20 TPN STORIES IN 20 DAYS CHALLENGE

Day 8 - Skating Day at Grace Field House

[Submitted by @iwaoipetals]

It was day out today, Emma and Ray had planned to go skateboarding, they had a place they liked to go, a vacant lot set up for the occasion. It was beautiful but there were the only children and resident in what they called "Grace Field Village", the whole residential area they had built after finding Emma, everything was well laid out and extremely comfortable for the bunch of children. Ray had arrived first, he had Thoma and Lanni with him because the three of them had organized themselves... Some children also came like Chamberlain or Eugene... Emma was still late, probably too busy talking as often.

It was only thirty minutes later that she arrived with Gillian and Violet, Alicia and Yvette were there too but it was only to observe them (and Yvette could draw and paint in the open air, which was one of her favourite activities). Curiously, neither Norman nor Anna had decided to come and observe the prowess of their two companions, Ray thought that they were surely preparing something for them, which made him smile.

Each of them had a bike at their disposal in the garage, which allowed them to take something else, for some of them it was rollerblades and for the others, longboards and skateboards were planned for today's program. The wasteland overlooked a large hill with very smooth roads that meandered with all around green, steep and bumpy plains perfect for mountain biking, the kids, those from Goldy Pond and Lambda liked to race there, many did but the only ones who really went flat out were Ray, Emma, Don, Lanni, Dominic and Gillian. Zack, Sandy and Cislo also did not touch the brakes or little but they came only very rarely, preferring to occupy their days differently.

The day was fast-paced, with everyone wanting to show off their talents to each other. Lanni had attempted a pirouette on a ramp, but it ended badly, the boy unbalanced himself and ended up falling on his back in a whirl of frustration and pain and under the laughter of his siblings. Eugene was having trouble moving forward because of his ever-thickening bangs, his field of vision was reduced and he would fall down from time to time. Violet had gotten on a bike and was pulling Gillian (who was on her skateboard) with a rope, they were circling around the complex causing general amusement, the duo was enthusiastic, always with a smile on their face and it was hard to resist their good mood, they were like Emma in a way.

Then came a moment... an exchange of glances between Ray, Gillian and Emma, time is like frozen, not a word came out of anyone's mouth, but everyone knew what it meant... It was another race day at Grace Field Village! Their playground? Always the same: The famous winding roads surrounded by bumpy plains.

The route was simple, a first descent in the straight asphalt line before passing through the plains, followed by a whole off-road route with passages in the forest and an outlet that arrives at the very bottom of the winding roads, it only remains to climb them in a constant effort to return to the starting point. The stage was set, the actors of this show mixing adrenaline, courage and guts were all ready, on the starting line. Emma, Ray, Gillian but also Lannion, Thoma and Violet were lined up, all concentrated while waiting for the start... Alicia at the countdown.

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

GO!

And away they go! Lanni took the best start of them all, passing the gears in a very fast pace, Emma and Ray neck and neck behind the blondie, Gillian not far behind and finally Thoma and Violet with a cautious start but already placed in view of the first obstacle and turn: the off-road transition followed by a double right-hander up a crest.

Lanni kept his head down and kept his advantage as well, Emma took Ray's best and moved into second place. Gillian was the big loser in that first turn because in an overzealous move she found herself going a bit wide on the outside line, doing the business of Thoma and Violet, ambushing just behind her back. They all followed each other closely as they approached the second difficulty of the course: Two different paths, one in smooth asphalt but with a small ridge and two hairpin bends, and the second one with a more fluid trajectory but a softer surface.

