It was a cool morning with the sun just coming over the mountains, it was time to get up. The boy eager with anticipation readies himself for the day. He jumps in the shower and cleans himself faster than the average person washes their hand. The boy Runs back to his room and begins to put on his lucky long under wear with the tear in the left side near his calf. Double checking and even triple checking his room “which he never does” he makes sure he has everything he needs.
In the kitchen both his parents were waiting for him. Mom had made him his favorite breakfast and his father was sitting there happily with his coffee and newspaper. The father asks the boy “are you ready for the big race chuck?” The boy responded “I cant wait dad, the whole school is going to be there and today is finally my chance to beat John Travis”.
You see today was the big all school ski race, all the student compete against one another for the fastest time down the course. This year was especially important to chuck because he was in the eighth grade and the older kids always get the fastest times. Chuck and John have been having a little rivalry every since the 5th grade when they decided to see who could get the better time in the race. Chuck had beaten john but john said that it didn’t count because chucks skis were to fast. Chuck did have a nice pair of skis in fact they were a great pair of skis but they were not that much different from johns. So chuck knew that john was just being a sore loser.
The boy finishes up his breakfast and heads out to the mountain. On the ride to the mountain the boy could hardly stay in his seat, there was nothing more that he wanted then to be in the starting gate staring down at the race course. They get to the lodge and the first person he sees is his friend john. They both greet each other then immediately start teasing one another about who is going to win. After seeing john the boy heads over to a bench and begins to put on his gear. His father sits down next to him and says “listen chuck we both know that you are a better skier then john, but don’t let that get to your head. Focus on the skiing and not on the winning and you will do fine” the boy replies “dad don’t worry about a thing I am taking the blue ribbon home no matter what today”
After a final pep talk from his mother and father the boy headed out of the lodge to the mountain. He straps his skis in one at a time and looks for his rival/ski buddy john. He sees him in line on the chair lift and cuts a bunch of 5th graders that were now behind him. The boys head up the mountain and get a few practice runs in before the big race. Suddenly they hear over the mountains P.A. system “all racers to the starting gate, all racers to the starting gate.”
The boys heads over to the starting area and begins to warm up. Chuck has a secret stretch routine that he does every time before a race. He stretches and shakes all his different body parts to completely loosen up. While in his head the whole time he is thinking about the race course. He gets in line and starts to hear some of the times. 35.44, 35.14, 35.24 then he hears johns time who was only three skiers ahead of him 34.89. chuck was a little nervous at first but immediately began to think about the ski course again. He was now in the gate.
Standing in ready position the gatekeeper looks at the boy and says “good luck kid, have some fun”. There is a slight pause so the gate keep can hear from the bottom that the course is all clear. To the boy this felt like one of the longest waits in his life. Then suddenly the gatekeeper looks up and says “Racer ready! 3, 2, 1!” the boy throws himself out of the gate with great force. Hitting all the turns with perfect precision. Gates are flying by him and the crowd is cheering. He looks down the mountain “three gates left” he says to him self. “two” “o-n” at this point the boy just realized that he had hit the last gate with his boot. He instantly goes air born towards the finish line. He know that the laser that stops his time is near the ground so he reaches out his hand as far as it goes. As he is flying thru the air his finger tips just barley pass through the laser and the clock stops.
The boy fears that this severely made his time worse. He hears the timekeeper say his time “32.01”. At this point everyone in the crowd is electric the boy has beaten his friends’ time and made a huge show at the finish line. He was a star for those few minutes after the race.
Chuck gets up and heads over to his parents they both are so proud of him and congratulate him. His dad says to him “I liked the theatrics at the end there, but I think next time you should try to stay on the ground.” They all have a good laugh and out of the corner of his eye chuck sees john. John a few feet away was clapping for his friend who had just won the race. John says “Good job dude, that was sick” chuck replies “your not mad that I beat you?” John “no way man, I’m just glad that it was either you or me who won the race and not some other kid. Dude we took first and second high five.” The boys slap hands and head into the lodge.
Chuck and john standing on the pedestal next to each other only chuck just a little bit higher up then the rest. They are given their ribbon and applauded for their efforts. Chuck looks around the room and says to himself in his head “I could get used to this whole winning thing”. Chuck and john continue to ski together to this day and will always be the best of competitive friends.
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