Totem Pole
There was this girl who lived in a small town, had loving parents and siblings & she attended a well known high school. That girl had a passion, she loved running. Each Saturdays and sometimes Sunday mornings she laced her old beaten up shoes, got dressed up in her gear which she chose according to the weather. Careful not to wake up anybody, she tip toed down the stairs, entered the kitchen & poured herself a small glass of ice cold water before going outside. She took a couple of seconds to herself, the comfortable summer breeze brushing her face , she let her eyes have time to adjust itself to the bright but welcoming sun. She stretched lightly before making the first few steps, slowly at first then breaking into a run shortly after. She found her pace that she would able to maintain throughout the run.
She had lost track of time a long time ago, she concentrated on her steady breathing & the familiar sound her feet made each time they came in contact with the hard ground. She had one thing on her mind at that moment, only one. Youth Nationals 2012. She had heard of it before, she wanted to go. The thing was she didn’t have the standards just yet. A couple seconds of her 800 m & she’s in! It sounded so simple, just burn down four seconds and you got the standard but it really wasn’t, she was determined to have that time before summer ends. That was the reasons for those morning runs. After her unusual long run, she came in opened her house only to hear her mother speaking
"Isabelle, honey, is that you? " Her mom asked sleepiness obvious in her voice.
" Yes mom, sorry I took so long" Isabelle politely replied
She rushed upstairs, striped out of her sweaty clothes and jumped in the shower. Isabelle was too busy preparing her mind to her upcoming race that she hadn’t even realized that she had been in the shower for way too long. With her now wrinkly fingers, she prepared her sport bag. She did a double check before heading downstairs to wake up her father & brother. They packed up the car then started the trip to Ottawa. After 3 long hours of car rides, they arrived at the track. She believed that she could cut down her time to 2:32. She did her warm up & stretched until every one of her muscles felt relieved. It was now race time, she felt her nerves coming to its peeks as the official places many other girls on the start line. She was waiting for the gun shot, the seconds felt like minutes & she remembered telling herself to breathe, just breath, she looked around and spotted her 3 brothers cheering on the sidelines along with her parents, but the gunshot brought her back to reality. She broke into a fast run, found her pace & maintained it. Finishing her first lap, she saw her time, it was way too slow. She had to accelerate and she did. Isabelle was determined. She ignored the throbbing pain in her lower calves and pushed herself to her limits. It was time for her final sprint, she gave her all. In a blur of a second it was all down, she was one the sidelines panting & trying to get back to her normal, steady breathing. Soon after she heard all the heavy footsteps of her family, she was brought upon a very uncomfortable but familiar family hug. They kept on congratulated her over & over again. She thought about the rough year that her family had been