The Redmadafa

by Gary Foshee

Dragon Strike.’” He struck a Kung Fu pose and raised his left brow.

  “Oh…neat. That’s creative,” said Rachael, thinking it looked

  more like the ‘TDF 90,’ short for ‘The Dragon Flop.’ How’s that

  working for you?”

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  Petra stopped and grabbed his back. He bent his head way

  back and pushed his lower back forward and sighed, “Not good.

  Maybe I need to do more spring thrusts.” He squatted down

  crossing his arms and then jumped up uncrossing them.

  Brook’s eyes widened and her head tilted back. Trying not to

  laugh she said, “Now that’s a good one…an original.”

  “You think so?” answered Petra breathing hard. “This is my

  secret move.” He spun his head to the left and then to the right.

  “You don’t see anyone looking, do you? I wouldn’t want them to

  steal it.”

  “Steal it. No, I think you’re good.” Brook and Rachael looked

  at each other. “We have to go get a seat now. We’ll see you later.”

  “Good luck…see you at the finish line!” waved Rachael.

  He didn’t say anything. He just waved and nodded his head—

  he was in ‘The Zone!’

  Mike and Johnny floated above the starting line in their leaf hut, carried by four flying trelaby hummers. Mike looked out over

  the field of contestants, his heart filled with compassion. Johnny looked over and gently placed his arm around him.

  “Moving.”

  “What?” responded Mike, looking back at him with tears in

  his eyes.

  “It’s moving…so many, so happy, so…free. We are blessed to

  have witnessed what happened here.

  “The Augur did a Great Thing,” said Mike.

  “He sure did. He sure did.”

  Johnny leaned over and grabbed the sea shel . “Beasts,

  creatures, and humans welcome to the 50th ‘Big Round About.’

  Competitors from all over the circle have come to watch Trax

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  “The Cat” Louise defend his title against some the strongest, fast-est runners on the circle.”

  “Johnny, I’ve never seen a more fit and even field before in

  all my life.”

  “You can say that again, Mike. This will be the biggest race

  ever. If you’re not in this race, then nothing else will ever matter.”

  “Johnny, there’s a lot of new faces out there. I think we’re in

  for an upset.”

  “Mike, in this race, the odds are in favor of the long shot. I’m going to keep my eyes on the no names, those we know nothing

  about.”

  “Yeah, like that kid from Jasmine Crossing. I hear his family

  lost everything in a fire and had to rebuild from scratch.”

  “Absolutely Mike.”

  “Or, what about the new girl who gave up her young’un?”

  “Mike, I heard she got help from the temple servants and has

  started over. I heard a smile has returned to her face and that she’s been helping out on Sun Day with the little ones.”

  “Johnny, with so much hope and love spreading across the

  circle, how could anyone stay discouraged?”

  Coach was so excited he didn’t know what to do. He scrambled

  through his bag and then ran over to Rammer. He pulled out a

  long piece of white, sticky fabric and wrapped it around his left ankle.

  “There how’s that?”

  Rammer stood up. He walked around and then jumped up

  and down shaking his legs out.

  “Great.” Rammer looked at coach’s hands—they shook wildly.

  “Are you alright? I thought I was the one that was supposed to be nervous.”

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  “Nervous.” Coach held out his hands—they vibrated. “Just

  excited, that’s al . Just excited…Now remember, in Crooked

  Creek Pass there’s a lot of loose gravel. As you approach the turn, keep to the left inside corner; it will keep you in-line coming out of the turn and keep you from going over the edge. Watch the

  loose gravel in the turns and—”

  “Coach, I remember, you told me this last year.”

  “I’m just making sure. Rammer, you can beat him, but you

  must believe that you can beat him.”

  “Coach, I’ve already beat him. I’ve already beat them al .”

  Coach looked at him with a puzzled look as he tossed the

  white fabric back in the bag.

  Rammer pointed into the crowd. “Do you see him? There, in

  the red shirt.”

  Coach looked into the crowd and there, standing on the front

  row, was Rooter. “I see him. Your Dad is here.”

  “Yeah.” With confidence in his voice and a smile longer than

  the rainbow shining up above, Rammer boasted, “Like I said

  coach, I’ve already won. Trax doesn’t stand a chance. Do you

  think that’s cheating? I could have him move back a few rows.”

  Coached laughed and grabbed Rammer in his arms. “If it

  was anyone else, I would say no. But in your case, I think I’ll need to check the rule book.” He rubbed him on the head and pushed

  him out the door. “Now, get out there and show’em kid.”

  The front line moved as close to the line as they could get. Heads bobbed up and down in the middle and at the rear.

  “Ok, whipper snappers, shut your yappers, and open your

  flappers,” said the old shel back hobbling out in front of the starting line.

  “You are standing on the start and the finish line. This is a

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  one-lap event. You must obey the rules and keep in-step with

  the Great Spirit. If you get off the trail for any reason, you will be disqualified. But don’t lose heart, there’s still time to re-qualify.

