posted
My daughter Mariah turned 8 last week. This is a story I wrote for her. I thought it turned out pretty good, so I decided to post it here.
From: Cincinnati | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
"Jenny, how can you be so calm! The game is tied and there are 7 seconds left!"
Jenny and her best friend Melanie had gone to the junior high basketball game. They were both in 7th grade at Springdale Junior High. The Springdale Hornets had not lost a game all year, but then, neither had their opponents, the Booneville Badgers. The teams were nearly equal, with the lead switching back and forth throughout the entire game. It was the best game of the year. Almost every student was jumping with excitement. Every student except for Jenny Mitchell.
"Come on Jenny!"Stop thinking about the jump rope contest and watch the game! Or better yet, watch Jeremy Schultz!"
Jenny smiled at that. She thought Jeremy was the cutest boy in school. The problem was, every other girl thought the same thing.
The Hornets had used their last time out. As the teams trotted back on the floor, the students clapped their hands and stomped their feet. The referee blew the whistle, and the fans cheered as the game got back underway. The Hornets passed the ball in-bounds, and Josh Larkin dribbled down the court.
6 seconds...
Josh passed the ball to Derek Taylor, who was suddenly surrounded by two Badger players. He pivoted on one foot, looking for an open teammate.
5 seconds...
Derek looked frantically for an opening. Who could take the ball?
4 seconds...
Derek lobbed the ball one-handed over the players guarding him, and it landed in the hand of the tall, lanky center, Bruce Johnson.
3 seconds...
Bruce knew he was too well guarded to take a shot. Quickly, he passed the ball to Jeremy Schultz, who has escaped the boy guarding him.
2 seconds...
Jeremy charged toward the basket, but there were too many Badgers to get any closer. He had to shoot now!
1 second....!
The ball left Jeremy's hands in a long arc towards the basket. As the ball traveled through the air, the buzzer sounded. The ball hit the backboard, and bounced around the rim, then...it fell into the hoop! The Hornets had won!
Jenny clapped, smiling, but Melanie could hardly contain herself. She was clapping and yelling just like all of the other Springdale students.
Except for Jenny. She was sitting down, her eyes locked on Jeremy.
Melanie looked down, following Jenny's gaze. "Oh, give it up, Jenny! He's not very nice, and besides, you know he likes Amanda." Hearing this, Jenny frowned.
"Oh, stop pouting. You just don't like her because..." Melanie's voice trailed off, unsure if she should finish her sentence.
Jenny had been the school's jump rope champion for years. No one could jump rope faster than Jenny, until Amanda moved to Springdale last year. At the annual Ultimate Jump Rope Contest, Jenny had only placed 2nd. That was a year ago, and the next contest was only a few days away.
As Jenny and Melanie walked home, Jenny was very quiet.
Finally Melanie asked, "Have you been practicing a lot?"
Jenny grinned. "Only every chance I get. I...I really want to win this year."
Melanie smiled. "I know you do. You'll win this time." Melanie paused, then continued. "But only if you give it everything you've got. The contest will probably be as close as...well, as the game tonight."
Jenny's smile got bigger. "At least you're honest. We're almost at my house. See you tomorrow!"
Over the next few days Jenny practiced and practiced and practiced. Her best was 192 jumps in one minute. She wanted to do even better, and she certainly wanted to beat Amanda.
On Friday, Jenny met Melanie at her locker after school, just like they did every day. Melanie was examining her history test that she had just got back.
"I got a 97...how did you do?"
Jenny frowned. "I got an 86. But I'm not a brain like you."
Melanie laughed. It isn't how smart you are, you know. It's how bad you want it.'
Jenny smiled. "Are you talking about school, or are you talking about jumping rope?"
"What do you think? I mean, anything worth doing is worth overdoing!"
Jenny started to laugh, then stopped. Jeremy was walking down the hall getting closer and closer to her.
"Melanie," she whispered, "he's walking this way!"
Melanie turned around, as Jeremy walked up to Jenny.
"Hi," he said, "ready to jump some rope tomorrow, Jenny?"
Jenny smiled at him." I think so." I have been practicing a lot."
"I'm glad. That's make it even sweetie when Amanda beats you tomorrow!"
Jenny couldn't believe her ears! She felt her face turn red and get hot. She didn't know what to say. Melanie, though, had plenty to say.
