Xenia A.

Kosteck
American Literature

A Tragic Re-awakening
In a simple, small town where everyone knows each other by name, there was a young boy
named Alan. Alan was ten years old and was just beginning to discover himself. He was raised by his
mother and father in their average sized house; he was always cared for, no matter what. He lived in a
neighborhood where he was always surrounded by friends and pleasant strangers, who spent their
afternoons playing games in the large open fields of glistening green grass. Alan enjoyed the times when
he would hear kids running around chasing after large birds or playing sports together. Looking back,
Alans home in those glorious days had a beautiful atmosphere. However, the town wasnt perfect.
Downtown was not the cleanest environment, but no one minded since everyone always walked around
with friends, enjoying every moment, and they were able to avoid that dirty space. But that was the
problem; everyone enjoyed the moment, but did not care about the unclean environment. Now, Beach
cleanups, recycling, and the control of CO2 emissions seem like useless endeavors compared to what has
occurred. Now those memorable walks from downtown way down to the sandy beaches are a distant
memory. The dirt and pollution has extended past downtown and changed everyones life.
All of the memories and happiness that Alan remembered, everything he knew about changed
instantly. It happened on a typical day while Alan was enjoying his favorite hobby: riding his skateboard
around town and trying new tricks. Unfortunately, one of his new tricks failed and Alan smashed his head
onto the gray pavement, causing a huge bloody scene. Luckily, or unluckily, Alan fell unconscious the
moment his skull hit the curb. Alan vaguely and distantly was aware of red and blue lights flashing,
blinding the surrounding crowds, while calls for help echoed in the midst of sirens arriving and taking
Alan away. Alan did not see the hospital communicating with his parents at work.They had no idea what
was happening to him; soon they found out.
At the hospital, the doctors rushed over to him, huddling and staring. The entire medical staff
took notes on what was happening in his body and the severe injury he had. Later, he was relocated to
another room where friends and family members could visit him while he remained in a coma. After

several attempts at trying to awake him from his coma, the doctors deduced it was a lost cause and
stopped trying. He remained in that comatose state for fourteen years. The young boy missed a chunk of
his life: he missed birthday celebrations, family reunions, best friends birthdays and graduations. He
missed going to school with friends, making new ones and enjoyed new experiences. He remained there
lying on the hospital bed. Nurses came in and out of his room. Parents and family visited him to keep
him company, hoping he would wake up from his accident.
All of the sudden, Alan opens his eyes, blinks and opens, blinks and opens. He starts looking
around to figure out where he is exactly. He hears the sound of the calm music playing through the TV
and the beeping of the monitors he is connected to. He looks at his arm and sees that he has tubes
connected to him. He hears the noises of traffic from outside and continues his way out of the hospital. As
he gets up on his own, he stares into the hallway for several minutes. Nothing remained the same for
those fourteen years that he lay in the hospital bed. His parents wanting him to keep fighting to be able
wake up and remember their son as a fighter; never did they think of taking him off of life support. He
gets up slowly and is able to walk out of his room. No one seems to notice that he has left his room and
walked out of those hospital doors. As soon as he walks outside, he is greeted by the sun's warm rays. A
slight breeze runs through his hair and he feels he goosebumps all over his skin. He sees couples and
families walking, enjoying their conversations with one another, seagulls flying above him. Alan takes it
all in, feeling like a new person and looking around like he had never been outside before. He looked up
and down, sightseeing tall buildings that shined as a ray of sun touches them.
Later on that day, Alan goes outside and feels relieved since he had been in a building for 14
years. He remembers the feeling of the warm sun on his face and the cold breeze through his hair. He
decides to go on the walk he used to take as a kid with his parents. He feels frustrated and foolish that he
got injured. He goes back to the place where he remembered the accident happened and he tries to
remember; he thinks about it long and hard but nothing comes into his mind. The more he walks around
the more he sees something is different in his hometown. He can feel it in his gut that something was
changed. When he sees someone coming near him, he takes the chance to ask what had happened here.

The person responds During the year of 2016, there was terrible pollution that happened here and it
spread all over to the city. Everyone tried their best by putting forth effort to help. Over time, they brought
in more people to help out with the major issue of protecting the animals that lived by the coast because
they were equally important as human citizens All Alan says back to him is, thank you for informing
me and steps back. As he walks, more thoughts spiral through his head, wondering how this pollution
could happen after being locked in a building for fourteen years. He thinks to himself how could he be
irresponsible for not being careful, for that one moment changed his life and he missed so much time.
Alan tries to find his way back to his neighborhood to see if his parents still live in the same house where
he grew up for most of his life. He walks up to his house and knocks three times, waiting until someone
opens the door. He is excited to see his parents reaction that their only son had finally woken up from his
coma. Five minutes passes. He is still standing outside. He does not hear any noise when he steps onto the
doorstep and puts his ear against the cold door. He does not hear any noise from inside the house, nothing.
He places his face on the door; it is silent. He thinks that it was strange. Usually they would always be
there, welcoming family and friends in, but this time it is silent. Alan steps back, walks backwards and
turns his back to the door. As he walks away, he goes up to one of the neighbors to ask if they knew what
had happened. Alan walks onto the doorstep knocking against the hardwood door. The door opens
instantly.
The neighbor asks, May I help you ?Alan replies, Yes, there was a couple that lived here for a
very long time with their son. Do you know where they might be or where did they go? They reply back
to him Oh yes! Their son that had been in the hospital for quite awhile. They have died awhile ago due to
being very ill. Alan steps back with a blank look on his face with shock emotions going all through his
mind. How could this all happen after being in the hospital all this time? He does not know how to react
to this news as he had planned on going up to his parents house, surprising them, and seeing their looks
on their face after all this time of his condition. As he walks out of his neighborhood, he sees a pile of
newspapers spilling out of the trash can and others on the ground that had been there for a while.

