Flexible Thinking for a Modern Life: Chapter 5
Added 2019-11-13 20:10:48 +0000 UTCSummary: A commission series for Alfalfa. Iris Fleurs, the stretchy daughter of a slime mother and a human father, tries to live her best life and feel comfortable in her own skin. Teenage rebellion ensues.
CHAPTER 5
Over the next few weeks, Sarah committed herself to raining her two protege, Iris and Miguel, on the finer points of distance running, sprinting, and healthy living. They both had a long way to go, and Sarah wasn't confident that they'd be ready for the big race.
But time marches to the beat of its own drum. Over time, their times improved. Developing their stamina, they stoked the competitive fires within them, in anticipation of the track meet.
And in due time, the big day came. There were events of all kinds, student athletes coming out to perform, and their supporters all in their stands.
Both friends and family. Sier and Celes were still in the aisles, looking for a place to sit. They were bundled up a bit for the nippy weather - poor Celes seemed to stick out with her large woven sunhat and her... skin condition.
"You see anything?" Sier asked, eyes darting back and forth.
"Let's aim for a middle-ish seat, so we can get a good view." Celes noted, glancing in that direction. "I think we can squeeze in over there?"
"Mm, maybe... oh, hey, over there! We know them!" Sier pointed to two of the families over there. "The Thibaults! You remember them from the PTA meetings, right?"
"Ah, o-of course." Celes smiled. "I guess we can all sit together..."
Celes recalled them quite well. Their kids were getting along quite well; she remembered they were going to compete together, so it was fair to say hello to the folks.
"Hey, Guy! Helga! Got room for two more?" Sier waved over to the couple. The two of them wore simpler jackets to the occasion. Guy had a leather vest, white with streaks of orange along the arms, looking more at home on the bench of an international sports team.
"...Ey! It's the Fleurs!" Guy returned Sier's wave, gesturing for the two of them to come on over. An abrupt jingling sound coincided with the movement of his arm, revealing about half a dozen medals of various kinds.
"Oh, is Sarah doing well?" Celes inquired, lowering herself onto the bench.
"Ah, yes, yes, she's been in dead-heat with that Sherry girl all day." Helga nodded, speaking with a faint foreign accent. "We're so proud of her, yes?"
Helga glanced over to Guy, already beaming. "Takes after her old man, she does, eh? ...Ah, you might need to make a bit more room."
"Mm?" Sier glanced back to the aisle, anticipating another family to pick their spots...
"The Perreras were letting their lil' ones cut loose on the field, and it looks like they're about done."
"...Oh my." Sier muttered. "Cat's a bit in over her head, isn't she?"
The Perreras were a big family. A mother and father were trying their best to corral four excitable youngsters - two little boys, and two little girls - down the aisle and into their seats.
"Sorry, we're trying to calm down the kids." The father, Rafael, gruffly explained, rubbing the back of his head. The father was solidly built - the biggest of the adults there. His scruffy black hair and general gruff voice tended to intimidate the meeker Fleurs, but they'd adjust to it over time; he wasn't as scary as his appearance let on.
The wife, Catarina, on the other hand...
"Enzo, stop tugging Diana's hair! Zoe, keep them apart, please! Oh no, Isaac, don't start crying..."
She was short, but her loud, commanding voice carried over the aisles. Her curly brown hair was a ruffled mess.
"I wanna see Miguel!" Isaac cried.
"He'll be out soon, don't worry! Just, just behave for a bit!"
"D, do you need a hand with all of them?" Celes queried.
"We're fine!" Catarina shouted, corralling the girls to their seats. "Rafael, don't just sit there, go see the vendor about some snacks!"
"Y'sure about that? Cuz buddy, we got a container of orange slices..." Guy raised to the fore.
"Ah, yes, much better for kids." Helga nodded with an approving smile.
"...Yeah, that'll do. Thanks." Rafael took the box, muttering his appreciation, before popping the lid. Anything to put in his kids' mouths to quiet them for a bit.
"...Hey, Sier. You think we'll ever have as many kids as that?" Celes leaned over with a grin.
"Ah-!" Sier nearly jumped out of his seat. "C-Celes, I think... just the one's enough for me, eheh..."
"Could you imagine it, though?" Celes smirked playfully.
"...You could ask Cat over there, see how she feels about it." Sier glanced over with a nervous glance. Catarina was in the middle of making sure their children were eating their fruits.
"D-don't drop it, Diana! Agh, Rafael, pass me another..." Catarina was at her wit's end, and the race hadn't even started yet.
"...Mmmm. Truuuuue..." Celes's mouth flattened.
---
"Sarah, you've done how many races today??"
"It's fine, Miguel. Don't worry about it."
Miguel and Sarah were casually chatting it up off to the side as Iris performed her stretches. She glanced behind her, looking towards the crowded bleachers. She spotted her mom and dad in the audience; they waved at her, bouncing in their seats. Her mouth flattening, Iris simply waved back.
She made a mental note to herself not to do anything too outlandish while stretching. She didn't want to draw her mother's ire on this, the day of her greatest triumph. Wishful thinking on her part, but a positive attitude never hurt anyone.
