Edison K.

Finished

Creak! Jack opened the mailbox on the front porch.

He sighed,  “Another day of mail.”

He thought if he ever got any mail. All of the envelopes swooped to the bottom, except for one. Jack’s thumbs scrunched as he saw the front of the envelope.

To the parents of Jack and James Yeung

Jack wondered if this had anything to do with him. What is this envelope? A few minutes later he was in the room of his ten-year old brother, James.  James had brown hair and black eyes, just like Jack. James saw his brother.

“What’s up?” James asked.  James saw the envelope. He pointed to their parents’ room. Jack gave him a thumbs up as he went into their room.

“Oh, hi honey,” Jack’s mom said.  Jack gave the envelope to his mom. His mom opened the letter.

Dear parents of Jack and James Yeung,

Congratulations! Both of your sons  are smart and athletic children.  I would like to invite them to an obstacle course in Europe. There are different levels in this course. This course is the right level for your children. Rock climbing, running, and jumping will be part of the course. This race is also safe because we have some volunteers to bring your sons to safety if  they are in trouble. We also do this as a race because we want to see how well your children are at the levels we set up. If you want to join, you can come to Europe. Just remember, it is a competition!

Sincerely,

Principal, Mrs. Fox-Santora

Jack looked at his mom. His mom shook her head.

“I don’t think this is a very good idea Jack.,” said Jack’s mom

“Mom, please?” he asked  while giving his puppy eyes.

“Ok, ok, but first let’s ask dad.”

Hours later, a car drove right into the driveway of Jack’s house. Jack’s dad came home and went into his office. Jack came in after a few minutes.

“Dad? Can I ask you something?”

“Of course!”

“Can you let me go to this obstacle course?”Jack handed him the letter from the principal. His dad looked at it for a second. He handed it back to Jack.

“Has mom approved it yet?”

Jack nodded. His dad nodded back with a smile.  Jack ran to his mom’s room.

He nodded at mom. She nodded back.

Finally, when the time came, they arrived in Europe. Jack saw the set up for the race. James and Jack ran to where the race would start. Jack saw some familiar people, but not too many.

“Jack, James!” Matt yelled.

“Matt!?”

They ran over and gave high-fives at each other. Someone else came over. Matt introduced Baster. He was one of the competitors.

“Hey! Are you ready for the race, losers!?” Uh-oh  thought Jack once he realized it was Horace.

Jack’s worst fear was Horace. He was a big bully at his school. Horace always sneaks up and does tricks that makes Jack fall down. Now he is here at the race. This is going to be the worst race ever, thought Jack. Horace came over and stared, and then snickered at them.

“It’s ok, I get him,” James said looking at Horace’s back while walking away.

Mrs. Fox-Santora announced that it was getting dark so the competitors should go to their tents to rest. The audience can go to their nearby hotels and we will see them in the morning,  Jack met Mrs. Fox-Santora and said hello, then went to his tent. James and Matt went after him to the same tent. Baster slept by himself, same with Horace.

Jack woke up and went outside. James was already waiting for him, sitting on the grass and looking at the blue sky. Jack sat down next to him.

“Are you ready for the race Jack?”

“Yep.”

The other contestants came out after a few minutes. They all ate breakfast and went to the starting line. There were fences on the sides. They could see some places with different objects. There were some tunnels too, long ones and short ones. The audience came in and took their seats to watch. Mrs. Fox-Santora went onto the stage. Jack could see his parents and waved. James waved too.

“We have 6 levels that are set up. Some of the levels will be answering questions. There is going to be some water in different levels if you fail and fall down. We will have cameras on different levels to make sure that you are safe. As I said on the letters, volunteers will bring you to safety. Now that is enough. It’s time for the race to begin!”

The audience cheered.  Mrs.Fox-Santora started the countdown.

“3, 2, 1, Go! Go!”

