For a long time, I had dreamed of skating on rollerblades with a friend. Skating with Pit while he was riding his bicycle was cool, but not the same as skating with another skater!

So finally my chance arrived.

I met Sasha on our local web chat and he told me that he also had rollerblades.

"I haven't had my blades for very long," I explained, "so I'm not very experienced."

"No problem! I will teach you!"

So we arranged a rendezvous by the fountain in the center of the city, which is a popular meeting place for locals. Everybody knows it.

It was summer, and a very beautiful June day, with clear blue sky and bright sunshine. I was sitting by the fountain, drinking Coca-Cola, and looking at my rollerblades while I waited for Sasha. We had never met before, so I didn't know what he would look like.

Suddenly, a boy skated up to me and smiled. He had red hair and was very beautiful... with a fixed look, something like a teenage Shwarzenegger.

"Ivan?"

"Sasha?"

As I changed out of my shoes, and into my rollerblades, we spoke about various things, then continued our convo as we skated through the park. He was a good skater, but not all that much better than me. So I thought we could have some excitement! A race!

"Let's see who will be first to the stairs!" I laughed as I took off, and left him behind me. "Ha ha!"

But then something terrible happened. I wasn't quite sure what it was at the time, but when I tried to jump over a small stone fence, my wide trouser-legs became entangled and caused me to lose my balance and fall. Oops!

At first, I didn't feel any pain, but I was kinda embarrassed. I quickly got to my feet again and smiled at Sasha. "I won! Ha ha!"

We agreed to buy another Coca-Cola, and while we were drinking and talking, I began to realize that my hand was crushed. But I didn't want Sasha to think of me as a wuss, so I asked him if he wanted to skate some more.

"No, I think we should go to the hospital and have your hand checked. It might be broken."

"It's cool. Honest."

"Don't argue. I'll skate with you to the hospital."

Anyway, the doctor at the hospital checked my hand, and told me it was damaged. "I will need to put it in a cast, and you will need to wear the cast for some time."

So, now as I write this, the cast has been removed, and my hand is OK. I still have trouble with some things, like washing, cooking, and... well, you know. :)

I have postphoned my written exams at university until August because I was unable to write in July. And the oral exams are suicide for me!

So that's the story of my cast. Now I can skate again, but I do it with care, and I wear protective padding.

I hope you have read my story with some sympathy. :)

Ivanushka.