The newspaper reads September 24th, 2016: terrible pollution causes terrible disasters to the
coast line, infecting dozens of animals that live on shore and off.Most importantly, the citizens had to be
evacuated for a short period of time, so they wouldnt breath the toxic contamination for their own safety.
They were all being directed to local recreation centers and school gymnasiums to be safe for as long as
they could fight it off and take action for this major issue. The next newspaper that Alan reached for on
the piled of newspapers read October 25th, 2016: beach shores all cleaned to their best to be able to
release all animals back to their natural habitats. Releasing all citizens of the community back to their
homes, after the pickup helping to get rid of the pollution that had been lying around everywhere. It took
a month to have everything cleaned up and for people to get back into their lives to work and go to
school. Alan feels angry and upset. After being in a coma for all this time, this big disaster that happened
right in his hometown. He thought his parents had left town for sure, but turns out they are in the
cemetery right next to the church where he used to go as a young boy with his family on special
occasions.
Alan questions himself. Why? Why did this had to happen to me why me? Why couldnt it
happen to anyone else but me? He stands there sobbing. He feels like a waterfall is coming out of his
eyes. He couldn't take it with everything that had happened. He drops down to his knees and stays there
for a moment to catch his breath. Once he gets up from the ground, he is by the cemetery thinking of
going inside or not. He gives it a thought. He wants to do the right thing by going in and showing he truly
cared about them. Instead, he doesnt go in. He keeps walking his way towards town looking around to
see if the building structures have stayed the same since last time. Everything looks modernized and clean
to not repeat the incident of the great pollution. Alan remembers when he was younger and nothing now
was the same as it used to be. The more he makes his way through town, the more everything seems to
changed. When he walks down the street more he looks around him and sees the large open field where
he would always be when he was younger with his friends. He feels lost. He doesnt know what to do
next. He needs someone with him to give him advice of what to do. He feels dizzy, thoughts spiraling,
getting overwhelmed about what to do next. The only option that comes to him is to go back to the

hospital to talk to someone. But, he wants to bring awareness to everyone. Alan walks up onto a bench
where he could face everyone and let them know to make an impact to the town by picking up trash that
was left around even if it wasnt theres. He wants to tell people to make an difference every single day.
He wants to warn them them that everything would be evacuated. He wants to tell them that everyone
needs to take precautions so that this disaster never happens again for everyones safety. As he finishes
giving his input to everyone of what he had heard, he makes his way back towards the hospital. Once he
is in front of those doors staring at himself in the reflection of the hospital doors deciding whether or not
to enter, he thinks back if what he said was wise to say to the citizens or was it unnecessary.
Once he makes his way into the hospital, he feels the cold air conditioning hitting his skin with
goosebumps all over his body. He goes up the stairs, around the desk where the nurses were working. As
he goes up closer to the desk he introduces himself.
Im Alan, I've been in this hospital for a time in a coma, what has happened? The nurse's reply
back you're the boy who hit your head on the ground, and no one knew if you were going to wake up
again from your coma. We had a meeting with your parents and the doctors deciding whether or not to
pull the plug. But when you woke up, it was a surprise to us. Alan has mixed emotion. He doesnt know
whether to be sad that they are actually thinking of pulling the plug or just leaving him there lying on the
cold hospital bed. The more he goes over it in his head, the more he keeps thinking about it. Nervously, he
runs his fingers through his hair, walking back and forth. For a moment, all he can see is white all around
him. He yells, Hello is anyone there ? Nothing it is quiet. He walks around but he cant see anything at
all. He walks into the room and sees himself lying in the cold hospital bed. He is still hooked up to all the
machines. All of those moments, walking outside of those hospital doors, feeling the wind through his
hair and the sun on his skin, goosebumps all over his body, discovering the great disaster, seeing his
hometown become different in many ways, and discovering his parents had passed for quite some time
were overwhelming. The white all around disappeared. It was just a fantasy that Alan had. It was a dream
that he wished were real. He was just left there in his room alone, unresponsive in the exact position as
before; still in a coma.