1 Story - 1 Just breathe
"You both will run this year's marathon and win the prize money to replace the apparatus you both broke. And that's final! I don't want to hear any excuse. You both may leave." Headmistress Sophia strictly said and sent them away.
Mia and Ashley looked at each other and sighed. It all started when they broke two thousand five hundred dollars worth of sublimation apparatus in their chemistry lab two days ago. To make the matter worse, they both were caught by the Janitor when they tried to discard the broken pieces of the apparatus in the dustbin behind their school.
"What should we do now?" Mia asked.
"We should run, there is no other option," Ashley shrugged her shoulders.
"Did you think even if we run, we will be able to win the prize money?" Mia complained.
"We don't know that yet. Who knows maybe we would emerge as a winner." Ashley tried to be positive as there was no other way for them now.
"I can't run at all. I hate sports and you want me to do a twenty-six miles marathon?" Mia kicked the wall in frustration.
"It's ok, Mia. Everything will be fine." Ashley patted her shoulder and tried to encourage her.
....
On the day of the Marathon, Mia and Ashley stood on the start line. Ashley held Mia's hand and advised,
"We can do it! Just keep running slowly at the start. Let's not hurry up. Picking up speed, in the beginning, will make us tired soon."
Mia nodded her head and said, "Let's give it a try as you said. Winning and losing is not in our hands but at least we took one step towards our success."
Once the announcer announced that the marathon had started, they started to run behind several people. Mia struggled to run before she could even finish a mile.
"No... I can't... It's too much... I want to quit," Mia stopped running and tried to catch her breath.
"Don't stop, Mia. We can do it! We are almost half-way now. All we need to do is keep on going and we will achieve our goal," Ashley pulled her hands and started to run once again.
"Yes, we can do it! We can! Run! Run! Run!" Mia shouted and jogged behind Ashley.
"Just a few more miles and we will be done..." Ashley kept on commenting while running beside Mia.
Even though Mia knew they were several miles away from the finish line, she didn't let it discourage her. At one point, they both couldn't move their legs anymore and dropped their tired body on the patch of grass next to the running path.
"It's ok. Just breathe... We will start again," Mia encouraged Ashley this time.
"Let's go, we have only one more mile to cover," Mia said and pulled Ashley's hands.
They both started to run together. Even though they didn't get the first place they desired but they came second and took home five hundred dollars. It's a better start to pay back the debt they owned the school.