"Jeremy Schultz, you big jerk! You better shut your mouth before I shut it for you!"
Jeremy had already started walking away. Melanie looked at Jenny. "I told you he was no good. Come on, let's get out of here. Tomorrow is a big day!"
As they walked out of school, Jenny whispered to Melanie, "I can't believe I thought he was cute."
"He is pretty," Melanie said, "pretty stupid!" They both laughed, and walked to Jenny's house.
"Come on, Jenny. You jump and I'll count. Now I really really really want you to win!"
Jenny practiced harder that night than she had ever practiced before.
Finally, it was Saturday.
"Today's the day," though Jenny. "Today's the day!"
Jenny was so excited she had to force herself to eat breakfast. Her parents, along with Melanie, walked with her ot the school gymnasium.
Even though the contest would not start for another hour, the parking lot was nearly full. Four schools were participating in the Ultimate Jump Rope Contest this year, and there were so many people!
There were several events in the contest, including jump rope dance, free-style, double-dutch, and Jenny's event, the speed competition. The double-dutch competition was first, followed by the speed competition. Jenny was a little nervous, but she was glad that her even was coming up soon.
Jenny had brought her favorite jump rope for the contest. It had pink and white stripes, it had wooden Sure-Grip handles, and the rope was very slick so it wouldn't slow down when it touched the ground.
Jenny set the rope down behind her, and she started to stretch, warming up for her big event. Each school had sent two speed jumpers, and the other girls were nearby, also stretching and warming up.
As Jenny was stretching, Amanda and Jeremy walked over to her. Amanda looked at Jenny and said, "I just wanted to say good luck."
Before Jenny could say anything, Jeremy said, "Yeah! You're gonna need it!"
Jenny was shocked that he could be so mean. She was even more shocked when Amanda Glared at Jeremy and said, "Shut up! This isn't any of your business! Now try to stop being a big jerk and go find a seat!'
Jeremy frowned as he walked away Amanda turned back to Jenny and said, "Sorry about that. Boys can be real creeps sometimes."
Jenny looked thoughtful "Yes, but I think Jeremy is one of the biggest creeps around."
Amanda started to walk away, than she turned around and said, "I really do wish you good luck."
"Good luck to you, too," Jenny said, as Amanda walked away, looking for a place to warm up.
The double-dutch competition was over, and it was time! All eight girls were lined up across the gym, and each girl had two official counters, who would count how many times the girl jumped the rope.
Jenny was ready. She was nervous and excited, but she was ready! But...something wasn't right.
"Get ready...!" came the voice of the announcer over the loudspeaker. "Get set!"
"Stop!" Jenny yelled. "Wait a minute!"
The announcer paused, as one of the judges walked up to Jenny. "What's the problem, young lady?"
"It's...it's my rope...the handle feels funny." Jenny pulled her hand away from the rope, and looked at it. There was something slick on her hand! "I think somebody did something to my rope."
All of the other girls gathered round to see what was happening. The judge took the rope from Jenny. He looked at it closely, sniffed it, then rubbed his hand over it. "This is...this is some kind of oil." The judge smiled at Jenny. "It's pretty hard to jump rope if you can't hang onto the handle. It looks like somebody doesn't want you to win today. Now take a few minutes and get this cleaned off."
As Jenny walked to the bathroom to clean her rope and her hands, Amanda dropped her jump rope and walked over to where Jeremy was sitting. "Open your backpack," she said as she glared at him.
"What? Why"
"You don't need a backpack today," Amanda yelled. "Now open
Jeremy looked nervous as the judge walked over. "What's going on here?"
Melanie had been getting closer, trying to find out what was happening. Amanda looked up at the judge. "I just want to see what's in his backpack."
As she heard that, Melanie grabbed Jeremy's backpack and quickly opened it and dumped it out.
"No!" yelled Jeremy. Among the contents were some gym clothes, a combination lock, and....a small bottle of cooking oil."
"I guess we know why he didn't want to open his backpack, huh?" Melanie grinned as she held up the bottle of oil.
Just then, Jenny walked back into the gym, wondering what all the fuss was about.
