 Run Like Mad
by crabcake123
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One Month Until Race
It was a slightly cloudy, but mostly sunny September day, and Inna was strolling the halls of Judge Hog Neoschool on her way to the cafeteria. The green Usul made it to the lunch room and headed towards her usual table, but not without checking the student bulletin board first. The student bulletin board was covered in flyers posted by other students for can drives and get-togethers and other such things. Inna checked the board frequently, because there were sometimes very interesting things up there. A flyer on the bottom left corner caught her eye. 5k Run October 20th All Donations go to the Neohospital Register Today! A five kilometer run! Inna broke into a broad smile. She was one of the fastest runners at Neoschool. She could beat all the other pets during gym class. A 5k sounded like so much fun! She tore a strip with the registration information off the bottom and dashed to her lunch table. Her friends were already sitting there. There was Lysanne the fire Ruki, Esmund the glowing Skeith, and Serik, the yellow Quiggle. They all said hello to her as she sat down. She could barely contain her jubilance, so she exclaimed: "Who wants to run a 5k with me?" She had expected more enthusiasm. Only Serik nodded. "Sure, maybe," he said, "I'll have to check my schedule." Serik wasn't the most athletic pet in Neopia, but thankfully he was always open to trying new things. Lysanne and Esmund glanced at each other, and then at Inna. "There's no way I could run five kilometers," said Esmund, biting into his second sandwich. "Well, what's your excuse?" Inna asked Lysanne. Lysanne shrugged. "I guess I could try it," she said. The three pets looked at Esmund. "Sure," he muttered. Inna threw her hands in the air. "Alrightie then!" she exclaimed, "Now we have to start training!" "Training?!" Inna invited her friends over after dinner to jog around their Neopia Central neighborhood. ---
After school, Inna's owner Neomailed her and her friends' registrations. She couldn't even wait until her friends arrived, so she started working out by herself. Jumping jacks and crunches, that sort of thing. When her owner called her in for dinner she ate quickly and then continued waiting for her friends.
Lysanne, Esmund, and Serik arrived at Inna's house at the same time.
"Check out my new sneakers!" said Serik. "My owner bought them for the 5k!"
He lifted his leg to show off his brand new blue sneakers.
"Nice!" said Inna. "Who's ready for a run?"
Serik and Lysanne nodded, Serik a bit more enthusiastically. "How far are we running?" asked Esmund. "Well, our final goal is five kilometers, so we should start off with at least one," said Inna. Esmund looked uneasy.
"Don't worry," said Serik. "You'll survive."
"First, we stretch!" said Inna. "Now everybody reach down and touch your toes!"
With a loud collective grunt Inna's three friends reached down as far as they could. "Now backwards!" Another grunt. "To the right!" "To the left!" "Now let's run!" They started off with a brisk, five minute walk through the Marketplace.
"Uphill?" moaned Esmund. "You never said anything about uphill!"
"Well, you can't just assume everything will be flat," said Inna, swinging her arms dramatically to match her wide strides. Her friends were already having trouble keeping up.
"Look at that bracelet!" said Lysanne, pointing at one of the shops. "Can we stop?"
