Ski Trip

Quite Old...


By using the new method, the ski championship trophy should mine! Jake thought as he waited in the boy’s locker room for the announcement of who would win the huge golden trophy for skiing the highest hill in Denver, Colorado. “The winner…” the loudspeaker clicked on “of the highest award possible to be in possession of anyone at the age of 13” Jake could hardly breathe. “The winner of the hundredth youth skiing competition is…” Jake Martin, Jake Martin…Jake concentrated on that name. “Bobby Bixbee! And in second place…Jake Martin, who will compete in the state finals next week. Also, Jake has received a message from the judges which reads: “Jake, we appreciated your act of honesty in admitting the field sabotage, but you had a slight bit of acting clumsy on the field, but good job.” Thank you all for coming today and congratulations to Bobby and Jake. Goodbye!”
After that, it seemed that the whole crowd looked at me. I ran back into the locker room, and thought about this decision. “Second Place! How could they put me in second place?! For the whole distance I skied, and I must have gotten millions of injuries from when my knee hit that tree! (They were just cuts really.) And they think that they can put me in second place?!” By now he had gotten to the front door and sat down to sign autographs and be admired when his manager tapped him on the shoulder, “Excuse me sir, but may I speak to you in private?” “Of course you can.” I replied. “Jake I have good and bad news,” Mr. Thompson began. “Well the good news is that you just got your 8 hundredth fan 3 hours ago!” “That’s great news!” I exclaimed. “But there is still the bad news. You are in the danger of being off track in the tournament and might have to miss the New Zealand trip for the finals.” “NO! I have to go to that! If I don’t make it there my contract is on the line! And if I get fired my reputation is ruined!” “You have three days until the wild card performance. But remember the judges are very strict. Good Luck. You’re my best client yet.” And with that he was gone.
Three Days later……
“Welcome to the hundredth annual wild card competition! Today we have Jake Martin currently in 2nd place and Grubba Loxer currently in 3rd place, competing for the trip to the finals in New Zealand! Now at the sound of the horn they will begin to race down the…” HONK!!! “GO GO GO!” Now, I really should explain how this clumsy demonstration went, but in honesty you really wouldn’t want to know for it was too gruesome. In the end it turned out that Jake had a broken leg, a broken collar bone, and was almost completely covered in blood. After he was all cleaned up, and in a wheelchair, he was sent to get the results privately. (They were to be released the following Saturday.) “Jake on behalf of the council of judges, we are all sorry for your injuries today, and respect the fact that you have the guts to come down here. And for that, you will be competing in the finals in January.” “January?” I asked. “Yes. The judges have decided to let your injuries heal. It’s only fair.” “Oh thank you!” When he entered the hall there were numerous reporters there waiting to talk to him. It took him almost thirty minutes to get to the limousine.
You must understand that many people have tried to find information on what happened between the Wild Card Event and The New Zealand Finals. I could not find any information, except hearsay and gossip that could not be confirmed, so I’ll skip to the Finals.
The New Zealand Finals!
“Here we are at the New Zealand finals! This will mark the first time that we have seen Jack Martin since the Wild Card performance, and there he is!” A reporter said into the camera as he got out of his H2 limousine. There were so many people crowding the red carpet that the sky was just about the only thing he could see. It also stayed that way until he reached the top of the mountain (except in the elevator, of course). “Now this will be a race between all six contestants. The first to reach the bottom of the mountain wins. 3…2…1… GO!” They began down the mountain at an incredible speed. “Everything that happened to me that day was very strange.” Jake said afterwards “The only thing that I can recall is hearing the announcer call: “The winner of the skiing championship 2006 is Jake Martin!!” And now when I look back, I know that I did my best and sometimes your best is good enough to win.