Lanni made the choice to stay on dirt, Emma, Thoma and Violet had done the same but Ray who wanted to gain a place and Gillian who had nothing to lose, took the road and the choice turned out to be a good one for both of them because Ray was just ahead and Gillian had snatched Violet's place but was now battling tooth and nail with Thoma. A right-hand curve followed by a tight left had propelled them to another choice, two dirt paths uphill, one went further but it allowed them to accumulate more speed for the following turns. Only Ray and Lanni had made the choice to take the longer route, so Emma had taken the lead but Ray and Lanni arrived much faster and as they passed her, Lanni changed line to pass Emma on her right, and with his momentum he also surprised Ray to regain the advantage, the blondie was impressive in dexterity and daring, forcing the two pursuers to step up their game. A series of turns later and they arrived in front of the major obstacle of this race: The passage in the forest!

There were three possible paths. One path with no apparent difficulties but much more tortuous with a lot of slow turns, another one faster but more bumpy and with two complicated jumps... and there was the riskiest path, a fast passage with two jumps, one of which was very high.

From the top of the wasteland, all the action had been followed meticulously but once the group entered the forest, impossible to follow the action so their eyes will be laser-focused on the exit of this same forest. The forest was the place where the race was played out, a bad choice of route or a mistake and a perfect race could end in disaster... And so they entered, Lanni in front of Ray, Emma, Gillian, Thoma and Violet at the back of the pack.

Lanni in front of everyone had swung directly to the right on the intermediate path, Ray followed him followed by Gillian, none of them wanted to take any huge risks before the last hundreds of meters. Emma had taken the easy option, she wanted to make speak her endurance on the passage in coils and to beat all her adversaries to the post... And then there was Thoma... in the risky path, it was 50 / 50 for the boy, a mistake and he will end up dead last but a perfect passage and he would be in good position to win the race! He had approached the first jump without difficulty and was building up momentum for the most dangerous jump, it was time for him to attack! A double right-hander followed by a hairpin left, and he was in the downhill curve, the event in his field of vision... He was ready!

The excitement was at its paroxysm at the top of the hill, the eyes were riveted on the exit of the forest, in a few seconds, they will be able to see the leader going out... And to the general surprise, Thoma was in front of all the others with a good margin of advance on Lanni! Ray was on his heels, Gillian was behind and Emma was fifth just in front of Violet, but the test of strength started now: the uphill turns, a true test of endurance and will to the end of the race.

The advance that Thoma had built itself allowed him to aim at the victory, but Ray had taken action, the difference in strength between him and Lannion had made that after a few hundred meters, he had exceeded it without any difficulty and was now with the attack of the leader who had to draw from his most buried reserves to carry out like a miracle!

Emma was still fifth, with Violet definitely last, her attention was turned to the top of the table and the redhead was having a blast, with great acceleration, she had only made a bite of Gillian and then Lannion... The blondie's top 3 hopes had just been dashed after much more than just an honourable performance.

Thoma had just passed the penultimate hairpin, more than a few hundred meters followed by a bend and the victory will be his, but Ray nibbles away from the field second after second, the final will be played in a pocket handkerchief with Emma in ambush who makes up its delay on Ray very quickly... They were there, the last bend, Thoma always in the lead with Ray who is almost at the level of his rear wheel, and Emma who will not be able to reattach, it will miss a few tens of additional meters, it is thus the final explanation between the two: Thoma takes the last bend on the right inside to make the least possible distance at the price of a sacrifice of speed, Ray had taken a more median line finding a good compromise, at the exit of the bend, Ray is at the level of Thoma's rear wheel and he still grabs a few centimeters... But that will not be enough, under the cheers of his brothers and sisters and against all expectations, Thoma wins the race for the first time in more than fifteen attempts.

The boy collapses out of breath on the road, Ray, just as exhausted behind him, waits for him to get up to congratulate him, like everyone else, only Lannion was gutted and looking away in despair, the boy who led the pack for so long just to crack at the end, he had nevertheless congratulated his favourite sibling before being comforted by the latter.

He had won his first race and was allowed to choose the evening meal, but being a family man, he sacrificed his favourite food to make homemade pizzas with his whole family before spending a memorable evening telling the story of today's race.