"So, Sarah, uh, if you've been hitting the track all day, then..." Iris walked over to her. "Then you've been competing with Sherry all day?"
"Mmyup. Got a few wins, lost a few too." Sarah glanced over to Sherry's posse, all going through their warm ups together. "I reckon we're dead even in medal count right now, so I guess this is a tiebreaker."
"Ah, shoot. Guess that's a lot of pressure, huh?" Iris grimaced, feeling for Sarah.
"Ehhhh... not really?" Sarah shrugged it off with her usual cool demeanour. "I'm a skater, not a runner."
"Hah! Then Sherry must be feeling pretty uneasy with Sarah right up there with her!" Miguel laughed, folding his arms.
"Doesn't matter. We have to throttle her." Iris declared, her face filled with fierce determination. "Sherry always runs last, so I'm running last too."
"Mm? What makes you say that?" Miguel asked, tilting his head.
"She's a gloryhound, and she wants to be there to hear the crowd cheering." Iris pointed towards the finish line. "Naturally, I have to show her up, right then and there!"
"...Doesn't that also make you a gloryhound?" Sarah queried, perking an eyebrow.
"No, that... I... sh-shut up." Iris blushed, her eyes drifting away.
"Well, whatever you say. I guess I can bring up the middle, if Miguel wants to go first." Sarah glanced over to Miguel.
"Eh? But, but, 'ladies first' and all that! Maybe we should-"
"HEY! LOSERS!"
Before Miguel could finish, the three of them were interrupted by Sherry's piercing voice. She placed a hand on her hip, looking the three of them over.
"Well well well! This is certain a motley crew you assembled, Iris!~" Sherry cooed, her voice dripping with venomous sarcasm.
"You really should mind your own business, Sherry. Don't you have better things to do than to butt in?" Iris glared, holding her ground.
"Yeah! Because you, you got a huge butt!" Miguel blurted!
"...Miguel, please..." Iris sighed, rubbing her face.
"Oh, I'm not here for you, Iris, I'm here for Sarah." Sherry smiled toothily, glancing over to her red-headed rival.
"...Mm? What about me?" Sarah mumbled, a little surprised Sherry had finally noticed her.
"You've been a thorn in my side aaaaaall morning. You got skill! And good conditioning. I dare say, you'd make a fine lieutenant in my crew!" Sherry leaned closer, her pearly white canines showing. "Whaddya say? If you join the winning team, I'll let you start the race for me strong!~"
"...I figured I already joined the winning team though?" Sarah responded, unmoved by Sherry's proposal. Sherry could only stagger back, surprised at her response.
"Wh- no! No, that is not the winning team!" Sherry sputtered. "Don't make a mistake, Sarah! You could have power, and influence! Together, we could dominate this school!"
"Yeaaaaaah, that sounds neat and all, but I'm only interested in figure skating. And hockey." Sarah folded her arms. "You're giving me some good races, but I promised Iris we'd whoop your ass, so I figure we can stay the course on that."
"...You would dare turn your back on me??" Sherry was utterly gobsmacked. "...F, FINE! Be that way! I hope you choke on our dust! TO DEATH!"
Sherry pivoted and stomped off back to her own team. Iris leaned over to Sarah.
"Hey, Sarah, I think you really hurt her feelings..." Iris muttered, looking onwards.
"...Aw shit, did I?" Sarah blinked, coming to realize her choice of words and the impact they had. She smiled slightly. "That's pretty sweet."
"Hell yeah!" Iris raised her palm for a high five. "Let's throttle 'em together!"
"Yeah!" Miguel jumped right in to get involved.
"You're still going first, Miguel." Sarah commented, matter-of-factory.
"Awwww..." he whined, sulking a little. "I don't do well under pressure..."
---
Just underneath the bleachers, there was an entirely different conversation going on.
"Oi! Toil! Keep your nose to the ground!"
"You really need to learn when to stick a cork in it, Trouble! What if the normies upstairs hear you!?"
Two small creatures, hiding just out of sight of the attending families, were peering out from between the cracks. They were odd, miserable looking things that looked more at home atop a decrepit bell tower than scrounging the underside of the bleachers.
They were gargoyles, only three foot tall apiece. Their skin grey and leathery, and their horns rather knicked up, like the both of them had been left on tumble in the drying machine about thirty minutes too long. A curious sight to see in the shadows of the bleachers, but they were here for a purpose.
"If the mistress wants snacks so bad, why don't you go scare the guy selling all the popcorn upstairs? What is he, like, fifteen?" Trouble muttered, kicking at the dirt.
"Do you pick fights with people about twice your size? If you wanna be a hotshot, why don't you head up there and rob him blind??" Toil snapped back.
"Psh, I'm hungry, but that don't mean I got a deathwish!" Trouble shook his head curtly. "...Maybe if we teamed up on him."
"Hey, I'm not about to die a martyr, okay?" Toil recoiled, keeping an eye on the ground for anything that drops below. "Just pick through the garbage, the garbage will do."