  Now, get ready, it’s going to be a bumpy race. So, put on the belt of Truth. Slip on your Breastplate of Righteousness and put on your shoes, ready to deliver the Gospel of Peace. Take up your Shields of Faith and the Helmet of Salvation. And most importantly,

  under no circumstances, and I mean it, are you to do anything without first praying in the Spirit. Are there any questions?”

  “I have...” said a creature standing in the middle.

  “Good, then:

  “Let’s get ready to Thunder...!”

  Trax looked over at Rammer, Rammer looked over at Tank, and

  Tank looked over at Petra. He raised his eyebrows a couple of

  times and smiled. Petra looked back to the front waiting for the horn. He raised his eyes a couple of times and wondered if that

  was something you were supposed to do before the race. If it was, he sure didn’t feel any different. Oh wel , he thought. He looked over to the guy standing next to him. He raised his eyes two times and smiled. The beast, which was smiling, dropped his smile and

  snarled back. Petra swallowed and looked back to the front.

  “Hey preacher boy,” spoke a voice from behind.

  Petra rolled his eyes to the rear but didn’t look back.

  “The first shall be last,” whispered Mumba in one wattle, a

  creature with three heads and four legs, and “The last shall be

  first,” he whispered in the other. He raised all six eyes two times, each face smiling grimly. He nudged the crawler standing next to him and laughed.

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  Petra looked back to the front. He figured he better just con-

  centrate on the race before him.

  The old shel back stretched hi
s head out of his shell and raised it high into the air. He signaled the small dragonfly and pointed at Petra. The dragon fly flew over with a small stick in his hand and smacked his feet. Petra jumped back across the line—he

  wanted to take that stick and… bless him with it… yes… bless

  him with it.

  The dragonfly turned around to fly back. Tank reached his

  right front leg up and slapped it down the line. It spun around

  and gawked at Petra. Tank pointed at Petra and snickered under

  his breath. The dragonfly flew back beside the shel back and spun around—his eyes burned a steady hole right through Petra. He

  took two fingers and pointed them at his eyes and then pointed

  them at Petra. Maybe this wasn’t the place for him after al , he thought. The race hadn’t even started and already three people

  were out to get him.

  “On your mark…”

  Everyone leaned forward across the line.

  “Get set…”

  Mumba stepped on Petra’s tail.

  AURRRRRRR, the sea horn sounded.

  The front line took off. Petra fell flat on his face as Mumba stepped on his head and the crawler ran him over. He popped up from the

  ground only to be trampled by the rest of the field.

  “Bunch of no good, double-crossing, lying, cheating…” what

  am I saying he thought? He picked himself up and took off, com-

  pletely disoriented as to what had just happened—“Forgive them

  Father, for they know not what they do.”

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  The pack closed in around Trax trying to contain him and

  slow him down. He bounced around in the middle from every-

  one pushing and shoving him, jockeying for position. Tank ran

  Trax into the howler twins who returned the favor and knocked

  him into the lixoars. Rammer, who had been sandwiched at the

  start, had somehow found himself at the rear with Petra. He

  looked for an opportunity to pass but couldn’t make it pass the

  tails that swung rowdily in the back.

  The pack jumped up and over the first set of jumps. Mumba

  slammed Tank with one of his heads in mid-air causing him to

  lose balance and land on his side, tripping several others. Petra cleared the jump and landed right on Tank who was starting to

  stand up. “I’m sorry, are you ok?” He stopped and helped him

  back up and then took off.

  Tank looked at the others, “Who is that guy? How did he get

  in this race?” They all shrugged and took off.

  The pack cleared the other jumps and approached meteor

  rock. One of the howler twins jumped on the back of a large

  thunder beast and ran up its body. He jumped off its head clear-

  ing meteor rock, taking the lead. The other twin paced abreast

  Rammer keeping him close.

  Rammer and Trax cleared the rock and started to navigate

  their way through the pack.

  Dust and small pebbles shot high into the air as the pack

  closed in on Skull Tunnel. The trail was so dry and thick with

  dirt that it covered the competitors in a dust cloud hiding them from view. Petra maneuvered through the dust cloud, stepping

  on tails and tripping the lixoars as he passed by. The lixoars rolled along the edge of the trail and quickly recovered. They focused

  on the howler twins, convinced they had tripped them. Petra was

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  oblivious to his surroundings. He was so happy to be in the race, that he just smiled and waved as he passed several others.

  The crawler entered the tunnel and took to the ceiling. Three

  new members of the lixoar gang waited around the corner and

  up in an overhang. Mumba entered the tunnel next to the large

  thunder beast. Spotting a split ahead, he shoved with flank and

  shoulder running the beast and the rest of the pack down the left side tunnel, while he and those in the rear cut down the right.

  The large thunder beast ran into the left-side wall of the tun-

  nel breaking off numerous stalagmites, which littered the tunnel floor peppering the face of the other racers. Three other competitors spilt-off down another tunnel, which wrapped around and

  then shot them back out with the rest of the pack. Waiting at the merge was the lixoar gang. They pulled a large rope tripping the front two, rolling them back into the pack creating a mass pile up.

