Why? That was the only thought that entered my mind as I got in the gate. I’m tired. I had run myself ragged. I’m probably overweight because of all my stress eating, my ankles and knees feel like they got brutally assaulted.

  The last two months have been hell. I have run 7 races in those mentioned 2 months and not even won a single time. But at least I got in the top five every time…that gotta count for something. My body feels weak after my trainer just kept on making me train without rest, I guess it helped me with stamina but even before this race he made me train and I'm now subsequently tired.

  I just hope I can go to Tracen to escape this ape of a trainer.

  My trainer's strategy is end closer seeing as I clearly can’t do any of the other strategies. Honestly I will be glad if I crack the top ten.

  WILL YOU TRULY BE HAPPY WITH THAT?

  …

  …

  No, I don’t think so.

  …

  You can still win

  Show them who you are.

  …

  I should have known that I couldn’t fool myself, who am I kidding!? I will be mad if I even get second place! Who cares if I’m still tired...I can still win.

  “Get ready!” The announcer said “The fan favorite is Ancient Ohio, famous for her stamina and consistency, a track record of four starts and four wins. Second favorite Slow Poke her last burst is truly something to marvel at. Third favorite is Lightning Chariot, famous for always cracking the top five but never winning in all her 7 races, she’s the most experienced uma on this track and it seems like she’s in a bad mood today. Will lightning Chariot succeed in winning this time!? We will see who’ll win the Junior Cup” The announcer finished.

  Ah yes the Junior cup an unranked race that is 1600m and on turf.

  I take a deep breath trying to calm myself down and let it out. I get ready, waiting for the gates to open.

  The gates unravel as I sprint forward feeling my feet meet the turf with such force that I thought they would break. I see Ancient Ohio in first place widening the gap between her and second, slow poke was in the mid pack to the outside.

  And I…I am in last place.

  I tried to accelerate but my body was too tired, come on! Come on! My body was shaking barely upright as the gap between me and the person ahead of me widened.

  “Ancient Ohio takes first place! Right on her tail is Kidlookingtouchabel and two lengths behind her is Awfully Calm. Ass Crack and Slow Poke are right beside each other fighting for fourth place!, in sixth place is Old Texan and five lengths behind her is Light with Bone Destroyer right on her tail! and second to last is Oh No! five lengths behind is Lightning Chariot!" The announcer said sounding way to golly at me being last

  My body…so heavy

  I gasped and gasped trying to inhale as much air as I could feeling my body betray me as I got more sluggish...come on accelerate!

  I felt my feet smashing into the ground fueled by pure spite. This is not how it ends!

  My pace quickened and I heard my body groaning.

  I’m gonna win even if my body gets destroyed! My feet meet the ground faster.

  FASTER!

  My body obliged as if finally linking up with my mind. My arms were swinging, my breath labored and my legs tired but I kept on accelerating as if I was light itself.

  “What?” Oh No said looking behind her as I hounded my legs into the ground in the act we call running and passed him still accelerating.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  I felt my lungs screaming at me, begging me to slow down. That I just wasn’t built for running. That I should give up and settle with being last…and to that I say hell no! I kept on advancing, somehow finding another gear and passing Bone destroyer.

  “We’re rounding the first corner! Ancient Ohio is still in first place now dueling with Slow poke! One length behind Slow Poke is Awfully calm with Kidlookingtouchable right beside her. Behind Kidlookingtouchable is Old Texan with half a length, three lengths behind Old Texan is...Lightning Chariot with half a length in front of Light, behind Light by three lengths is Bone Crusher and Oh No. There’s 8 lengths between first and last place!”

  I stop advancing desperately trying to keep my place and recover some of my stamina. I angle my feet positioning myself to the outside so I don’t get boxed in.

  I then accelerated slightly, closing the gap between me and Old Texan to one length over 200m. I think I have recovered enough stamina right? I take a breath and explode forward. Leaving a drag path etched in the surface.

  “Lightning Chariot is making a move!” The announcer said

  I decimate the gap between me and Old Texan overtaking her by one length and I wasn't done. I plant my feet into the ground leaving marks, I grit my teeth emitting sparks that fly and feel my lungs, legs and everything else in my body scream as I advance like a mad man over to third place just behind Slow Poke.

