Cross Country Practice

“Watch Out!” Mrs. Cat screamed to Sam and James, two very fast cross country runners. Sam screamed as a car stopped right in front of her. James kept running as a couple of bull dogs ran after him, Sam and James knew not to be afraid because this was a mere simulation to make them run faster but knew if they didn’t keep moving the timer might fail them. As cars ran into trees and the bull dogs ran faster James and Sam kept running until they heard a screech.
“Time Out!” yelled Mrs. Cat, Sally one of the smaller and slower girls on the team had gotten bit by a bull dog again. The simulation disappeared as the group of twenty on treadmill’s took off there reality masks. This was a new practice activity for Cresent Cedar Acadmics cross country team, it allowed the slowest runners weren’t in the dust. As Sam started her normal routine of throwing up everything she ate in the last hour, James watched the slower runners power up there treadmill’s. Some 6th graders screamed as a werid guy with a knife on a bike rode by. Then the simulation stopped again as everyone took off there masks, a big gust of wind blew. Everyone looked at Mrs. Cat to see why the simulation was off. Sam decided she wanted to investigate so she asked James to accompany her in the investigation, first she checked outside for any open windows or doors but there were none.
“Hurry Up!” cried Mrs. Cat. This was the first time the reality simulation would not work, and everyone thought it was because of the wind. As Sam looked around, James studied the machine it looked as if the wind had blown and messed with the simulation tapes. There were tons of tapes lying all around the machine, but none were labeled ‘cross country’.
“Come here!” yelled Sam from outside the room. She was standing above a footprint and a tape labeled ‘cross country’, when Mrs. Cat and James got outside. As Sam dusted the footprint she declared it was an 8½ Sketcher and she knew only one girl that wore that size, Ashley Dipmam, a competitor of the South Arbor team, that two years ago had been caught stealing a whole team’s tennis shoes. No doubt it was her and chances are when she came in the wind blew, knocked out the machine, and while she stole the tape, when she opened the door to leave she accidentally dropped the tape.
“It doesn’t mater what you say”, declared Mrs. Cat “we have nothing to file a complaint on them for!” We might as well give up and start practice again, otherwise we won’t get any more running in.” As some 6th graders quietly mumbled about waiting the machine rumbled and blinked on, reality masks on the large group of middle schoolers started running again.
James and Sam wondered how there next meet would turn out and if they would see Ashley Dipmam there. Some of the team became scared and wondered what the next strike by the South Arbor Champions (SAC) would be or if there even would be one.
Five days later, the CCA team started running, naturally they were the fastest out there and nobody could pass them up. One of the other teams the (MAC) Metro Aline Cougarines was already taken out from this meet because all there shorts had mysteriously disappeared...
“Hay Sammy”, James screamed “who do you think stole the shorts?”
“I’m betting the same people that stole our practice tape”, replied Sam. As they ran past a large hole, then they screamed when they fell into the next one! Finding a ladder they scampered up and out of the hole, ending up winning the meet and congratulating Ashley Dipmam, at third place finish. Yet they look back at this moment and wondered why they did congratulate her, but they can’t seem to bring back what happened.