The Lucky Paw

Chapter 3

The next day, Katy wore her necklace again, because it had brought her good luck yesterday, so maybe it would that day, too. Katy was a big believer in magic. She believed in ghosts, spirits, magic, and magical lucky streaks, so it was natural for her to believe that a lucky streak might be occurring. But this time, the lucky streak nor the magic was a figment of her imagination.

That day started out like any other. When Katy went to school, she realized something about the paw print pendant that she had not noticed before. It was ice cold. It felt like a creek of water and ice was pouring over her hand when she touched it. Yet, she felt involuntarily drawn to it, like some force made her hand move up to her neck and clutch the pendant, which smelled oddly of old watercolor paint.

In gym, the students played Jail Tag, Katy's favorite game. In English, they read poems that Katy fell in love with. In math, they played a game relating to algebraic functions instead of doing a worksheet. In science and social studies, they watched videos, giving Katy a chance to catch up on her text messages without being caught. In art, they went outside to draw again.

In the cafeteria at lunchtime, Katy couldn't help but ask herself, "Why is this sudden lucky streak happening?" Katy believed it might have been because of the ice cold necklace. But how could she be sure?

Katy decided there was only one thing to do. She would leave the necklace in her locker while she went to her cross-country track practice. If she experienced bad luck during the practice, it should prove that the necklace was magic.

Track did not go well. Katy safely hung her necklace from a protruding nail on the wall. At the sound of the whistle, the runners were off on the first leg of the cross-country race.

The sounds of feet hitting the track like raindrops on a window, but louder, the smell of sweat residing in the air, and the sight of black-uniformed runners dashing to keep the others in sight; Katy basked in the sameness of it all, enjoying her moment. Katy paced herself as normally as usual, but found herself tired before she even completed the first leg. Katy was so out of breath, that she had to quit a quarter of the way through the race, resulting in Briana's victory.

Katy dragged herself to the bench after dropping out. She sat there, panting, reeking of sweat even though she had only run a little. She was finding it a little harder to breathe than normal, and she had not even ran the whole race. Katy wondered why.

At that moment, Beth came over, her face streaked with dirt and her shirt drenched with sweat, from the hurdles. "How you doing, Katy?" she asked. Katy explained about her troubles, then called Anna over to have a small secret discussion.

Beth dashed over to the field where Anna was practicing throwing a discus. "Come here, Katy's gotta talk to us!" Beth said to Anna. She nodded, handed the discus to the next person in line, and trotted over with Beth to the bench where Katy sat.

Quickly Katy explained to them how and why she believed the necklace was a lucky charm. "I sucked out here today, and I'm not wearing the necklace!" Katy said. "Plus, I've had good luck every day that I have worn it!" Beth and Anna nodded thoughtfully. "You know, I think you're right!" Anna said to Katy. "So do I!" exclaimed Beth. "Okay, good!" Katy said.

"Now go back to your events. I'll watch you do them." Beth grinned. She was a pro at hurdles by now. She had done them for only two years, but could already jump ones that were almost as tall as she was. She took a running leap and jumped high over the hurdle looming before her. Meanwhile, Anna was busy showing off her skill with the discus. She quickly swiveled on her heels, and the discus sailed out of her hand and far out onto the green. Katy managed a weak smile. She was so tired.

After practice, Katy went back to her locker and got her lucky charm. Just as Katy was about to get on her bike and pedal home, the school's talent director, Mr. Haley, called to her.

"How would you like to sing two songs for the upcoming Spring Festival?" he asked her. "Me? Really? Get up on that stage and sing?" she said. "That's right," he answered. "Well, sure!" she said. "Great! One song will be for fun, and one song should be a song that tells the story of your life. Let me know when you choose them," he said, then walked off.

Katy fingered the lucky charm around her neck. Now this was lucky. The Spring Festival was a concert held every March. Mr. Haley picked ten soloists to do two songs each, every year. But this was ten out of more than four hundred students in the school. Therefore, it was very prestigious to be chosen. Katy smiled to herself and pedaled her bike home, with cool wind rushing past her, leaving a lingering scent of pine.

As she had expected, Mrs. Patterson was delighted to hear of Katy's solos. "What songs are you gonna sing?" asked Anita. "Well, I was thinking of doing Love Me Like You Mean It as my fun song but as for the one about my life, I have no idea," Katy replied.

"How about The Climb by Miley Cyrus?" suggested Mrs. Patterson. "I don't really know that song very well," Katy said. "It is a song about overcoming obstacles and you have had to do that," Mrs. Patterson said. "Okay, I will try it," Katy replied.

That night, in her room, Katy was listening to Love Me Like You Mean It, singing along softly. "If you're gonna hold me, hold me like I'm leaving,.......If not, you best get to leaving,.....If you're gonna love me boy, love me like you mean it!"As she sang, she stretched her legs. When Katy was 12, she had sprained her ankle at a track meet. Her physical therapist showed her exercises to help improve the blood flow and stability of her leg. Now, Katy still did exercises with her legs, even though her ankle had long since healed.

She kicked one leg gracefully up. Katy was singing and jumped up on her bed to dance. When she reached up over her head with her arms, she touched a ceiling tile, pushing it up and moving it sideways a little. Katy stilled and lowered her arms. She was not prepared for what happened next.