Run Your Own Race

Bixie just shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll just try my hardest,” she said. “That’s the best I can do.”

Bixie’s friends patted her on the back and gave her encouragement. “Give it your best shot” they said. “Just run as fast as you can,” they told her. “It’s okay if you don’t win, not everyone can win against a fast cougar.”

But Coug didn’t like that Bixie was racing against him. When he saw Bixie’s heavy shell, thick turtle legs, and clumsy feet, he knew that the race was not even worth running.

“Oh, come on,” Coug said angrily. “This is insulting! I can’t even believe that I’m expected to run a race against a turtle. Who ever heard of that anyway? Probably in the whole wide world, there’s never been a time a turtle ran against a cougar. That just doesn’t make sense.”

Bixie looked sad when Coug said that. She felt shy, and her head sunk down a little into her shell. She could see that Coug was wearing sports clothes and running shoes, while she was wearing her favorite dress and regular shoes. Maybe Coug was right, she thought. Maybe it wasn’t even worth trying.

Coug continued boasting and ran in a complete circle around the turtle girl.

“I’m so much faster than you,” he teased Bixie. “You can’t even catch up. And you know what? It’s going to be SO boring crossing the finish line and having to wait for YOU to finish. So BORING racing against you.”

“Don’t quit, Bixie,” Teejah whispered to her. “Try your hardest.”

Then the two racers lined up at the starting line and waited for Coach Davis to blow his whistle.

“On your marks, get set, GO!” Coach shouted before blowing his whistle loudly.

Coug and Bixie took off. Coug got off to a pretty good start and quickly ran out of sight. Bixie on the other hand, got off to a much slower start.