by Mike Thaler
Derek doesn’t get any in and misses the backboard complete- ly. We win the event and we put our best paw forward.
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Station number two is the Three-Legged Race. Coach ties my leg to Eric’s and then ties Derek’s to Randy’s. Then he yells, “On your mark, get set, go!”
We’re off and hobbling. I don’t know how spiders walk with eight legs. Our legs get tangled, and we fall over. It’s obvious Derek and Randy have been practicing, because they win by two noses.
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We’re tied, one to one. Next is the Water Balloon Toss, and Derek’s team drowns. They lose with a big splash! Our team floats to the top with a win.
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We’re ahead two to one, but then they catch up in the Ring Toss. Randy is a ringer. I didn’t know he was so good. But we pull ahead with a Hula-Hoop victory. Penny out-wiggles Doris. She’s really hip!
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The Tigers catch up in the Bean Bag Toss. And we have our first casualty. Eric gets beaned with a bag and has to go see Miss Hearse. Derek calls Eric a beanie baby as he leaves the field.
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After a few minutes, Eric’s back out on the field in a flash. He’s hopping mad for the Sack Race. We bounce back into the lead by sacking them with a win.
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But then the Tigers give us the boot and win the Soccer Kick contest. Now we’re all tied up again going into the Bubble Gum blowout.
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Chapter 11
a blowout
Our hopes are riding on Freddy, who can now get twen- ty-nine pieces of bubble gum into his mouth. Eric and I keep shoving it in until his cheeks are puffed out like softballs.
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When he tries to blow, Freddy just starts turning an odd shade of blue and we have to rush him to Miss Hearse, who does an emergency extraction with pliers. Derek’s team wins the event, and our whole team is blue.
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But we rally and take the Cake Walk.
It’s tied again! Now it’s all riding on the last event—the Tug- of-War. Can we pull it off?
Freddy, who still is a shade of aqua, is our anchor. The Tigers’ anchor is Doris. She looks pretty tough. We line up on the rope and spit on our hands. We’re off!
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We huff and puff. We tug and chug. We yank and crank. We heave and haul, but nobody’s budging at all—not even an inch!
After fifteen minutes of major exertion, Coach Kong blows his whistle, and he declares the field day a tie. We let go of the rope and all fall down laughing and rolling around. Everyone’s beat, but a winner!
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Chapter 12
happy ending
So we all get to celebrate because we’re all field day champs. As a reward, each of us gets a Popsicle and a gold medal. Well, not really gold, more like yellow cardboard medals made by Miss Swamp.
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But we wear our medals with pride on the bus ride home and talk all about what a great time we had at the field day.
The field day totally rocked! Then we all laugh together, remembering all the fun stuff that had nothing to do with winning, like the water balloons bursting and the look on Freddy’s face when he tried to blow a bub- ble.
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When I get home, I find my rubber band and throw it in the trash. I don’t need a gimmick to be a winner!
Maybe next year for the field day, I’ll start exercising more and be as big as Mr. Universe. Well, maybe that’s stretching it a little. At least I know that it’ll be a field day of fun.
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