RUN, RUN, RUN!

"There are three seconds left in the game! This might be the... GOAL!" the announcer's voice blasted through the loudspeakers. "And the Boston Breakers win five to three , nice try to the New York Power!"

Lily Hime sighed. She had been watching the game with her dad. "I'll never get to run like them," she said as she turned off the TV. "No matter how hard I try I'll never get to do it!"

"Sure you will Tiger," her dad replied. "All you have to do is never give up."

Lily said good night to her dad and walked up to her room. It was so late that she tumbled into bed and fell asleep.

Lily Hime, nicknamed Tiger, had asthma since the day she was born. For her, this meant that she couldn't run for an hour or more without using her inhaler. She constantly tried to outrun her asthma, because she played soccer, and soccer games were an hour long. She always had to stop the game to use her inhaler. This made her unhappy, so she slept 'til the next morning.

Next morning, Lily woke to her brother Nathaniel's calling of, "Wake up Tiger! Special weekend morning breakfast!"

Lily told him she was coming and after he left, she got dressed. When she was in the kitchen, her mom handed her a plate of eggs and bacon.

As she went to eat, her mother said "Tiger, the day after tomorrow, all the adults are going to a town meeting. Since you, John, Mark and Sarah are the oldest, we all thought you four could take care of all the rest of the children, since it is a small village."

"OK," said Lily. She started smiling. Lily couldn't wait.

That afternoon, an idea hit her. I can take a long walk every day to outrun my asthma she thought. Lily went to the park, and jogged for about an hour. She felt great, until she got home and realized she was late for a play date! So this idea won't work thought Lily as she jogged to Sarah's house. "I'm going to have to try another way."

The next afternoon, another idea came to Lily, when her mom said, "Tiger, I need you to get these items at the store." After handing Lily a list, she concluded, "Don't dawdle!"

As Lily jogged to the store, she thought hey, I can jog everywhere! She jogged to the store, and she jogged back, but when she got home, she was so tired, she took a nap. So this way won't work Lily thought sleepily. "I'll have to try another way."

It was the night of the town meeting. Lily and Nathaniel waved good-bye to their mom and dad as they left. She and Nathaniel had offered to make dinner, and their offer was accepted. Just as Lily had finished setting out dinner, she heard Mark calling.

"Tiger, Tiger!" She looked up and saw Mark running towards the picnic tables. When he saw her look up, he told her in one breath, "Tiger, Ben fell down from the three-foot-high platform! He is hurt so bad that he needs to go to the hospital! The phone lines are down! You are the only one who can run to the hospital in time! We need you!"

Lily knew that he was right because, only the four oldest knew the six-mile run to the hospital, and out of those four, she was the fastest runner. Lily ran to her house and got her inhaler and ran out.

"Go get 'em Tiger!" she whispered to herself, and then ran off.

Half an hour went by and suddenly, Lily started to get an asthma attack! Still on the move, she took a puff on her inhaler. It always tasted bad, but now it tasted even worse. Lily kept on running. Every time she got tired or started to slow down, she thought of Ben and how he needed this, and she ran even harder. Finally, she got to the hospital. After explaining the situation, Lily got into an ambulance and was driven back to her small village. When they got back, they put Ben in the ambulance. Lily stepped off the ambulance and blacked out.

Lily woke up in her bed at her house. Her family was looking at her with proud faces, but still worried.

"You did it Tiger!" Nathaniel said eagerly.

Then Lily knew, she could run for an hour or more without using her inhaler. Now after all that work, it had paid off. "It took a lot of hard work but I did it," she said, then dropped off to sleep.

Liesl Matzka

Age: 10