Disclaimer: This story has a happy (l)ending.

The softness of the sand and the spotting friend beside me gave enough courage to try it.

7 second later; when I fell from the backflip – I noticed that I confused my legs with my face, and ended up greeting the soil with my head.
“Uhhh, shit“

As I slowly start to gain some consciousness, I realized it’s better to ask first, shoot second – going all in on an exercise I know little about is not the best approach.
Lesson learned, hopefully.
But there was something blurry at the edge of my sight, particularly on the left. The second I touched my face I figured:
I broke my nose.

Luckily my legs were still moving, so I wouldn’t call it that bad, though this was the first time in 5 years when I ended up with an injury, and I wasn’t expecting to kickstart this career by turning my nose into a crescent.
In my head I was already laying on a table with surgeons all over, getting ready to sew stuff right back in.
But there was a strange symptom: It wasn’t bleeding.
Not a single drop of blood fell out of my crooky sniffer.

“Alright, let’s go to the Doctor” – said the Alpha
*using my phone’s screen as a mirror*
“Nooooo waay“
It was like a very short banana, curving just at the top of the tail.
To be honest – the fear induced by vanity was veel¹ bigger than the fear of any other damage I might have caused during the well-performed performance.
A quick reality-check snapped me back on track:
If there is one thing that’s fixable on a face, it’s the nose. Toch²?
So off we went to fix a clumsy Pinocchio.

The second I saw the hospital, I would’ve gladly shit my pants.
It was gorgeous.
I mean, the rotting hospital walls in Hungary are impressive as well, just not in the health aspect.
These walls were firm and stable, the floor was shiny and the nurses were happy. Everyone greeted my gawky ass with a smile.
After checking in, under less than 15 minutes I was already laying on the exam. bed.

“You are very lucky ” – says the doctor, as he pulls his microscope out of my nose holes.
“The bones are intact, it’s just the cartilage. You want it fixed?”
*intense urge to answer with sarcasm*
-N…Yes, that would be great”
“Alright, lay back. Take a deep breath and don’t move”
– Is it gonna hur-
FUUUCK

“Aand it’s back up. Let me put a tape on it, just to make sure it stays that way.
The result:

Healthy and Happy
It’s still a bit crooked, but that’s just another memory to proudly wear.

The hardest part of it is the smile, because it moves the tape, and it also hurts. You know me; my smile is like the Sun.
It can warm the World up, even from a million miles.

On the way home I bumped into the neighbor, he isn’t the kind of person who can just sit there in silence;
“What happened to your nose?”
– I broke it
“How?”
– Backflip.
He bursted into laughter, struggled to breathe, and mustered out a few last words in his vigorous giggling: “landing…on your fucking gezicht³…“

The takeaway: Research first, execute second.
Once it happened; and there is no turning back – but there is one thing we can do: Keep going.

A little fail is not an excuse, I have to master backflipping.

If one were compelled to drop everything that caused trouble, life would soon grow dull amid sluggish idleness

Seneca

Take care, and break records instead of noses.
Erik

25.05.2019 – Day 124

[Dutch Dictionary]
Veel¹ – A lot
Toch² – Right?
Gezicht³ – Face