A New Start
by Triton Ng 5D
The final story assignment of 2024-2025, starting from the Create an Emotion lesson.
“Ready, set, go!" The game announcer said, Tim jumped up and down. He couldn't stop moving. The athletes started running like cheetahs.
His friend Fuji ran like the wind.
Tim’s school, Aquamarine Primary School, entered five of their students into the yearly Hong Kong International Sports Games, a new record for their school..
Tim’s friend, Fuji, was one of the participants for the 100-meter race. It was exactly ten o’clock now. The first game had already started.
“Go, go, go!” The sound of his school was eardrum-shattering.
Fuji started running like the world depended on it. His body was a blur but he was slowly getting left in the dust by the other runners. Then the first athlete crossed the line. The others crossed as well. Tim’s friend Fuji was fifth in place.
“Bruh,” Tim said, “he is slooooooow.”
“He isn’t ,”Ham said. “You know that? He beats almost everyone at school. The others are just too fast for him.”
“Yeah, but still…”
After that, all he could do was just watch the other lead . He had nothing to do. He wished he had been smarter and brought something to play or do.
A few hours later, around two o’clock in the afternoon. It was time for Bob to race.
Bob was another close friend at their school. He always played board games with Tim, Ham and Fuji; they were all very good friends.
He was racing in the 400-meter race. He kept twitching, and his hands were sweating; even Tim could see that all the way from the stadium .
‘Three, two, one, go!’ the speaker shouted into the microphone. Bob was fast compared to his schoolmates but he was like an overgrown snail racing next to beetles , quickly falling to second last after only a few seconds. He finished third to last because one of the athletes tripped in front of him.
Tim’s face fell, he had hoped Bob would be better than this.
He had hoped their school could have done better. They had come in second ,but that was counting from the bottom in the school rankings.
“You look disappointed,” Ham said.
“How are you not?," Tim said, raising his voice. "We got second to last in the school rankings! It’s even worse than last year.”
“Yeah but last year we had two very good sixth grades,” Ham yelled back, ”they aren’t here now.”
“I wish I hadn't come. I wish I had stayed home,” Tim cursed.
“They’ll do better next year.”
“I hope so.”
Fuji and Bob had come back up to the stands. They hurried to the empty seats beside Tim and Ham. Their faces were red and they were dripping with sweat. They grabbed their water bottles and started drinking like crazy.
“You were great,” Ham told them enthusiastically.
“You could have done better,” Tim said sarcastically.
“Yeah,” Fuji said, “they were so fast. I couldn't even keep up with them.’
“Yeah the other schools are so much faster than us,” Bob said.
“Well… at least we’re not last,” Ham said.
“But still…” Tim said, “you could have done better!” he practically yelled at them.
“Try racing and getting a medal, and you’ll see how hard it is!” Fuji yelled back, even louder than before.
Tim started to hit the wall in front of him really hard , like making-the-wall-break kind of hard.
His hands began to bleed.
“Chill out, Tim, chill out.” Bob said.
“I'm going to try to win next year if I can,” Tim replied.
Over the following few months, Tim was seen in the park daily, running around faster and faster every day, and on the weekend he was often seen in the gym near his home.
His mom had been very surprised that Tim wanted to enter into the international games, but he had been very enthusiastic about it.
She had helped him pay for a running sports lesson.
Tim also appeared less and less at his friend's parties. He didn’t eat as many snacks as well. He was determined to get into the sports games and get a medal. He knew it was impossible to win the championship .
His friends hadn't thought he was being serious about trying to get on to the podium. They thought he had just said that because he was mad.
“You know maybe he’ll actually get into the games and finally get a win for our school, he’s getting quicker.” Bob said to Fuji.
“I doubt it. Look at how fast the other competitors are.” Fuji replied.
“Just have a little hope, since our school hasn't ever won even once .” Bob sighed.
“Welcome to the International Hong Kong Sports Games!” the commentator announced in a microphone.
“Thank you to all of you for joining us today. It is a pleasure to see such a large crowd. Now I will announce the competitors of the first game…”
Tim’s hands were shaking, he was sweating furiously.
“Don’t be nervous, Tim. It’s just a race.” Bob tried to calm him, ”Just do your best.”
“I’ll try.” Tim said.
“And now for the 100-meter race, we have Aden Wong from Space School, Max Lee from Subspace School. We have Sam Smife from Chaotic School, Mary Chan from Divine School, and finally we have Tim Lou from Aquamarine School.”
The crowd cheered loudly, they held signs that read, ’ Go Space School!’ or ‘Win Subspace School!’ and ‘Go Aquamarine School Win!' There were also signs that said mean things to other schools.
“Ready,” Tim set up his position, ”Set.”
All the memories of his training flashed in his head.
”Go!” the commentator yelled into the microphone.
All the things around Tim started moving in slow motion. The sounds were blurred . He could see his competitors pushing off from their positions, feeling his leg pushing off hard.
“Remember, you have to be confident. Anything is possible.” The voice of his coach giving him tips played in his mind.
Tim ran with all the energy he had.
“You don’t have to win. Just do the best you can.” the voice of his mother telling him over breakfast that morning echoed in his head.
His feet touched the ground one at a time. His legs were a blur. He was side by side with the leader of the race, pushing even harder against the ground.
“This is our collection of trophies we have never won at the international sports games.” Charlotte Wong, the principal, had said to him the day before the games.
The room didn’t have many trophies. There were some silver and some bronze trophies, but there weren’t any gold trophies anywhere.
“There aren't any gold trophies.” Tim said
“Yes, and that's why I want you to try your hardest to win in the games. I know it will be hard but please try.”
His school crowd roared.
Tim’s body was suddenly filled with a rush of adrenaline. It was like he had stored up energy before without knowing it and was now instinctively using it. His legs started going faster and faster. He was passing the leader bit by bit slowly.
They were nearly at the finish line. It was only a few meters away and then it was behind him.
The school supporters roared at the top of their lungs. The other opponents came to congratulate him on winning the race. He was exhausted but he didn’t care. He had just won an international sports gold medal. He had won. He couldn’t believe it.
He slapped himself across the face to check it wasn’t a dream, but no, he had actually won.