You're Gonna Live!
please note: I WROTE THIS WHEN I WAS 11!!! so yeah, it's predictable and not my usual standard but I had fun writing it which is all that matters :P
“Mush, mush!” Mallory yelled to her dogs as they ran through the raging blizzard. They had almost finished the race from Anchorage to Nome with $50,000 waiting at the end for first place. Mallory had to get there first if she was to save her daughter Sam from the brain tumour she had developed a month ago. Unfortunately her rival Tony Kin was in front - but only because he had “accidentally” pushed her into a snow mound an hour before. He wanted the money to buy his dream Winter Chalet in the Alps.
It had been eighteen hours since she started and her goal was two hours away. So to keep her mind focused she thought about Sam.
Two months earlier Sam had collapsed in school between lessons and wouldn’t regain consciousness. She was rushed off to the A&E at Anchorage Hospital where they had diagnosed her with a brain tumour. Mallory had been at work (or was it a friend’s house?) when the school called her on her cell phone. Mallory sped to the A&E and was told about everything that had happened. But the worst thing was that the operation to save Sam would cost her $10,000. She didn’t have that kind of money to spare. Not even her parents’ pensions covered it.
Mallory sighed. Her goal was a mere hour away and the dogs were running faster than ever. It had stopped snowing a little and the gentle wind made it seem as if the snowflakes were dancing in the sun’s rays.
When she had received the devastating news, it took her a while to consider the choices. Mallory could either let Sam die or enter the Nome International Sled Race and win. But she hadn’t done sled racing for a competition in three years. That was when her husband, Mike Faye, had died in a car crash. He was a well-known sled racer and many people mourned for him in the weeks that followed.
The thought of Mike’s death brought tears to Mallory’s eyes. She brushed them away roughly with a thickly gloved hand. The snow had stopped falling now and a few hundred metres in front of her was Tony Kin! She rushed her dogs forward and within a few seconds they were neck and neck with each other. They cast each other a few quick sideway glances until they came to the finishing lane which started off wide and got slimmer until there was only enough room for one sled.
As they neared it, the dogs running their fastest on both sides, Tony looked at Mallory through his thick black snow goggles, smiled, showing rows of yellow crooked teeth, and chuckled, “You’ll never win this race! Your dogs are exhausted and’re slowing down. You might as well give up now and think of another way to raise the money”
“Oh yeah? Your dogs’re slowing too so keep our boasts to yourself!” She replied sharply. “Oh and watch out for the snow ramp!”
“What snow ramp? There isn’t one!”
“Yes there is! Look!”
Mallory was right! Tony’s sled went over the snow ramp and crashed into the side. Mallory glanced behind to see a pair of black boots sticking out and the sled in pieces. Mallory gave a little laugh and was soon whooping with joy as she crossed the line.
Mallory steered the dogs into a corner where she started weeping tears of joy and happiness.
After receiving the trophy and cheque of $50,000, she called Sam and cried into the phone’s mouthpiece, “Sam baby, you’re gonna live! You’re gonna live, Sam, and you’ll come home to a completely refurbished house complete with the best 16th birthday anyone’s ever had!”
On the other end of the phone, the nurse holding up the phone to Sam’s ear in her hospital bed noticed Sam let a silent tear roll down her cheek and try to smile. The nurse understood how hard it was for her to smile in a paralysed state. But thank goodness that could be stopped.
It had been eighteen hours since she started and her goal was two hours away. So to keep her mind focused she thought about Sam.
Two months earlier Sam had collapsed in school between lessons and wouldn’t regain consciousness. She was rushed off to the A&E at Anchorage Hospital where they had diagnosed her with a brain tumour. Mallory had been at work (or was it a friend’s house?) when the school called her on her cell phone. Mallory sped to the A&E and was told about everything that had happened. But the worst thing was that the operation to save Sam would cost her $10,000. She didn’t have that kind of money to spare. Not even her parents’ pensions covered it.
Mallory sighed. Her goal was a mere hour away and the dogs were running faster than ever. It had stopped snowing a little and the gentle wind made it seem as if the snowflakes were dancing in the sun’s rays.
When she had received the devastating news, it took her a while to consider the choices. Mallory could either let Sam die or enter the Nome International Sled Race and win. But she hadn’t done sled racing for a competition in three years. That was when her husband, Mike Faye, had died in a car crash. He was a well-known sled racer and many people mourned for him in the weeks that followed.
The thought of Mike’s death brought tears to Mallory’s eyes. She brushed them away roughly with a thickly gloved hand. The snow had stopped falling now and a few hundred metres in front of her was Tony Kin! She rushed her dogs forward and within a few seconds they were neck and neck with each other. They cast each other a few quick sideway glances until they came to the finishing lane which started off wide and got slimmer until there was only enough room for one sled.
As they neared it, the dogs running their fastest on both sides, Tony looked at Mallory through his thick black snow goggles, smiled, showing rows of yellow crooked teeth, and chuckled, “You’ll never win this race! Your dogs are exhausted and’re slowing down. You might as well give up now and think of another way to raise the money”
“Oh yeah? Your dogs’re slowing too so keep our boasts to yourself!” She replied sharply. “Oh and watch out for the snow ramp!”
“What snow ramp? There isn’t one!”
“Yes there is! Look!”
Mallory was right! Tony’s sled went over the snow ramp and crashed into the side. Mallory glanced behind to see a pair of black boots sticking out and the sled in pieces. Mallory gave a little laugh and was soon whooping with joy as she crossed the line.
Mallory steered the dogs into a corner where she started weeping tears of joy and happiness.
After receiving the trophy and cheque of $50,000, she called Sam and cried into the phone’s mouthpiece, “Sam baby, you’re gonna live! You’re gonna live, Sam, and you’ll come home to a completely refurbished house complete with the best 16th birthday anyone’s ever had!”
On the other end of the phone, the nurse holding up the phone to Sam’s ear in her hospital bed noticed Sam let a silent tear roll down her cheek and try to smile. The nurse understood how hard it was for her to smile in a paralysed state. But thank goodness that could be stopped.
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