has caused Christoph to dislike snow (and winter) immensely. Even when he isn't thinking about it, the experience itself has given Christoph the tendency to shiver even when the environment he's in is not cold. On another note, Christoph has never heard back from the 'friend' he's gone snowboarding with, though it has been confirmed that they finished their snowboarding trip safe and sound.
Despite the terrible snowboarding experience, Christoph doesn't focus on his blindness very much as something to dwell on. Instead, he focuses more on the compassion he's received afterwards, and so, smiles more often thinking that again - he was very fortunate to keep his life and to have been shown such kindness during the rough times.
