Season 1, episode 36
Julio loves winter because winter means skiing. He makes sure to wear all the right clothing: hat, scarf, gloves, and – most importantly – his helmet. When his helmet falls off the ski lift, he thinks he will be fine if he just goes slow. Unfortunately, though, accidents happen.
This simple story is told mostly in the present tense, but introduces the past tense in a retell. Important vocabulary includes ski lift, helmet, head, wounds, stitches, and cut.
An Accident in the Mountains
There is a boy. The boy is called Julio. Julio lives in the state of Montana in the United States. In Montana, it is cold in the month of December. It is cold and there is a lot of snow. Julio likes snow because Julio likes to ski. Julio skis in the mountains of Montana. Skiing is very fun.
When Julio skis, he is always prepared. He wears a jacket. He wears gloves on his hands and he wears a scarf on his neck. The most important is a helmet. Julio wears a helmet to protect his head and he wears goggles to protect his eyes. Protection is important in skiing because ski accidents are common.
Julio has accidents sometimes when he skis. Sometimes he falls because it is difficult to balance well on the skis. Sometimes he crashes into other people on the mountain because he doesn’t pay attention to his direction. Sometimes he falls because there is ice on the snow.
One day Julio decides to ski. When he arrives at the mountain, he puts on his jacket. He puts his gloves on his hands and the scarf on his neck. He puts on a helmet to protect his head and googles to protect his eyes. He puts on his boots and skis. Julio is ready for an excellent day on the mountain.
Julio goes up the mountain on the chairlift. It is excellent. Julio simply sits on the chairlift and watches the people going down the mountain on their skis. Then, Julio gets off the chairlift and skis.
Julio skis for hours. He likes skiing a lot because it is very fun. But there is a problem. Julio has a problem with his helmet. Julio sits on the chairlift and he takes off his helmet. He checks the helmet, but he doesn’t see a problem. Suddenly, the helmet falls out of his hands! The helmet falls from the chairlift into the snow on the mountain.
When Julio gets off the chairlift, he doesn’t have his helmet. His helmet is lost in the snow of the mountain. Julio believes that it is not a big problem and he decides to ski without his helmet. Julio doesn’t go quickly and he is careful. He doesn’t want to have an accident without his helmet.
Julio takes a simple route because he doesn’t want to have an accident without his helmet. But there is a problem. There is a group of small children on the simple route and there isn’t space for Julio. Julio goes faster than the small children. Julio doesn’t want to crash into the children, but there isn’t much space. Julio moves so he doesn’t crash into a child, but his ski crashes into a plant and Julio crashes into a tree!
Julio sees the color red in the snow. It is blood – it is Julio’s blood! Julio is injured. Julio has a headache. He touches his head and touches blood. There is a cut on his head and it is bleeding a lot. Julio needs medical attention. Julio shouts, “Help!”
Some people hear Julio. One of them is a person works on the mountain. She calls the medic on her radio. The medic comes and checks Julio’s head. The cut on his head is very bad. It needs medical attention. The medic checks the rest of Julio. There are no other injuries – just the cut on his head.
The medic goes to the hospital with Julio. Julio talks to the doctor and describes the accident. Julio explains that he had a problem with his helmet and he took off the helmet on the chairlift. But the helmet fell from the chairlift. He decided to ski without the helmet. He was very careful and took a simple route. But there were a lot of kids on the route. The kids didn’t go fast. Julio didn’t want to crash into a kid. He moved, but he crashed into a tree. He didn’t have his helmet and hurt his head. He saw blood on the snow and shouted for help.
The doctor listens attentively to Julio and checks his head. The cut is very bad and Julio needs stitches. First, the medic gives him a shot. The shot affects the nerves in his head. The shot is necessary because stitches are not fun. After the shot, Julio doesn’t have any sensation in the area of the cut and the doctor can put in the stitches. Julio needs eight stitches.
The doctor checks the rest of Julio. Julio’s only problem is the cut on his head. He doesn’t have other injuries. He doesn’t have injuries on his hands because he was wearing his gloves. He doesn’t have injuries on his arms because he was wearing his jacket. He only has an injury on his head because he wasn’t wearing his helmet.
The doctor explains that Julio is going to have a big headache. He explains that the stitches are necessary because the cut is big. The stitches are not permanent and Julio needs to return to the hospital in five days. In five days the doctor is going to check the stitches and if the cut is better, he is going to take out the stitches.
The doctor also explains that Julio needs to wear his helmet when he skis because accidents are common. Julio understands. He doesn’t want to have more hospital visits or stitches.
After five days, Julio returns to the hospital. The doctor checks his head and decides that he doesn’t need the stitches for more time. The doctor takes out the stitches. There is a mark on Julio’s head. The doctor explains that the mark from the cut will probably be on his head the rest of his life.
“It is a scar, like Harry Potter!” The doctor exclaims.
Julio is not happy. He doesn’t want a scar like Harry Potter. But, the scar is not completely bad. It is a reminder to Julio of the importance of wearing a helmet. Now Julio wears a helmet all the time. He doesn’t want any more accidents.
The End.
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