How To Win The Race
Once upon a time
There was a race
And in it
Ran a group of actors.
The gun went off
The actors
All wearing their colourful racing bibs
Burst forward
And the long run began.
Over hills
And under bridges
Alongside the ocean
And deep into the forest
Shoulder to shoulder
Bumping into each other
The actors grit there teeth and pushed forward
No-one wanting to give up.
Eventually
One actor fell behind
And could no longer keep up the pace of the others
The actor collapsed on the ground
“I can’t do this anymore!”
They sobbed
The group of running actors heard the painful cries of the actor behind them giving up
But they continued to push ahead
“That will never be me!”
They each thought to themselves.
Eventually
The group of actors crossed the finish line.
Exhausted
And drenched in sweat
They turned their attention to the official post-race ceremony.
The actors stepped up to the podium
In first place
The actor was presented with a gold medal
They looked down at the medal and thought to themeless
“Wow! I did it!
I can’t believe I won!
Thank god it’s over”
In second place
The actor was presented with a silver medal
They looked down at the medal and thought to themselves
“If I had only been a bit faster
If I had only been a bit better
I could have been the best”
In third place
The actor received a bronze medal
The actor looked at the medal around their neck
And thought to themselves
“I did it!
I just managed to scrape in there with the best”
Behind the podium
Sat the actor who came forth
They looked up at the actors all receiving their medals
And thought to themselves
“If I had only been a bit faster!
If I had only been a bit better!
I could have been up there with the best”
The actor who had given up
Who had been driven to the finish line
Too full of pain and resentment
They couldn’t even watch the actors receive their medals
They thought to themselves
“I will never race again!”
Everyone else clapped for the actors on the podium
And the day was done.
The actor with the gold medal
Relieved the race was over
Climbed into their car
And began their long drive home through the night.
After a while
The gold medal actor
Saw another actor running along side the road
One they didn’t recognise
Running in the direction of the finish line
“Oh no”
They thought to themselves
“That poor actor doesn’t know the race is over
They’ve lost their bib
They’re smiling
They must be exhausted and delusional”
The gold medal actor
Stuck their head out to the window and yelled out
“Hey!
The race is over!
You don’t have to run anymore!”
The running actor
Smiling as they kept one foot moving in front of the other
Looked at the gold medal actor
And replied
“What race?”
Hope this helps
X