Jumping Rope

I had a wonderful childhood inspired by parents who supported my siblings and I in all of our pursuits, or at least those endeavors that did not cost them too much money. One of my most famous undertakings actually was financially backed by my parents. One day in third grade I decided that I had what it took to be a professional jump roper, and all I needed was a jump rope. My mother saw the importance of helping my older brother and I release some of our energy so she decided to let us wash dishes for a few nights and use the money to purchase jump ropes from school. These jump ropes were not your ordinary jumping hardware, they were cutting edge, light weight and indestructible, and when they went around your head you could hear them cut through the air like a bull whip. That was a beautiful sound.
Andy and I spent weeks practicing our routine, and we surpassed even our own expectations. We were sure that people would beg at the chance of paying good money to see our stunning performance.
A description of Andy is a necessary detour at this point in our story, and as my memory is not perfect I will describe my brother as he is today. As a reader you will just have to imagine a miniature version of the image about to be painted in your mind. Andy is an intriguing person who just happens to look a lot like a hobbit. Andy has a stout, but manly shape .The abundance of coarse hair found at all locations of Andy's amazing figure screams to the eyes of the beholder, “I am of the Sire!” When Andy puts on his glasses, they are so enormous that they make his face look really, really small; only increasing his similarities with Bilbo Baggins. Another unsightly feature Andy possesses is his long forgotten, unkept toenails. Andy may be my brother, but to the eyes of a stranger he belongs in a Tolkien book. Besides being a handsome fellow, Andy is also very smart. Once he learned to read in college there was no turning back. He claims as his favorite books The Cat in the Hat, Toad and Frog are Friends, and the comics of Captain America.
That I was the star of the show there was no question. Andy, with his stubby appendages could not get the rope around fast enough to do many tricks. I on the other hand with my slender athletic build could jump on one foot, cross, go really fast, or really slow. Needless to say I had to practice in the back yard to avoid the paparazzi and star-crazed fans. Our routine was much too complicated to describe in any way that would do it justice, all that really needs to be said is that my mesmerizing skills were set to the tunes of the Beach Boys greatest hits.
Thanks to a major knee injury, that would have required surgery if it wouldn’t have been for my mother’s expert ace bandage wrapping abilities, Andy and I were not able to accomplish our dreams. We were however, able to enjoy long summer days relaxing and listening to the Beach Boys. With an injured knee I was also eliminated from my classroom jumping contest at 23 jumps in a row, even though my pre-injury best had been 324.