"Nope," said Inna commandingly. Lysanne sighed, but kept walking. "Water break!" yelled Inna, so loudly that some of the shopkeepers turned to watch. Lysanne and Serik stopped where they stood and took sips from their water bottles. Esmund still had a while to go to catch up. "You can do it!" cheered Serik between sips. Once Esmund reached the top of the hill, Inna only gave him a few seconds before she shouted: "Now we run!" "Seriously?!" Inna led her friends in circles around the Bazaar. Inna almost seemed to lose herself, as she always did when she was running. She put one foot in front of the other until she didn't have to think about it. Until she was completely free. Free from what, she wasn't sure. Just free. "Can we stop now? Please?" shouted Esmund, who, from the sound of his voice, was about a kilometer behind Inna. Lysanne and Serik were pretty behind too. The Usul stopped running and crashed back to Neopia and waited for her friends. They ran a bit more that day, then decided that they had gone had far as they were going to go and headed back to Inna's house. There, they stretched some more. "Forward!" "Backwards!" "To the left!" "To the right!" With that, Inna waved farewell to her exhausted friends. "See you at school tomorrow!" --- Of course there was more to 5k prep than exercising. One also had to eat right. Inna tried as hard as anyone to keep on her regime, but the Chocolate Factory was right next to Health Foods, and we all know which one anyone would rather go to. Her friends, though she loved them dearly, would need some coaching. --- "I'm so sore!" groaned Lysanne as she hobbled into the cafeteria with Inna. They got into line together. They had gotten there early, so the line was pretty short. Lysanne was about to reach for some curly fries when Inna slapped her hand away. "5k runners don't eat curly fries," said Inna matter-of-factly. "You're insufferable, you know that?" said Lysanne, reaching for fruit instead. Inna took a salad and the Usul and Ruki sat down at their table together, where Serik and Esmund were already sitting. Esmund was about to bite into a cookie. "5k runners don't eat cookies, Esmund, "said Inna.
Esmund sighed. "Seriously? Not even one cookie?"
Inna shook her head. "Get some vegetables or something." Esmund rolled his eyes but complied. He trudged over to the lunch line. He came back with carrot sticks and a load of dressing. "Dressing kind of ruins the point," said Inna. "Fine," said Esmund, biting into a carrot stick. "Another work out session after school today," said Inna. Her friends nodded. They weren't getting out of this 5k, it seemed. --- They did the same thing as they did yesterday, except they went a little further this time. Lysanne and Serik did a better job at keeping up this time, but Esmund still lagged behind. When they got back to Inna's house, the overly energetic Usul led her friends in sit-ups and push-ups.
"We're running!" Lysanne complained. "Why do we need to do push-ups?"
"Don't question it," said Inna. "Just do it."
Lysanne stood up with a pout. "I'm refilling my water bottle," she said as she stomped into the kitchen. "I can't do anymore push-ups," Esmund sighed, collapsing onto his stomach.
"Yes, you can!" Inna shouted eagerly.
"No, I really can't," said Esmund, standing up. "See you at school tomorrow." With that, he sauntered out the door.
With Esmund's departure, Lysanne and Serik decided that they were done too. Inna sighed. These pets were hopeless.
Three Weeks Until Race It was Monday morning. Inna and her friends had trained all weekend and she was feeling pretty good, until Esmund came up to her.
"I'm done," he said simply. "I can't do this anymore."
"What do you mean?" said Inna. "You were doing so great!"
"I'm sorry," said Esmund, "but it's just too much. I can't do all these workouts. I don't have time for anything else! I failed that chemistry test because of this!"
"Fine," said Inna curtly. She turned away for Esmund and marched to her next class. Inna didn't speak to Esmund again that day, even when they sat at the same lunch table together. She saw that Esmund had chosen a slab of pizza and an ice cream sundae for his lunch. Lysanne and Serik, nibbling on their salads, glanced from Inna to Esmund waiting for something to be said. But nothing was. --- That afternoon, they went for a run again. Inna decided to change venues, so they no long ran around the marketplace. She informed her friends that it was good to train on different terrains. So they ran around the NC Mall instead. Lysanne and Serik were both getting faster. They were completing what was to be their final lap when Inna heard a yell from behind her. She turned around and ran back to where her friends were. The Usul stopped short when she saw Serik on the ground.
"I fell," said Serik through gritted teeth, "and then something twisted."
"Here," said Lysanne calmingly. "Let's see if we can get you up,"
Lysanne and Inna supported both sides of Serik as they got him to a standing position
"Let's get him to the Neohospital," said Lysanne.
Inna nodded.
Inna and Lysanne sat together while Serik was whisked away to a hospital room. It didn't take long until a nurse came out and told them that it was okay to see him. Serik was sitting up and smiling although it was obvious he was in a lot of pain. There was a brace on his left ankle. The Gelert doctor walked up to his bedside.
