staircase.

my aunt's family lived in the same country as us, so we saw each other often. i liked her. and her kids. she had three, all younger than my mom's three. i always tell people she mixed up the order, cause her oldest is my brother's age, her second is my sister's age, and the little one is 11 years younger than me. in other words, i was excluded, not part of the adults, but not part of the children, yet again.

this was many years ago, before the little one was born, my sister and her cousin-turned-sister were playing at the top. of the staircase. no one knows what really happened, because everyone has different stories. i think my sister left, to be replaced by my brother, who stood behind his little cousin, guarding her from the steps. then, she fell.

she fell down the staircase, smacking her head, and jaw over and over again. i didn't know what to do. i froze, i was 11. my aunt screamed, by mother ran downstairs, noticing the blood on the stairs. two of her bottom teeth had been hit so forcefully they went inside the gum. once again, i didn't know what to do, except call an ambulance.

what happened after was pure chaos, and i can't really remember it, until the paramedics showed up. they were calm and collected, reassured my aunt and mother that she will be ok, and took my aunt and my little cousin to the hospital. i was left at home with my shaken mother to clean up and, as she ordered the rest of us, to go take naps.