The New Kid.

Once upon a time, there was a 16-year-old girl. Her name was Anna. She had two parents and two brothers. Anna was a normal student, in a normal town with a normal family. But she was an extraordinary runner.

Anna loved running. Every morning before school she would wake up and run all the way over to the next town. She’ll run back as everybody else was waking up. She did this every morning, every week of every month.

What Anna liked about running most was that she didn’t need fancy equipment, she didn’t need to belong to a club and she didn't need anybody else. She loved the independence of running, just her, and the road.

One day during the morning run, she saw a kid running in the opposite direction. Anna had never seen this boy before, and he was going fast.

Every day that week, they crossed each other during their morning runs, exchanging nods as all polite runners do. Who was this kid? Where did he come from? Anna was puzzled. He had to be new in town because she knew every runner and she didn’t know him.

Anna was determined to find out.

Anna’s father dropped her off at school with his traditional send-you-off wish: Ask interesting questions, Anna.

As soon as Mia stepped on the school’s grounds she saw Mia, the school’s coach, running literally towards her screaming her name, with a paper in her hand. When she finally caught up with Anna, she was out of breath, so Mia just gave Anna the pamphlet. The Race of the Century it said. All national schools will compete in a race to pick the school that will represent the country in the International Human Race.

Many events like this had been announced ever since the virus was defeated and life went back to gatherings and celebrations.

The race was in 2 months. Not much time to train, she thought.

When Anna showed up for the first training session at the school’s track, she noticed the new kid was there too. They looked at each other suspiciously.

Anna knew what she could do, how fast she could run, but she didn’t know anything about this kid and that made her nervous.

The coach was talking about the great opportunity for the school, the chance of a lifetime, blkwis, nshtuiia, — she tuned her out. She was thinking about just one thing: beating this new kid.

The tip of the runner's shoes was on the line… and pow!

He was fast. Faster than she was. She told her legs to move faster, and her lungs to control her breathing, but it was over. She finished second. The kid ran faster than she. What-had-happened?

The next 30 days were a constant battle to defeat the kid, to show him who was faster. But she no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t do it.

With 10 days to go, Anna was angry. Angry and frustrated. Nothing else mattered. This kid had become her obsession. And she couldn’t think of anything else.

Ann… An… Anna. She finally realized her father was calling her. Anna, are you all right? You seem to be somewhere else.

Yeah, everything is fine, she answered with her hand on the door’s handle.

Her father said his usual wish for the day: Ask interesting questions, Anna.

And suddenly Anna turned around and ask her father: Dad? Do you think women are slower than men? Her father made a weird face and Anna corrected herself: I mean, do you think women can run as fast as men do?

Her father took a good look at Anna, for what seemed like a full minute and finally said: Anna, is that the real question you want to ask me?

Anna look annoyed but got the message: Ok. Ok. Dad, do you think I can beat this kid who I have never defeated, not a single day, not a single race… do you think I can do it?

That’s an interesting question Anna. Why is it so important to beat this kid?

Anna processed the question for a nano-second, well, that’s what you do in a race. It’s a competition she thought. And her face spelled out all this clearly to his father.

Ok, I’ll tell you this; Just don’t try to beat him today. Today run because you like it, and not because you need to. Run like you run when nobody is watching.

She tried to understand what he meant and the bell of the school started suddenly reminded her that they were at the school!

A few minutes later, with her toe against the white line, she looked around and all the other runners dissolved away. She was alone, smiling and flying, going faster than she had ever gone before.

Moral of the story: Do things for the pleasure of doing them, not because you have to.