"His ankle is sprained," he told them matter-of-factly. Inna's eyes widened. "When will it be better?" "I'd say about six weeks," said the doctor. "So he can't run the 5k?" said Inna. "I'm afraid not."
Inna crossed her arms and pouted.
"I'm sorry, Inna," said Serik.
"It's not you fault," said Lysanne. Inna said nothing.
"I guess it's just us now," said Inna after a while.
Lysanne said nothing. "3:30 tomorrow. Be ready to train," Inna told Lysanne, leaving the room. Inna and Lysanne continued to train.
Two Weeks Until Race
"I scheduled another workout session after school today," said Inna, "and you have to try to do more sit-ups this time. Last time was pathetic."
"Sure," said Lysanne without much enthusiasm. The Usul and Ruki got into the lunch line together. The line was pretty long that day so Inna passed the time by stretching. Lysanne didn't join in. Soon enough, they made it to the front. Lysanne reached for a bag of chips. "Don't eat that!" said Inna, glaring at Lysanne. Lysanne's face contorted unpleasantly.
"I can't stand this anymore!" Lysanne exclaimed. "I can't deal with you anymore, Inna!"
Inna stared at Lysanne but said nothing.
"Don't eat this! Don't eat that! Run faster! I get it, Inna, you're a better runner and a healthier eater than me!" Lysanne shouted. "Why don't you just run the race by yourself?!"
"I will!" Inna shrieked, turning away from Lysanne. Lysanne grabbed the bag of chips. Lysanne went to sit at their usual table, pulling out her chair carefully so she didn't knock over Serik's crutches. She opened up the chips and started crunching them loudly. Inna grabbed only an apple to eat. She didn't feel very hungry. She went and sat at a table by herself. --- That afternoon, she ran all the way around Neopia Central. She was a lot faster when she didn't have to wait for her friends. But it wasn't as fun running alone.
One Week Until Race Inna continued to eat and train alone. She didn't speak to Lysanne, Esmund, or even Serik. They didn't seem to mind. Until one day at lunch, she heard the sound of crutches behind her. "Hi Inna," said Serik cautiously. "Hi Serik," said Inna.
"You still practicing for the 5k?" Serik asked.
"Yes." "That's great. I bet you'll do really great." "Yeah." "Lysanne, Esmund, and I were just talking about you." Inna's tail twitched nervously.
"They feel bad for ditching you," said Serik, "but they just couldn't handle it. They thought it was supposed to be about having fun, and they weren't having any fun."
"Oh," said Inna quietly. "They really liked running with you, but it was just too much," said Serik. "I liked running with them too," said Inna. Inna paused and considered what she was to say next. "Maybe we could start over," said the Usul. Serik smiled. "I'm sure Esmund and Lysanne would like that." Inna got up from her lonely table and walked over to her friends' table and took a deep breath before beginning her apology. ---
That afternoon they did another run around the marketplace. Inna was in the front, as usual, but Lysanne was catching up quick.
"Good job, Lysanne!" said Inna.
"Thanks, Inna!" said Lysanne cheerily.
Esmund still lagged behind, but he was certainly getting better.
"You can do it, Esmund!" said Inna. Esmund ran even harder. Serik cheered on from the sidelines.
One Hour Until Race Registration started at 7 AM NST so the four friends were up early. Inna couldn't contain her excitement so she skipped all the way to the registration table. Her friends yawned and followed her.
"I'm Inna," Inna told the Yurble at the table, "and these are Lysanne and Esmund. Serik can't run because he sprained his ankle, but he's here to be our cheerleader."
"Very well," said the Yurble, checking off their names. "Here are your numbers."
Inna was 37, Lysanne 38, and Esmund 39.
One Minute Until Race
The three pets lined up at the starting line. Inna weaved through the other pets to get to the front. Lysanne and Esmund didn't really care where they started. A Lenny with a flag stood in front of them. With a booming voice he shouted: "On your marks... Get set... GO!" And with Serik cheering from the sidelines, the three friends ran like mad. The End
Loved it? Hated it? I really appreciate Neomails! :)
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