Jack ran down the path. He was in first place. Then, he saw a sign. It was time for level 1. The others came to and saw the sign. Horace kept running and started to jump over the walls. He turned and faced them to give a rude smile. While he did that, he tripped and stumbled on one of the walls and landed smack face down. Jack thought about how Horace had gone over the short walls. He did the same, but without tripping. The others did too. Horace recovered quickly and ran after them. Jack heard noises from Horace, but he was not sure if he was talking or making sounds. He ran into a sign again. He saw the level set and his mouth dropped opened. This level is wet.

The ropes was there hanging swinging and swaying from left to right. Jack started the level by grabbing one of the ropes then the other. James came and swung past him and kept running to the next level. Jack landed with a thud on the ground. Matt came over after 5 seconds. Jack face turned into a surprise when he saw Horace rushing madly. Sweat trickled down his face. Jack and Matt kept running. Baster went past them faster, then winked at them. Jack winked back, same with Matt. They kept running until they saw the next level.

“Dude, this is way harder than I thought,” Jack said.

Matt looked at James who was trying to figure out how to get up the top with his big legs.  There was a long rope hanging. Behind the rope, there are different shaped rocks. Jack knew what it was... rock climbing. Jack started to climb up when he heard a yelp from Matt. Horace was shaking the rope from the bottom. Matt fell down on his back with a thud.

“You can’t do that Horace!” Matt yelled angrily.

“So? Unlike you, loser!”

Horace began climbing up the rope. Jack jumped down and helped Matt. They both climbed really fast ahead of Horace and ran. Jack didn’t see James but kept running. James finally spotted Jack. Jack saw why James was staying there. He needed help answering questions.

“Jack! Matt! Do you know who the commander-in-chief was in 1775? ”

“I know! I learned about that last week!” Jack turned around to see who said that.

It was Baster.  

“It was George  Washington.”

James looked at the three passageways. Each of them had their own sign. James read each one.

“Aha! Let’s go! Come on!”

Horace had gotten to the top and ran, but then stopped. He started to feel bad about hurting Matt. Also Jack, but at school.  What if I can change myself to be nice to them? I should apologize to them  They might accept it.

Jack ran down the front when he heard a sound of footsteps. He turned around and saw Horace.

“I think it’s time to apologize to you Jack, even to all of you guys. I’m sorry.”

“Ya sure?” snapped Jack.

“I’m sure.” answered Horace.

¨Ok, you can stay with us,” offered Jack.  Horace followed them to the next question. The question asked, what is 95 x- 6,205.

“Wait,wait,wait, got it! It is 589,475!”  Baster yelled.

“Man, you are a genius!” exclaimed James

His voice echoed. James pointed straight. All of the competitors ran to the next level. They  gasped when they saw the next level, level 5: Crazy Moves.

Jack knew what to do. He ran, jumped, slid, climbed, and even skipped. The other competitors came after him but they were still behind him. Jack completed the level. He could see the finish line ahead. He saw the audience. Bump! A sign bumped into Jack’s nose.

Run! Run! Run! Jack read and understood. He ran as fast as he could. He paced himself and kept running. Behind, Matt was running, behind him, it was Horace, behind Horace, it was James, behind James, it was Baster. Jack slid over the finish line. The audience roared. The other competitors swooshed past after him.

“We will announce the winners.” said Mrs.Fox-Santora.  Jack waited for the moment.

“First Place: Jack

Second Place: Matt

Third Place: James

Fourth Place: Horace

Fifth Place: Baster”

Mrs.Fox-Santora gave a tall trophy to Jack. It was blue. Matt got a trophy that was  for second place. James also got a  trophy, but for third place.  Amazingly  surprised, Horace and Baster got medals! Jack’s parents came over and gave hugs to both of their sons. Jack and James said bye to the others.

“Wait Jack! Thanks for accepting my apology!”  said Horace.  Jack smiled and waved. A few hours later, they were on the plane.

“I’m so proud of you boys! You were super in the... Boys?” mom said.

Jack and James didn’t answer. They just smiled and thought about the race.