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The last day of school was quite an adventure. The fire department officials came to try out a new fire escape. My wonderful vice-principal offered the JTE's and my assistance to try out the new equipment. I did not know this, though. Kyoto-sensei told me to follow him. He kept laughing, and the JTE kept saying "kowai", scary. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. So I followed the group up to the third floor. We went outside on the verandah where there was a huge metal box. I thought that they wanted us to help move the thing, which I thought would be quite impossible if they were counting on my strength. But I discovered I was mistaken when the fireman opened the box and pulled out a white canvas tube. The tube was lowered to the ground, and everyone was laughing. It was at this point that I realized they wanted me to slide down this thing. The JTE went first. She shimmied down and was soon on the ground with no injuries. Then it was my turn. I was to climb into the canvas tunnel that was 3 storeys above the ground. At first I thought that there was a ladder inside the tube, the tube surrounding it to insure no one fell while climbing down. This was not the case. The tube was sewn in a zigzag pattern inside. I didn't do a very good job of sliding through it. I grasped the sides because I was afraid of going too fast. Everything would have been all right, if I hadn't been wearing my tennis shoes. My shoes had really good traction, and I hadn't tied them very tight, in order to slip them on and off with ease. This proved to be a big problem. As I was sliding through the tube, by left shoe caught on the canvas. I tried to get it free, but was unable. The more I struggled, the worse it got. The rest of my body kept sliding down, while my left shoe, foot, and leg were stuck on the canvas. Eventually my foot slipped out of my shoe and I was free. But by this point, I was doing the splits, my left leg above my head, as I slid to the ground. My shoe reached the ground before I did. The men at the bottom exclaimed and laughed. About 30 seconds later, I reached the bottom, my right leg first, followed by my torso, then last my left leg and shoe-less foot. As I squirmed out of the chute, I was greeted by a man who took my photograph, forever capturing the moment of triumph. Valerie Straayer |