LITTLE SALLYS NERVOUS JOURNEY An informative childrens booksuper

LITTLE SALLY’S “NERVOUS” JOURNEY An informative children’s book/super short story by Julia Allen

Little Sally Jones was a fourteen-year-old aspiring ballerina. She went to dance practice every day and never got hurt! Her favorite style was ballet, which she took nearly every day. She loved dancing all through her house, pretending she was a professional, until one day. Her day started out normal, she woke up, ate her cereal breakfast and went to school. Sally played with her best friends at recess and sat with them at lunch. Her day went on as normal, getting picked up from school at 3 o’clock and getting to dance at 3: 30. She put on her tutu, tights, and leotard, sliding on her pale pink ballet flats. Little Sally rushed into the studio to begin her lesson for the day. Shortly after warmups, they began to practice their dance which was full of turns, jumps, and kicks. She stood in the front, her best friend by her side as they practiced the super high kicks.

Sally fell to the ground, a loud thud was made as she hit the floor. Her eyes stayed closed as she laid motionless on the ground. Abigail, Little Sally’s best friend, had accidentally kicked her in the back of the head. The girl’s head throbbed in pain as slowly sat up, the lights causing her pain to increase. She gripped her head tightly as tears poured out of her eyes. Her mom picked her up, carrying Little Sally to the car. They drove to the doctor's office to look at her head because her pain was so bad. They got checked in and Little Sally kept her eyes closed and ears covered as everything around her made the pain worse. The doctor soon brought the two back to the examining room, “Hello, Sally, I’m Dr. Brain, and I am a neurologist. ” he said as he introduced himself. He shook her mom's hand before pulling out his notepad and pen.

Dr. Brain asked a series of questions, ranging from “What’s your pain level? ” to “Does it hurt to blink or move your eyes? ” These questions were then followed by a CT scan to determine what had happened. After a few short moments, he came back in with a sad smile. “I’m sorry, Sally, but you do have a mild concussion. Stay in your room with no lights or music for the next week or so. This should give your brain time to heal because it was moved around and slightly bruised. You can go back to school after a week of being pain-free. ” he continued. Sally stayed quiet, her head in tons of pain. She soon got home and climbed into her bed and stayed silent and near motionless for almost two weeks. After the two weeks were up, Sally was completely painfree and near normal. She continued to live her life normally for about a month until her parents began to notice small things.

Though Little Sally was pain-free, she just wasn’t the same. The previously energetic and outgoing girl who was as smart as she could be was now timid and uneasy, her mind always seemed to be elsewhere. The simplest questions began to stump her and she was constantly asking “Who’s that? ” and “What’s this? ”. Her parents began to wonder what could have happened, it was only a minor concussion, football players suffer much worse one’s and they’re fine! These common thoughts swarmed their minds. After another call to the doctor, they were informed that Little Sally had suffered a minor concussion with severe long-term effects, which is, unfortunately, very common.

As Little Sally became not so little, her concussion still lingered. The brain will never fully recover from a concussion; Sally being living proof. This small concussion will follow her every move from wanting to play a sport to getting a small headache here and there. A second concussion cause even more damage to the brain, like when you drop an apple. The apple will bruise the first time and maybe the bruise will grow or show up in a different place after the second drop. A common long-term effect that Sally ended up suffering from is chronic migraines. Sally grew up and lived her life normally as an adult. By the time she reached her fifties, she began to have signs of Parkinson’s which is a lingering sign of a concussion. Though Sally was fourteen when she got her concussion, she felt the effects up until she was 94. No matter the severity, a concussion is always severe.