  Rammer and Trax jumped over the fallen debris and shot around

  the pile.

  Mumba, Tank and the lixoars ran through the short-cut tun-

  nel. They rounded the corner and ran into a large web attached

  from floor to ceiling. They shook hard in the webbing trying

  to free themselves. Tank tried to free himself but all four limbs where stuck in different directions. Petra rounded the corner,

  tripped on a rock, and plowed right through the webbing, free-

  ing all captives. Tank hit the ground and landed face to face with Petra. He looked at Petra with disgust. “Why me? Why me?” he

  yelled, looking upward. He shoved Petra’s face in the dirt and

  then took off.

  The crawler emerged first out of the tunnel followed by the

  howler twins and then by the rest of the pack. They ran down

  the trail and got in single-file as they approached Shifting Sand Bridge. At the bridge, the crawler spread its legs and crossed in 358

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  record time. The howler twins jumped from spot to spot careful y recognizing the packed and unpacked soil. Mumba plunged face

  first into the first sinkhole—Tank ran right over him but then

  sunk waist-deep in the middle. Mumba grabbed the side and

  pulled out. He used one leg to test the ground while the others

  crawled around the sink holes. The large thunder beast thought

  he was a ragoole. He jumped in the air like he was going to fly

  across. He landed about a quarter of the way across and fell—his head and tail covered the entire bridge. The rest of the competitors ran across him and the bridge with ease.

  Once across the bridge, the pack formed back together. The

  lixoars, seizing the opportunity, singled out a howler twin for pay-back from the tripping earlier—which was accidental by Petra in

  the dust cloud. They waited for the curve and then hit him from

  the side. The howler skidded off the trail and down the side of

  the mountain into a patch of green spikes. Mumba, sensing the

  opportunity, rammed the lixoars trying to send them off the trail as wel , but they collided into Tank and regained their balance.

  They moved behind Mumba who was fast approaching Lava Pit.

  The crawler, still in the lead, didn’t bother with the rope.

  About twenty feet back it shot a web of rope to the top beam. Not missing a stride, it swung over Lava Pit and disappeared down

  the trail. Mumba zoned-in on the rope and jumped. As he did,

  a lixoars shot from behind and snatched the rope out of mid-air, right before his hand reached it. Mumba planted all fours in the dark red lava mud and struggled to climb out. Rammer reached

  the rope right before Trax and swung across, jumping off one

  of Mumba’s heads. His other two heads snapped ferociously at

  Rammer but were sideswiped by Trax.

  Petra jumped for the rope and missed. He landed on Mumba’s

  back who was just climbing out of the pit, causing them both to

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  fall back into the mud. Mumba kicked him in the ribs and shot

  out of the pit.
Petra’s head popped up out of the pit just as Tank jumped across. His head clipped Tank’s feet causing him to tumble over and land on his head on the other side. With his mouth

  filled with dirt, he shot his eyes back at Petra.

  He jumped up, looked at Petra and yelled, “I’m gonna kill

  you. When this is over, I’m gonna kill you.”

  Petra innocently shrugged his shoulders and asked, “What?

  I didn’t do anything.”

  The lixoars reached Rolling Timber Jam just ahead of the

  howler. When they arrived, the crawler was wobbling all over

  the place. Its legs couldn’t grab on to the rolling logs spinning wildly out of control. Blocked by the crawler, one of the lixoars grabbed a long stick and knocked the crawler off its feet. It rolled upside down off the logs and off the trail. The howler ambushed

  the lixoars from behind and knocked one of them off the trail

  and into the crawler, still on its back swinging frantical y. The crawler looked over and covered the lixoar in a barrage of webbing, entombing it instantly.

  Rammer and Trax reached the jam together. Rammer low-

  ered his body and prepared for his special move, only to discover the logs were rolling in a different direction this year—he struggled to pull out just in time. Trax jumped across the logs using a side-to-side, jump-and-stop motion. Rammer observed and

  then followed suit. Petra passed the pack and steadied himself for the jam. He stopped at the first log and got ready to jump. Tank, eager for revenge, rammed him from behind, catapulting him up

  and over the jam. He landed next to Trax and Rammer, raised his

  eyes twice and smiled. He then jumped in front of them and sped

  up—he was in second and loving it.

  The pack cleared the jam and set their sights on Rammer and

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  Trax. Rammer and Trax went up and over several hil s and then

  started the descent into Crooked Creek Pass. Up ahead the lixoar and the howler rammed each other in the side. They both entered

  the turn extremely fast and on the outside edge. The howler

  knocked the lixoar back inside. The lixoar shot back and hit the howler out of the turn, sending them both tumbling over the side and out of sight.

  Petra was now in the lead with Rammer and Trax closing

  fast. Petra hugged the inside wall but slipped in the turn on the loose gravel. He slid across the path and ran alongside the edge.

  Rammer and Trax, both hugging the wal , came out of the turn

  with miner slippage. They caught Petra who was still tiptoeing