Tilak+Balavijayan+short+story

Tilak Balavijayan Creative writing 11/5/08    Short Story ** Zion **** ’s Run for Success ** “Mom, I’m going to school” “Bye,” Zion ’s mom replied. Zion laced up his ultra light shoes that he received from his mom and ran out the house. Wherever Zion was, you knew that he was running. There Zion was, running and panting throughout the dirt covered roads of Ethiopia, while children in uniforms passed him on rusty bikes. The sun was now high in the air and sweat dripped down his temples onto the compacted dirt below. Zion kept going faster, past his exhaustion. After five long and hard miles of running, he arrived at his school. He wiped his sweat with his kerchief and entered his school. He walked with confidence into his class seat. “Welcome Zion ,” said professor Haile. Zion concentrated hard as his teacher spoke of Algebra. The bell rang. It was recess time. Zion smiled a quick smile and rushed outside to the playground. “Today we’re gonna play freeze tag with teams,” exclaimed Fatsum. “ Cuzco and Sellassie are the captains” “I pick Zion ,” said cuzco. “Wait, why do you pick first,” challenged Sellasie. “’Cause, I’m slower, so I get first pick.” “You know what. We should do Rock Paper to settle this.” “Rock, paper, scissors,” they chanted. Sellasie had paper and Cuzco had rock. “Ha! I get Zion ,” said Sellasie. Once Zion was picked onto Sellasie’s team, everyone knew that Sellasie’s team would win. The game ended quickly with Zion tagging almost everyone within five minutes. Zion ’s classmates respected him as a runner. Zion finished school and ran back home even faster than he did running to the school. He returned to his house to find his mother smiling like she did everyday. Zion gave her a warm smile and rushed to his small but cozy room. He quickly finished off all of his homework and rushed back outside with his primitive but still functional stopwatch. He ran for an hour straight then smiled to himself. Zion, being very disciplined, had set up his own workout routine to follow. He pushed himself to his limit every time he ran. Zion jogged slowly back to his house to, once again, find his mother smiling. “How’d you run, Zi?” “Good, Mom. Thanks.” “Let me make you a nice yam sandwich. You need it to help you become strong.” “Thank you Mother” Within no time, Zion was eating his mom’s signature Yam sandwich. Anyone who has had the Yam sandwich will start salivating immediately when it is mentioned. The next day, Zion ran to school, had a normal day of learning, but was in for a surprise when he returned to his small house. Zion entered his house. His mom was not smiling. “ Zion, you’re going to America. Your aunt got a job as a chef in a five star restaurant.” Zion was surprised. He was speechless for awhile. “Yesss!!” shouted Zion with great enthusiasm. Then Zion remembered that he had to be away from his mom. He, at first refused, but his mom insisted. Zion had always wanted to move to America where his running could be sharpened with the help of great coaches. Within a week, Zion and his aunt traveled to America. Zion got airsick because it was his first time on a plane. “Am I going to a good school?” “Of course you are. And they have a good running program too.” Now, Zion was especially excited to impress the people of America. They took a taxi to their house. It had two bedrooms and it had two bathrooms. Zion looked at this house as if it were a mansion. Next week Zion would start going to his local school, South Brunswick  High School. He was an instantly a phenomenal runner. He made it to the meet of champs and qualified for the Footlocker cross country nationals. This race would be Zion ’s most important race of his life. A week before Zion ’s race he got a call from Ethiopia informing that his mom was sick. His aunt offered to take him back but he refused saying that he will go after his race. Zion completed his race and finished second in the nation. He was driven home after the race and found out that his mom had passed away. Zion was speechless. He stared, wide-eyed for a while, unable to move his awestruck body. Very quickly, his shock turned to sadness. He cried and screamed for his mom to come back. He now felt very guilty for not coming to see his mom when she was sick. He skipped many days of school, depressed. After two weeks of missing school, Zion thought about what his mother had wanted him to do. ‘She would have wanted me to succeed in running,’ Zion thought to himself. He was determined to fulfill his mother’s and his own dream. Everyday was filled with vigorous training and painful workouts. He ignored the pain and pushed himself past the limits. Three years of successful running passed and Zion had a chance of becoming an Olympiad representing the United States of America. He laced up his ultra-light running shoes that his mom had given him and stood tensed at the starting line of the 10 kilometer Olympic trials. Before the race started, he pointed up at the sky as if he were thanking his mother. “On your marks.” The stadium was now silent and the runners were awaiting the sound of the gun. BANG, sounded the gun and the runners were off, giving their dreams a chance. Zion needed to come in the top four spots to qualify. There were 100 meters left in the race and Zion was in sixth place. All of a sudden, he mustered all his energy and bolted to the finish line finishing in 1st place. He collapsed at the finish and started crying hysterically. “Thank you Mom! Thank you! I love you,” he cried as interviewers swarmed Zion, the Olympiad. tilak balavijayan short story