All of a sudden, everything is flipped. Your brain begins to betray itself. You are so deep into your thoughts, you forget you are upside down, and BOOM – you do a whole 360 degree turn facing the ceiling with both legs and arms on the floor. You weren’t the only one who felt like a clumsy monkey for a few seconds. Freshman Coco Liao rolled down the same way you did.
“When I was younger, I used to climb onto monkey bars and hang upside down, but I would do it frequently at the park where they had metal monkey bars,” said Liao.
Now, don’t tell me you have never pretended to be a monkey at the park on the monkey bars. For Liao and her cousin, they had the time of their lives on that treacherous playground obstacle fit for “American Ninja Warriors.” However, Liao’s inner monkey spirit wasn’t ready for another round on the monkey bars.
“One day I was trying to show off to my cousin that I can hang upside down, but I wanted to show her on the playground my dad had bought us … however, those were wooden bars – not metal.”
It’s clear Liao and her cousin bit off more than they could chew. Perhaps they should’ve gotten a camera to record it all, or call dad for any help that might be needed. Nevertheless, eight-year-old Liao believed she could do it herself.
“So I hung on the wooden monkey bar and fell off of it. The wooden bar broke off, and I fell on my back and bit a part of my tongue off.”
As she laid on the floor near-tongueless, she realized she was stuck in a nasty situation. Liao said she felt like she was mute for the rest of her life because she couldn’t get any words out of her mouth.
Then her hero, the one and only Mr. Liao, came to the rescue.
“My dad came and picked me up from the floor,” Liao said.
Liao’s cousins watched everything happen all at once from a far distance. The event ended with her father treating her monkey bar wounds.
Aside from it being a fun, albeit pedantic playdate, it turned into a bitter, distasteful lesson in pride and agility. Don’t be fooled folks – wood and metal can be quite tricky.
Liao will never forget this moment alongside her cousin and dad. It goes to show that sometimes our eight-year-old selves can be tougher than our 18-year-old selves.