"Hey! Jenny!" Melanie yelled at the top of her lungs, "this creep Jeremy oiled your rope handles"
"More and more people were turning to see what was going on, and the whole gym heard what Melanie had said. The judge looked at Jeremy and said, "I think you owe that young lady an apology. Annnd...I think you just volunteered to clean up the gym after the contests is over. Unless you would rather I talk to the police?"
Jeremy looked frightened. "Ok, I guess I am on clean-up detail." He turned to Jenny. "I'm sorry. I just wanted...I...I just wanted to make sure Amanda would win."
Amanda was furious. She pulled a ring off her finger and threw it at Jeremy. "I don't want to win like that. Never like that! Here's your stupid ring! You and I are through, Jeremy Shultz!"
The judge said, "Ok, that's enough, we still have a competition to finish. Everybody take 5 minutes to calm down and we'll get started."
Jenny and Amanda walked back to their places. Amanda whispered to Jenny. "I'm really sorry. You were right. He is a big enough creep for three boys. Maybe four."
Jenny smiled as she felt her jump-rope handles, making sure there was no oil left on them. "It's ok. I know you didn't have anything to do with it."
Jenny and Amanda took their places; it was almost time. Melanie approached Jenny and looked her right in the eyes. Melanie said, in a voice just above a whisper, "How bad do you want it?"
Jenny looked right back into her eyes, "More than anything," she said.
"Then prove it," Melanie said, and turned and walked back to her seat.
The announcer's voice came over the loudspeaker. OK, is everybody really ready this time?" That got a laugh from the people in the audience. "Ok, get ready....get set...GO!"
All of the girls started to jump rope as fast as they could. Jenny's rope was spinning so fast it was a blur. She didn't need to count; there were people doing that for her. Her feet barely left the floor as she jumped rope faster than she ever had before.
"Time!" the announcer yelled, and eight jump ropes that had been moving so quickly came to a stop. "Ok, let's get the official totals, and we'll announce the winners in a minute." All of the official counters walked up to the judge to give their results. After the judge had everyone's results, he said, "This was really close people. The difference between first and second place was only by one jump! This year’s winner in our speed contest, with 199 jumps, is...Jenny Mitchell!"
Jenny almost started to cry! She had won! Melanie ran up and hugged her, and everyone was clapping. Even Amanda. Well, everyone except Jeremy.
"In second place," the announcer continued, "with 198 jumps, is Amanda Wilson!" The audience kept clapping as Amanda got her medal. Even Jenny was clapping, because 198 jumps was really good!
After the rest of the results were announced, Jenny and Melanie were eating popcorn and watching the other events. Amanda walked up to Jenny and Melanie and said, "Congratulations. You did an amazing job today."
"Thanks. You were pretty amazing too."
Melanie interrupted, "Especially the part where you threw Jeremy's ring at him. I won't forget the look on his face for a long time!"
All three of the girls laughed at this. Melanie continued, as she munched on her popcorn "You both know how much you need each other, right?"
Jenny and Amanda looked at her. "What do you mean?" asked Amanda.
"Oh, come on. How hard did you work at this? You both wanted to beat each other so much you worked extra hard. Did you know the girl who got third had 192 jumps? Would either of you have beat her if you hadn't been trying so hard to beat each other? It's like Superman and Lex Luthor. Superman wouldn't be nearly as tough if he didn't have to stop Lex Luthor from taking over the world all the time."
Amanda smiled. "I guess you're right. Wait a minute - which one of us is Luthor?"
The girls all laughed at this. Amanda said, "The last event just finished. I guess it's time to head home."
"No," replied Melanie, "there's one more thing to do."
"What's that?" the other two girls replied.
"Jeremy has to do clean-up, right?" Melanie held up her half-full bag of popcorn and dumped it out on the floor, and even shook the bag to make sure it was empty. "Here's some more for him to clean up!"
Jenny and Amanda laughed, and then they both yelled, "Hey Jeremy!" As Jeremy watched, they emptied their bags of popcorn on the floor, and smiled. "Here's a little more for you to do!"
Jeremy scowled at them. Then all three of the girls, still laughing, walked out of the gym and headed for home.
posted
Well, thanks, you guys are very kind. IB, I didn't say I read it to her, but - yes, I did read it to her, and to my other 2 kids as well. They loved it!
So, the question is, IB, are you spying on me? Are you invisible for real?
From: Cincinnati | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic | Subscribe To Topic
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
