A swollen start

It hasn’t even been a week since the start of the year and I’ve already figured in a dreadful accident. Something tells me faintly, this must be a horrifying year for me. But I hope the gods in the heavens won’t allow it. Feng shui, for one, has declared this year to be good for rat people. I don’t exactly subscribe to it although it merits my attention more than horoscopes, but things have been pretty OK since I got back from spending new year in a secluded village up in the Cordilleras.

Last Wednesday, I joined around 15 friends in a volleyball game near my place. They have been playing weekly since last year. While I’m not present all the time, they make sure that I’m updated on the playing schedule. They can always make use of another set of hands. A few minutes into the first set, I leaped to block a net spike only to plummet on the toes of the other player. The uneven surface was just what my feebly already-injured right ankle needed to twist so badly it swelled up awfully in a matter of seconds. The swelling seemed to race in the same speed as Arnel frantically attempted to undo my shoelaces.

That night, my sweet gurl friend Joy slept over to make sure the 24-hour cold compress is completed. Although I didn’t actually need her help to deliver me to the bathroom for some nocturnal personal activity since I was still able to hop my way anyway to the urinal, I was comforted by her presence lying there beside me on the floor without any complaint as I slept raising my legs to rest on my bed. My doctor friend said I had to elevate the injured ankle.

And so the next few days, I was practically holed up in my bedroom. In a way, I was glad I had so much time in my hands so I was able to finish several DVD’s I have long bought from my favorite Makati Square stall. It turned out to be a perfect way also to test the new set of 5.1 speakers I got myself for christmas. I would watch badminton on cable in the afternoons only to wait for the early evening newscast. I would sleep afterwards till around midnight and would be awake to watch some more movies or ESPN till my eyes hurt or I’d remember that I’d probably be the only one awake in the whole city, whichever is earlier.