A Jump In Time

By Philippa

Anxiously, I watched, as Daniel swung straight towards the first dirty tyre.

Others had stepped up and swung powerfully toward the grubby tyres. Emotions of excitement welled up inside me. I was next. The other team missed. They grabbed the rope and as I stepped up on to the platform, they handed it to me. I now held the grotty rope in my hands. The instructor had been saying subtlety that we should try a circular motion. Nobody from my team had listened except me. The other team and the rest of ours had been discussing their own ideas.

My team revealed strategies to me that I should use. But in my mind the only strategy I knew I could carry out was the circular one. I leapt onto the faded blue helmet and swung powerfully past the other tyres. It was better than I thought! But now I had to focus. Because the tyre was getting closer and closer.

In the background I could hear the team encouraging me, yelling ‘come on come on’, and the opposition team were hoping for me to miss. But those noises were cut out as I leapt off the scratched helmet toward the worn tyre beneath me. When I realized I had missed, a streak of discontent ran through me.

I didn’t mind the failure. I just thought excitedly of my next jump, hoping for a better success.