I clutched the first rung of the monkey bars for dear life. My eyes were closed so tight, it was like I glued them to my eye sockets, my hands were shaking with fear, and the bumps all over my skin weren’t even goosebumps, they were far larger. Opening my eyes, I looked down at the sawdust. The thought passed my mind that I should just let go of the monkey bars and fall down to the floor. The ground seemed so far away from where I was standing, just like the distance from the Empire State Building to the ground. I couldn’t do this, I told myself. I was delusional, thinking I’d ever learn how to do the monkey bars. The cold, chilly air brushed past me. My whole body shivered. I remembered how excited I was when I ran towards the playground, how I knew I’d learn it today. Was all that excitement for nothing? A second went by. Then 10 more. Finally, I knew what I had to do, what I knew I had to do all along. Tightening my grip on the first rung, I felt my body leave the ladder. Now I was moving into an uncharted location. My eyes were shut as I swung my legs back and forth like a pendulum. Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down. Whatever you do, don't look down. I propelled my body and managed to swing myself to the next rung. My confidence rose as I did the same motion for the third and fourth rungs. My hands were no longer sweating like I was out in the sun for way too long. No, they felt like smooth objects that I could use. I couldn’t wait to go back to school. Finally, I too had mastered the art of the monkey bars. I was one with the monkey bars. Nothing could go wrong ever again.

 My mother was in front of me, sitting on one of the two red tables. Her smile boosted my confidence even more. What was there to be scared of? Nothing. I tried to wave at her with one of my hands, believing that my other hand was sturdy enough to hold onto the rung. Big mistake. My hands were jerked away from the rung. My feet swayed in the empty air as my whole body started to propel down. My mouth was open in an expression of shock. I looked exactly like a bird trying to fly for the first time. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact. BOOM. If it wasn’t for my right arm, I would’ve been in even more trouble. For a second, I thought that I was imagining things. Looking back to this day I could only imagine how foolish I was. Me? Falling! Impossible. I was just like Tarzan. In fact, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the monkeys mistaked me for one of their own. Then the pain erupted into my arm. Letting out a huge howl of pain, I must have scared off all of the other children, screaming like a rabid monster. I tried to move my arm. Even more pain erupted. “This.. this doesn’t make any sense,” I cried out to my mother. 

“Calm down,” my mother replied.

“How did I fall?”

“We can talk about it later.”

“Ok.” I was on the verge of tears. I was supposed to never fall from the monkey bars ever again. My mother instantly carried me up and brought me to the hospital, running the entire time, even though I could tell she was exhausted after a while.  I was crying during the whole trip there. I still couldn’t face reality. 

The next few days were part of the worst ones of my life. Instead of going to school boasting off my newfound art, I was showing everyone how great I was at breaking bones. As my arm mended my thoughts of me being the next Olympion acrobat vanished.  I was too cocky, thinking I was the king of the universe and all that. Even though it brought me a painful end to my illusion, I still treasure these days where I learned that I wasn’t perfect. No, I was far from that. We paint this image of ourselves that we are the best of everything that we do. But there is a reason why we are called human. There is a reason that every empire will always fall eventually, no matter how strong it is. There is no such thing as perfect in us human beings. No matter how strong we are, no matter how smart we are, we will never be perfect.