Cyndi the Centipede and the Big Race

It was the day before the big race. Cyndi the Centipede was very calm, relaxed and quite ready for the big race. “How can you be so calm?” asked Ethan the Mohawk Bat. “The big race is tomorrow, aren’t you scared?” Cyndi explained how she had been training for this race for weeks, and she was as ready as she will ever be.

            “Besides”, says Cyndi “You have never been able to catch me, and bats love centipedes.” “Leakey Socket the yellow bellied sapsucker and Sticky the red eyed tree frog have never even gotten close, and sweet old Uncle Monkey boy has been trying to get me for the longest time.”

            “I am so excited about this race Ethan!” said Cyndi “All the greatest should be there.” She told Ethan the entire lineup of the race would be Rodney the Roadrunner, Chelsea the Cheetah, Harvey the Racehorse, Ozzie the Ostrich and Henrietta the Hummingbird. Rodney is that famous roadrunner from the movies, and he is fast, but he is old. Chelsea the Cheetah is married to that guy who does all those junk food commercials, he has gotten so flabby but, she still looks good. Harvey the Racehorse has not won a race since the Kentucky Derby a year ago. Finally, Ozzie the Ostrich is scared easily, and then buries his head in the ground. I am a little worried about Henrietta the Hummingbird though; she can flap her wings eighty times per second, and that is very fast!

            Peggy the Parrot is announcing the big race, Agent Angel Chipmunk is on security and Eddie the Eagle will be the official timekeeper. My whole family will be there, as well as my cousins the Millipedes, that small group of Worms from under the old dead log and the entire Army Ant Colony is coming out to watch too! Most of all, I have a new neighbor, Cameron the Chameleon. Cameron is so cute, and he said he would be here to watch the big race. I bought all new shoes for the big race and a bright colorful shirt so I can stand out in the crowd when the dust flies.

            Cyndi went to bed early that night, so that she would be well-rested. Cyndi woke up in the middle of the night. She had a bad dream. She dreamt that one of her shoes came untied and she tripped and fell. She tumbled one foot after the other, and for a centipede, that’s a lot of feet. She dreamt that she was in the lead until she fell; then she watched as everyone passed her.

            Now Cyndi couldn’t go back to sleep. She got up, looked at all of her new shoes, checked out the laces and set them all out ready for the morning. She went back to bed; worried about the big race, and at last she fell back to sleep.

            In the morning, Cyndi got up, took her shower, ate a nice breakfast, brushed her teeth, put on all of her new shoes and made sure that all the laces were snug. When she was all dressed and ready, she went down to the starting line up.

            All the race officials were there, and the crowd packed in. The big race contestants started to line up. Chelsea the Cheetah was the first in line. She stretched her legs, her back and her tail. Harvey the Racehorse, trotted up to the starting line. The photographers were flashing as he flicked his long mane and tail for the cameras. Ozzie was already noticeably nervous, but his head was still above the ground.

            Rodney the Roadrunner was zipping back and forth to loosen up his joints. Cyndi the Centipede was checking all of her shoelaces; but Henrietta the Hummingbird was nowhere to be found.

            Agent Angel Chipmunk was notified and Peggy the Parrot sent out a loud message to the crowd; “ATTENTION PLEASE, would Henrietta the Hummingbird please come to the starting position!” The entire crowd was looking around and chattering, as Eddie the Eagle scanned from the air. Then, the announcement came, “Contestants……, get on your mark.., get set.., GO!”

            Rodney the Roadrunner, Chelsea the Cheetah and Harvey the Racehorse all took off as if they had been shot out of a cannon; with Ozzie the Ostrich and Cyndi the Centipede close behind. “Wait a minute folks,” says Peggy the Parrot, “Here comes Henrietta the Hummingbird out of nowhere!” The crowd goes wild as she catches up with and then passes Cyndi and Ozzie like they were standing still. “Now as Henrietta approaches the rest of the pack, the contestants make the first turn,” says Peggy. The press is in a frenzy, and Harvey stops to pose, displaying his magnificent mane and tail. Harvey doesn’t notice as the rest of the contestants pass him down the race track.

            “Rodney begins to look extremely tired, his age is really showing now,” reports Peggy. “The remaining contestants make the last turn; Chelsea is in the lead, and as she passes her husband on the sidelines, he gives Chelsea a high five. This leaves a huge amount of cheesy goop on her paw, causing Chelsea to slide off the racetrack at the last turn. “Now,” reports Peggy, “as they approach the finish line Henrietta the Hummingbird turns to see who is left in the race and SMACK, she runs right into Ozzie.” “Oh my goodness folks, can this be happening?” Peggy goes on to say, “Ozzie went down with Henrietta in his eye and his head landed one inch from the finish line”

            Peggy cries, “Oh people just one more inch!” Then the crowd gasped as Cyndi crossed the finish line.” Everything was dead silent for a second, and then a giant roar rang through the Shady Forest.

            “She did it! She did it folks,” shouts Peggy, “Cyndi the Centipede has won the big race!” Cyndi was surprised, and her family was so very proud. The other contestants were more than a little ashamed of their behavior.

            Cameron the Chameleon was waiting at the finish line. He missed most of the race waiting there, because he believed that Cyndi would win.