“I can’t do it dad, I’m too nervous,” Austin said as he and his father were walking through the gate to Desert Rain’s High School track field.

“Sure you can buddy,” his father said with a smile, “just don’t worry about it so much son. Just focus on the track and concentrate on the finish line, you’ll do great, I’m sure of it.” His dad reassured him.

Austin was only eleven years old and the fastest kid at Higly Elementary School. He use to play many sports and he always wanted to be with his friends but every since his mom died of cancer last winter, Austin has been really depressed. His father has been trying to get him out of his pensive mood. He tried to get Austin into many different sports such as baseball, soccer, and football, but Austin showed absolutely no interest and was much too small. The boy only weighed sixty-five pounds soaking wet.

Just before Austin’s father was about to give up, he was watching television one night, and a commercial came on. The American Cancer Society sponsored it, and they were having a charity run to raise money for cancer research. When Austin saw the commercial so many emotions consumed him; joy, grief, and depression all at once. They had a talk about it, and Austin agreed to go. Austin ran for almost ten hours straight at that charity event.

Every since that night Austin loved to run. Almost every night he would go out and run for hours at a time. He cherished feeling the wind blowing against his face and through his blonde hair. He also loved the whistling sound of the wind through his ears. Most of all he loved to just run and get away from it all and clear his head.

When he ran he always thought of all the wonderful memories he had with his mother. He loved and missed her very much. She use to come into his room every night and they would say their prayers together. After that she would read him a story until he fell asleep.

Dave, Austin’s father, was so relieved that Austin had finally come around and wanted to have fun again. Austin joined the track team at his school. He competed in various events; he took first in most of them. He became instantly popular at school; everyone called him “Flash” because he smoked every single kid that tried to race him.

One night his father was reading the New York Times and he read this article saying that there would be a big race held in Central Park the next Saturday morning. The race would be a mile long. The winner of the race would get the opportunity to donate 10,000 dollars to the charity of his/her choice. When Austin heard about this he was absolutely ecstatic! He knew he would win and he would donate the money to Cancer research.


That whole week at school Austin was never focused. All he could think about was how he was going to win the race. He fell asleep in math on Wednesday and dreamed that he was less than ten feet away from the finish line and he tripped and fell, in doing so he lost the race. He jolted up with sweat rolling down his face.


The night before the big race Austin got down on his hands and knees at the foot of his bed and started talking to God. “I know I haven’t talked to you in awhile, I’ve just been really upset about you taking mom away from me, but I understand now. I’m just glad she isn’t suffering anymore, I’m happy that she is safe up there with you. So there is this big race tomorrow, and the winner gets to donate a whole bunch of money to the charity of their choice. I truly hope I win. I really want to donate the money to The American Cancer Society so I can try to save other little boy’s or girl’s moms and dads. So please just help me out tomorrow, I don’t want any other kid suffering like I did.”


After he was done praying he got up, turned off his light, and crawled into bed. His dad came in to tell him goodnight. He quietly walked in and sat down on the edge of his son’s bed, “ I know you are probably really nervous about tomorrow buddy, but I also know you are an excellent runner. And so what If you don’t win, I will still be super proud of you! As long as you go out there, try your best, and most importantly have fun, that’s all a parent can ask for,” said his dad right before he kissed him on the forehead.


“ I love you too Dad.” Austin replied, returning his dad’s cheesy grin.



“I can’t do it dad, I’m too nervous,” Austin said as he and his father were walking through the gate to Desert Rain’s High School track field.

“Sure you can buddy,” his father said with a smile, “just don’t worry about it so much son. Just focus on the track and concentrate on the finish line, you’ll do great, I’m sure of it.” His dad reassured him.


Austin took off his jacket and approached the starting line. He stopped at the starting line, took a deep breath and looked around. There must have been over 2,000 people there. The butterflies started to fly around in his stomach. He could hear his heart beating; it felt as if it were going to burst out of his chest. He kneeled down at the starting line. He heard the bang of the gun and exploded from the starting line.

He felt the sensation of the wind blowing in his face. All he was focusing on was his feet repetitively striking the pavement. He was lost in the sound of people cheering and the wind whistling in his ears. All of a sudden he felt the silky ribbon across his chest, he won the race! His father ran up to greet him and saw the biggest smile he had ever seen on Austin’s face.

“I did it dad! I did it!!” Austin exclaimed.

“ I know bud! I’m so proud of you! And I know your mom is looking down on you right now smiling. I know she would be just as proud as I am son.” Stated his father.

“ Third place goes to..…Daniel Graham. Second place goes to…. John Smith. And for our winner of 10,000 dollars to the charity of their choice….. Austin Brady” exclaimed the announcer.

Austin was called up to the stage to receive a ribbon. When he got up there he had never felt so happy in his entire life.

“Congratulations kid,” said the announcer, “ and where would you like your 10,000 dollars to go?”

With a tear in Austin’s eye he proudly stated, “The American Cancer Society sir.”