  Is this my limit? I looked around to see how much was left of the race. My eyes looked towards the next corner, It was the third. If I were to guess there was about 100m before we round the third corner. I ready myself, saving my stamina until the third corner.

  My legs were tired, that tiredness that made it feel like I was moving through mud and my lungs were burning, in fact it felt like I didn't even have lungs!

  I’m tired, isn't this enough? I mean I’m in third place, that's kinda good right? My reputation of always cracking in the fifth place will be intact, that’s good right?

  It isn’t first place but I would never win anyway. The odds were too stacked against me.

  I will never win

  I WILL NEVER WIN

  I WILL NEVER WIN!

  I WILL NEVER WIN!

  I WILL NEVER WIN!

  “Is that truly what you believe?” A voice said…I recognize it. Suddenly I’m not on the race track but instead in a white hallway still running and in front of me was my younger self. The one who still believes,the one who thought that maybe she could also become like the super stars on the tv, the one who was always running around, the one who got her dreams crushed as she got older.

  “Don’t you dare give up!” Now it wasn’t my younger self but instead the kind old grocery cashier. He who always gave me extra snacks because “You need to eat to become strong!” He who would always cheer me up with his jokes, he who hid his pain so I wouldn’t see it, he who said “Don’t you dare give up!” The day before dying.

  “Didn’t you say you would run for me?” Now it was the wheelchair bound grandma she who was always kind to everyone, she who always gave me pie because she always “made too much” She who laughed when I said “I will run for both of us!”

  My parents,my younger self, the old cashier, the grandma, my siblings, the train station manager, the newspaper boy, my whole village! They all fighted so I could climb, they paved the roads so I could run! I’m using the shoes they bought! My chances of success were built on their blood!

  The white room was shaking,cracking, showing the race track once more.

  I can win

  I can win!

  I CAN WIN!

  I CAN WIN!

  I CAN WIN!

  My legs propel forward breaking through the white room and accelerating with such speed that I thought my legs would break but I persevered! Cause they want me to win! I want to win! So why shouldn’t I give it my AAAAALLLL!

  “URRRRAAAAA!” I scream as I explode forward blowing past Slow Poke with my arms swinging and beginning to catch up to Ancient Ohio who was five Lengths ahead of me.

  “What is this! They have entered the last straight with new found energy and with only 300m to go! Lightning Chariot is accelerating nay she’s exploding forward! 250m to go! Lightning Chariot is catching up; she's unending! She's catching up! 200m to go there’s only one length between them! One length! It’s brutal! 100m to go! She has caught up! Lightning Chariot has caught up!” The announcer practically screamed as the crowd roared seeing us neck to neck. The sounds echoing off our shoes sounded like a stampede

  I kept on going, doing my darndest to get even a centimeter ahead of Ancient Ohio and Ancient Ohio was doing the same, neither of us giving ground. My legs were smashing into the ground and hers were too. The wind rushing between us and the crowd roaring.

  “50m to go!” The announcer screamed and I continued running for my life,for my people, for the people that believed in me!

  Co-no

  No,no,no!

  My feet trip a little.

  Wait I can stil w-

  “And they crossed the finish line!” The announcer screamed as we crossed the finish line.

  No…I lost.

  I-I-I lo-I lost.

  I lose my footing crashing into the ground but that doesn’t even register. I then begin feeling tears cooming to my face. “Sorry...I failed you all I-I disappointed you…sorry” I say tears streaming down my face.

  “It doesn’t matter, as long as you strive for your dream and never give up! giving it your all! Then you’ll never disappoint us! Infact you're our biggest pride!” I looked up and what greeted me was all the people that supported me on this journey…everyone was smiling as if I won and then I realised why…this was the first time I gave it my all, this was the first time I crossed that large of a gap and this was the first time, truly the first time that I was angry that I lost.

  So I wiped my tears and smiled not because I won but because it was so fun to finally race like I wanted to win...it felt like I was a kid again shooting for the stars.

  I will never give up again!

  And then they disappear like ghosts.