Come gather around my friends and hear my lamentation, for today is a dark day in the Banjo household. It was a beautiful morning and my day off. So, very early I grabbed my yo-yo case and headed to a park I like to go to to throw. We were all having a great time together, my yo-yos and I. I was throwing my Raptor and working on McBride Roller Coaster for a while when I decided to switch to my NorthStar. I don’t know what happened exactly, it’s all a blur to me now. Maybe she became despondent knowing I was about to choose another yoyo from my case instead of her. Suddenly my Raptor leapt out of my hands and falling, plunging towards the concrete. There was no time to do anything, I simply brought my hands up. I wanted to cover my eyes, but I dared not turn my face away from my loyal Duncan Raptor. A more gruesome sight I have not witnessed. Oh, the bouncing, the pinging, the dinging. A sidecap was thrown free and skittered to one side across the cement.
And then…as quickly as it had all begun, it was over.
I quickly reached out for her and cradled her in my hands. The scrapes and teeny shards were only along the edges, but the grisly nature of the wounds cannot be denied. It’s so hard right now, for the both of us. I am going to call her “Shawn” now, after Shawn Johnson, the Olympic Gold medal gymnast who’s career was suddenly cut short by a split second accident on the ski slopes of Colorado. If the two of us had just been more careful in our careless moments of recreation both of our futures could be written so much differently.
Honestly it’s not that bad, but you how it is for the ladies. “Shawn” implores me to look away because she looks “hideous” now. I buffed away some of the larger gashes, but of course some of her pretty red finish is gone forever. Just last evening I listed “Shawn” as my #1 throw I wouldn’t leave home without. Now she insists she will never leave the house again.
Keep her in your thoughts today. She’s resting comfortably, but she is not taking any visitors or seeing any other yoyos at the present time.
Please see below the portrait taken of “Shawn” just about a month ago in happier days. As you can see, she was near mint. (or mints, whatever.)
