“Erik, Erik, ERIK WAKE UP YOUR GOING TO BE LATE!”
Slowly I awoke to Dad leaning over me, he looked mad, his face squints and turns red when he’s mad. Then I remembered, it was competition day!
“OH SHI…” I swiftly got dressed and got ready for the day. 9:15. The competition starts in an hour! The drive was long with little talk. I was sick to my stomach.
“Listen bud, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want, they uhhhh… have a bit of an advantage over you…” by advantage do you mean they can use both arms? “No, I want to do this. I have to prove them wrong.”

skrrrrt... The car came to a halt. It didn’t run as smoothly as it used to after the crash. As I was walking over to get my gear on, when the unthinkable happened, Hunter came over.
“Hey Erik, I’m surprised you came.” “I had to come back, not just to ski again but to win.” I said boldly
“you really want to win this don’t you?”
“Of course I do, why wouldn’t I?”
“Maybe you should sit this one out EVrmmmmmmm... We were driving back from a skiing championship for Norway, I won gold in the freestyle competition.
“Good job on winning first bud.”
“Thanks Dad.”
“How did you do it? Sorry I wasn’t able to get to the competition in time.”
“Double backflip corkscrew landing backwards.”

“Nice! So are you moving on to the World Championships now?”

“Yeah.”
“Hold up bud, somebody’s swerving into our lane…”

Everything changed after that. I wouldn't be going to the World Championships, I would always be discouraged by everybody around me, and, I would never be the same.

2 Years Later
rik, you are up against people who can use both arms ya know” said Hunter thanks for reminding me about that, I totally didn’t know that already.
“I already said I’m going to do this, and win.” Hunter sighed deeply.
“Alright, just don’t get upset when you lose again, you shouldn’t have come back and quit.” How much of a jerk could one person be. I threw a chunk of ice at him and missed by a little bit, I never mastered throwing with my left arm.
The ride up the chair lift felt like an eternity passed by the time I got to the top. I felt my legs get weaker as I jumped and skied to the track. This is it. This is my last chance. It was as if 1 million eyes were all staring at me.
I was stressed out of my mind. Everything in me tensed up. Even through all this, I knew I had to go. The crowd was all staring at me. Waiting. The track looked identical to last years' corse, two, long bends, and then a smaller jump, followed by a big jump.

This is it. This is my final chance to prove myself to, my friends, family, everybody around me, and most importantly, myself. The announcer called my name:
“Erik Peralta, last time here didn’t do as well and has well over 3 gold medals…”. There was an awkward silence because everybody knew the only reason why I didn’t win last year was due to the accident.
I started getting flashbacks to the crash as I was bombing down the hill. Memories began to race through my mind. The car, the pain, waking up to find my right arm gone, it all came rushing through my mind again. No matter how hard I try, I can’t ever forget. These memories were a curse. What if I fail? What if I crash? What if I let everybody down? What if Hunter was right? What if I became a disgrace?