Ponyboy Pov:
I have encountered near death experiences more than once. First time, when I was five and
had found my dad's loaded hunting rifle in his closet. Thankfully, my mother had found me
before I accidentally pulled the trigger. The Second time happened when I was 10, and the gang
took me to my very first rodeo. My parents were busy that day, but they agreed to let me go as
long as I promised I wouldn't ride a bull. What they didn't know was that watching was just as
dangerous as riding. A particular bull managed to fling off its rider and started charging towards
the crowd. I was in the front row, and if Darry hadn't grabbed me I would've had a horn through
my skull. The more recent experience was when I was 12, and the gang including my parents
went to the lake for a trip. It was a hot summer day, perfect for swimming. I dove into the water,
not knowing how deep it was or how strong the tides were. I went in and never resurfaced.
Dally, being the closest one to me, grabbed and hauled me to the shore. Now, at age 14 I didn't
think luck would be on my side.
My adrenaline kept me going as I tried to dodge punches and swing back. It was 3 vs 1,
and I could see out of the corner of my eye Soda had two socs on him. I punched the one
holding me down in the eye, and loosened his grip.
I saw my chance as I kicked him off and
grabbed the ankle of the one kicking me to push him away.
I got up as fast as I could only to be
knocked down once more. Those three were drunk and therefore immune to pain. It was a blur
of fists and kicks until one of them spoke.
"
I say dunk this little greaser in the fountain to wash allllll of that grease off his hair. After all, he
needs to pay for what he did at school. What do you say boyssss?" Boy, that soc was so drunk
he couldn't even talk straight. With that, The three of them roughly dragged me to this big
fountain in the park and held me down. This time, they were sure to have my arms and legs
pinned. Out of pure fear, I called out for Soda.
"SODA HEL—-" Suddenly, my vision blurred and my air supply was cut. I wasn't able to lift my
head until my lungs started screaming for air. I could hear the muffled jeers coming from the
socs and someone else shouting. As they pulled me out, I spit the water in their faces. In return,
I got dunked again. This time the grip on my neck was firm and showed no signs of letting me
up again. My vision tunneled and the edges turned black. The last thing I could remember was
Darry shaking me and then I was floating.