Reflections

Phoebe is participating in her school's Reflections contest. Last year she entered a piece of art. This year she has written a short story. The theme is Heroes Among Us. She went through several drafts. Each time I read it I would ask her questions about what she remembered from that day and how she felt. Each version had more detail. She finished the story yesterday and I asked her if I could post it here.

My Hero

by Phoebe

It was a hot hot Memorial Day in New York. Me, my brothers Peter and Cooper, my sister Sophie, my dad, mom, and my uncle Dallin, were in New York City to see the Brooklyn Bridge.

After we were in New York for a few hours we stopped at McDonalds to cool off. We decided to order something. We ordered an orange soda with ice. Then we left. Me, Sophie, Cooper and Peter were taking turns drinking the orange soda. Soon it was gone. Then we started to suck on the ice.

At first it felt good cooling off but I soon felt a lump in my throat. I tried to swallow it but it wouldn't go down. I turned around to tell my mom about the lump in my throat but I found that I could not talk! Suddenly I realized that I was choking! My eyes grew wide, they started watering. My heart was beating very fast and I couldn't breath  I was very scared.

My mom asked me “Are you choking”? I slowly nodded my head. Then she came up from behind me and it felt like she was giving me a bear hug. But she was actually doing the Heimlich Maneuver. The ice flew out of  my mouth. The ice went on to the street. I started to cry my mom gave me a real bear hug. I had mixed emotions. I was happy and scared.

My dad said, “Let's stop sucking on ice.” We all agreed. The nearest trash can we found we threw the cup of ice away.

When my mom did the Heimlich Maneuver she saved my life. If my mom didn’t do the Heimlich Maneuver I might not be here today. My mom is my hero.