I passed him?! I couldn’t believe it! For years, I always had to stare at the back of Jess King, runner number 42, always coming in first place. I trained for so long to pass him, but I guess I never believed I could do it. But I did it…

Was this a dream?

The Ribbon that I had to run through was approximately four feet away—just a few more seconds. I was tired, but passing Jess gave me a burst of energy, and I put all of it into the last few steps. The swinging of my arms got faster and more powerful, and the motion of my legs felt hypersonic. I was just a few inches away now. I could see victory! I could feel it! I could almost taste it!

It tasted like…

Blood? Wait, why did it taste like blood? That’s unexpected.

Oh wait… Damn it… I fell.