Lizzy didn’t know anything about cartwheels, round offs, back handsprings, or anything of that sort before a certain incident in ----- Park. She was just an average, normal girl. Now before I begin the story, I must tell you about her. She had shoulder length chocolate colored hair with side swept banks that she often swept aside when she was nervous. Her skin looked like caramel with a spray of freckles across her nose. Her brown eyes were deep and pure. You could always tell if Lizzy was excited because her eyes lit up and and gave a mischievous sparkle.They often reminded me of pools of dark fudge. She had a very unique smile, one that made all knees go weak when she smiled. She had a long, lean figure that was very strong for her size.  She was athletic and flexible. However, she did not pay attention to what people thought of her, she just did her own thing. Her personality was contagious, she made everyone around her happy. She was very daring and bold, she was always adventuring all over the place. She certainly wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, and she was never the last to let people know her opinion. However, being sassy and bold didn’t mean she wasn’t sweet and tender hearted. She is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. She is understanding and she tries to understand what people are going through so that she can help them. But this is only the beginning.

      Lizzy went to a very small school in the middle of nowhere. Its name was -------- Middle School. She was in 8th grade and was doing fine in school. Lizzy had mostly A’s, with a few exceptions of B’s. Having a big group of good friends she was happy, for the most part. Lizzy felt that there was something missing in her life and knew it was important. she didn’t know what it was, but she was determined to find it.

      Lizzy has seen lots of people able to cartwheels. She supposed that maybe she could do one but was a little bit nervous to try. One day, she was walking around in -------- Park. It was a bright sunny day, and she could feel the sun warming her cold muscles up. Just then, a young girl ran by her very fast. She then twisted into a round off and ended with a back handspring. Lizzy stood there gaping. The little girl looked about just six or seven, yet she could make her body stretch and spring off the ground. Lizzy was immediately obsessed. She watched the little girl do a back walkover. Then Lizzy approached her and asked the little girl to show her how to do that. The little girl was surprised by her forwardness, but willingly consented to teach Lizzy. After the little girl agreed, she asked Lizzy what her name was. Lizzy replied, “My name is Lizzy, what's yours?” She said, “Adriell.” After that day, Lizzy could do a backbend already. She realized the key to it was standing evenly with weight on both feet and stretching her back before she attempted it. The next week she could kick her legs over which completed her back walkover. Although she never again saw Adriell again, she would be forever grateful to her. Though she didn’t know it, she had shown Lizzy a glimpse of her future.

      Over the next few months, Lizzy’s talent and capability only grew. She became stronger, faster, and more powerful. By the time she was 13, she had taught herself how to do a back handspring and an aerial. She had a trampoline at her house and she practiced doing backflips and back handsprings every day for at least two hours. I was there when she did her very first round off-backflip. A gymnast coach watched her and had seen talent and hard work. He was stunned when she told him that she was self-taught. He introduced himself as Coach Levane from a nearby gymnastics school. Lizzy told him her story and when Lizzy mentioned Adriell the coach looked sad. He solemly told her that he had sponsered her but she had recently moved. He tld her that she had great talent and offered to pay her enrollment for gymnastic lessons if she could learn to do a roundoff-backflip in 3 days. He warned her that this was not easy and that she would have to land it in order for him to sponser her. She was stunned and quite excitedly told him that she would try her hardest. Lizzy worked so hard those days, I thought she would die from exhaustion. On her last day to practice, she did it, but she did not land it. We were so excited, but she feared it would not be enough.
      The day finally came, and she had her whole school, family, and the gymnastics coach gathered at ------ Park to support her. However, she felt quite nervous with all the people. She decided that she would pretend it was just for fun and that it was just her. The coach critically looked Lizzy over seeming to notice that she looked quite tired. He went came over to talk to her and after an animated discussion he went back to the corner of the grass. He announced that it was time and told Lizzy to give it her best shot. Lizzy could tell that the coach was doubtful but that only made her more determined. She stretched and took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. She glanced from face to face. Finally her eyes met mine. I gave a little nod, and I saw her eyes focus ahead of her. Then she took off  running as fast as she could for about two seconds. She jumped into the air, preparing to do her round off. The look in her eyes was pure determination and concentration. She contacted the ground with her hands, and her feet were inches away from the ground. Then, BOOM!! She pounded the ground as hard as she could and it seemed as if time was standing still. She jumped as high as she could into the air and arched her back. Her feet curved gracefully over her head, and……...She made it! Her feet solidly hit the ground, jarring everyone watching her back into reality. Suddenly, everyone burst into cheers. She was swarmed with people and they hoisted her into the air cheering. I saw her heading toward me, and I screamed and hugged her tightly, I pulled away from her and saw her with tears running down her cheeks. She was smiling so wide I thought her whole face would become her smile. I saw the gymnastics coach come up to her, congratulate her, and hand her enrollment forms. He introduced himself to me as Coach Levane and turned to Lizzy to tell her that lessons started the next day. I saw him grudgingly smile and tell her she did quite well. Lizzy smiled and looked quite smug at this. She turned to me and grabbed me into one last rib-crushing hug.

      Lizzy went to bed exhausted that night, but very happy. Her parents had thrown a party in her honor and she had had the best time hanging out with her friends and telling the story of her backflip over and over again. Although it was fun, she felt her eyelids drooping and announced she was going to bed. She lay in bed very tired, yet she couldn’t sleep. She laid awake, picturing what would improve now that she could take gymnastics. As she smiled to herself, she realized that this had been the biggest test of her life so far. Lizzy knew there would only be more hardships, but she was willing to face them. She sleepily closed her eyes, and before she knew it she was fast asleep.