A Day Without Wheels

  One day, when I was in the sixth grade, I forgot to charge my electric wheelchair and the battery died an hour after I got to school. Unlike my manual wheelchair, the electric one was bulky and hard to push.

"You're going to have to call your parents and tell them to bring your manual wheelchair," my teacher directed. She helped me park my wheelchair at the back of the classroom and gave me a hall pass.

  This was my first time traversing the halls of my school without my wheelchair and I was nervous, but very excited. I walked carefully so as not to slip or trip, being ever so clumsy at home. My teacher told me not to run, but I had the urge to take off my shoes and sock skate across the smooth floor.

  I looked up at the lockers and felt very small and fragile without the frame of my wheelchair around me. I imagined the bell ringing at any moment and that I would be stampeded by my fellow classmates.

  I arrived at the front office and handed the secretary my note. She directed me to the phones and I dialed my dad's work number. A few moments later my dad was on the line.

"Daddy, my battery died. I need my manual wheelchair," I said.

"I'm not going to be able to leave work right now, do you think you can get through the day without it?" he asked.

"I dunno if I'm allowed," I admitted. At that moment the bell rang and I heard the hallways fill up with students heading to their next classes. I thought about my wheelchair in homeroom.

"Ask if I can speak to the principal," my dad said, and I asked the secretary. Soon the principal was on the phone with my father.

  When they hung up, the principal said to me, "You're going to have to go through the rest of the day without your wheelchair, do you think you can handle it?"

"Yes," I said, but admittedly I was a little uneasy. Fortunately, so was the principal.

"To make sure you're safe, I'm going to have you wait here until the bell rings and the halls are clear."

  After the second bell the principal had an office aid escort me to my next class with a note for my teacher. I gave my teacher the note and sat at the front of the class so I could see the board.

"Where is your wheelchair?" my friend asked.

"The battery died and I can't get my manual one, so I have to go without it," I answered.

"Why are you in a wheelchair if you can walk?" my friend inquired.

"I have brittle bones and if I fall and get hurt at school, the teachers could be in trouble," I replied.

 About ten minutes before class ended my teacher let me leave early so I wouldn't be stuck in a crowded hallway. She allowed one of my friends to walk with me, because my backpack was too heavy for me to carry.

"Wow, I never realized how far it was between some of the classes," I told my friend as we walked.

  By the time we reached my art class, the first bell rang. My teacher wrote my friend a pass so she wouldn't be counted as tardy. The tables in the art room were high. Normally I would park my electric wheelchair close to a stool and climb up on it, but I was not strong enough to climb from the floor. I didn't want anyone to pick me up, so my teacher allowed me to work on the floor in a corner of the classroom. I actually preferred sitting on the ground with so much space to myself.

  When lunchtime came I was allowed to enter the cafeteria first with my friend. Since I wasn't strong enough to carry my own tray one of the cafeteria workers helped me through the line and to a table. The tables were not too high, but the stools were low and I had to sit on my knees to eat my food.

  The rest of the day presented similar challenges - chairs were too low, desk were too high, I couldn't reach the sinks in the bathrooms and all of the walking was taking a toll on me. By the time I struggled up the steps of my afternoon bus, I was completely exhausted. At dinner my dad asked,

"Did you enjoy not having your wheelchair today?"

"Yeah," I said, "but having it does make getting around school a lot easier. How am I going to get my wheelchair back?"

"Take your charger to school tomorrow and just let it charge while you're in class," my dad said. "Think you'll remember to charge it from now on?" he asked.

"Yep!"

Two weeks later, I forgot.