It was a beautiful summer day in the valley. The fields of green and the smell of the tall grass radiating upwards clashed with the cacophony of motorcycles racing around the field. It was hot and the sun baked the exposed earth of the track as quickly as it was exposed by the friendly contest. The contestants involved were a small group of friends spending the summer day together as they had many times.

The hero of our story at 12 years of age was also the youngest participant. Ellis road a small used Suzuki DS80. It was Ellis' first bike. When his father brought it home, Ellis came running from the house when he heard it started up. His older brother was already riding it up the driveway and left Ellis standing next his father. Since his brother already had a motorcycle it led Ellis to ask, ''Is that mine?'' and his father answered, ''It is if you can ride it.''

So over the summer Ellis became quite proficient on the little DS. Chasing his brother and cousin on their motorcycles around his father's 200 acres, it was the most fun he had ever had. He could spend hours hanging onto the handlebars as he bounced all around the farm.

This day he was highlighting his skills in this field by ramping off this bump on the track. It wasn't much of a ramp but if you hit it fast enough you would go airborne. As he rounded the track he noticed two older girls watching from the roadway. One of the girls was a neighbor and today she had a beautiful schoolmate with her.

Ellis took the coming opportunity to impress this beauty. He knew she was watching him. He could feel them both absorbed in his maneuvers as he accelerated toward the approaching ramp. He saw the ramp and he saw himself launching skyward in his mind. He saw himself race past the girls while they cheered his greatness.

When Ellis regained consciousness he was flat on his back with everyone standing around him looking down at him. He had no immediate recollection of who these people looking at him were nor did he know who was helping him to his feet. Not until the person helping started laughing and said ''Look he's got grass stains on his forehead'' did he recognize his older brother's voice.

Everyone was laughing now realizing he hadn't broken his neck as all was sure at first. When Ellis picked his DS up he noticed the grass and sod jammed into the headlight. This triggered the memory of his approach to the ramp and how he recalled his throttle being twisted to the full range that his wrist would allow as he hit the ramp. He wondered if it was possible that he hit the ramp so hard he blacked out. He certainly didn't recall leaving the ramp or flying thru the air but he must have because he was laying a good distance past the ramp when he awoke. As far as the actually memory of the jump it was all black and always would be.