"...Garbage? Seriously?" Trouble blinked, peering over. "
"Bringing back garbage for the mistress is better than bringing back nothing. You know how possessive she gets." Toil explained.
"...Nooooo, I think she'd rather get nothing instead of total garbage." Trouble replied, rather suspect of Toil's intentioned. "Seriously, we should just mob the guy selling all the junk food upstairs. It'd be the most charitable donation he'll make all day."
"Look, we already got a pile, see? Even a fresh orange slice!" Trouble flourished it with a proud smile.
"We can't use that! The mistress hates health crazes, idiot!" Toil smacked it away with the back of his hand.
"...Awwww..." Trouble grimaced. "I could've had that..."
"...Crap, we wasted enough time. They're about to start." Toil growled, flopping down to the ground.
"Works for me. We can wait until all the parents leave, and scoop all the good stuff they leave behind.~" Trouble beamed, grinning toothily.
"...But then we have to deal with the janitor. Dude's seen some shit, he's wearing an eyepatch." Toil trembled.
"...True... we'll play by ear." He gestured to one of his particularly long, pointed ears, sneering as he did.
---
"Oh! There they are! They're lining up!"
Sier pointed over. It looks like the final race of the day was about to start.
"...They're starting with Miguel?" Guy commented, tilting his head.
"Of course! They gotta start strong, after all!" Rafael laughed from the pit of his belly. This invited a bemused look from Guy - and Sier could feel a sense of unease.
"N-now, now, easy there guys, we're all on the same team, eheh..." Sier tried to cool them off.
"He's right." Helga nodded. "We'll have to give them all our support."
"KICK THEIR BUTTS MIGUEL!" Isaac shouted, bouncing in his seat.
Celes' eyes followed the track down to the very end. It looks like Iris was going to run last.
"...I have a bad feeling about this, Sier." Celes whispered under her breath.
"It'll be okay, honey. She'll do great. All the kids were training together, right?"
"...Mm..." Celes had to concede the point. "I-I'm sorry, I... I have to cheer on Iris."
"That's exactly right." Sier nodded, taking her hand. "She needs you in her corner."
Celes smiled weakly, exchanging a look with Sier. She was so grateful he could be at her side...
BANG!
And they're off! The families watched the first round of runners break into their sprints. They'd have to round the corner before passing their batons off.
"...Wow. Miguel's doing really well. GO MIGUEL!" Catarina shouted at the top of her lungs.
"...You serious? He's trailing everyone else..." Guy watched with a tinge of dread.
"It's true. Still, he's never been much of an athlete. The fact he's keeping up at all is pretty impressivey." Rafael glanced over to Guy. "Think I can get your daughter to keep working with him?"
"...I reckon Sarah could make time for it." Guy smirked. "Little man needs to work on his stamina anyway."
"Oh, Guilliame! Our little girl!!" Helga was on her feet now, waving her hands up and down.
"Oh, right on cue!" Guy rose with her. "PACE YOURSELF! GET YOUR SECOND WIND ON THE STRAIGHTAWAY!"
"Sh-she's doing good, dear... if you wanted a coach her, you should be down with her." Helga massaged her husband's shoulder, her accent a little thicker with the excitement.
"T-true... hey, yeah, she's really blitzing it!"
While Miguel stumbled a little out of the gate, Sarah was absolutely gunning it, showing no signs of fatigue. In a matter of moments, their squad was now in the lead, and by several seconds to boot!
The parents were absolutely ecstatic, and all of them were on their feet by the time the baton had passed to Iris...
---
"HERE! GO!" Sarah commanded, thrusting the baton into Iris' outstretched palm.
"GOT IT!" Iris broke into a sprint, going as fast as her legs could take her. She could feel the power coursing through her body, the way her springy legs pumped with each motion. She was gunning it hard.
"GO IRIS!!"
Iris glanced over to find her parents were cheering her on from the sidelines. Beaming, she made to turn the corner.
"GO! GO! GO!!!"
As soon as she made it around this corner, the end stretch was in sight.
...But there was a problem. She heard footsteps pounding behind her. And they were gradually getting louder.
"Helloooooo Iris!~"
It was Sherry. The last person she wanted to see catching up to her. Of course, she knew this was a possibility, but she thought if she gunned it harder, she could've avoided if. If she was as quick on her feet as Sarah...
To her right, Sherry was sprinting past her. Out of the corner of her eye. Iris saw her smug grin, her sarcastic wave, and in the spectacle of it all, she heard her parting words.
"Goodbyyyyye Iris!~"
Sherry had taken the lead on the end stretch! And Iris was losing ground fast! She only had a few hundred feet to go!
She had to do something desperate. But Sherry was a goddamn track prodigy, and Iris was reaching the end of her cardiovascular limits. She could feel her legs turning to jelly...
The line was coming up. She'd have to do something desperate, or else Sherry would win. It was taking all of her energy just to keep pace with Sherry, but that bitch still had the lead.
She would have to dive for it. It was the only way.
Putting one foot in front of the other, she made an incredibly diving leap, using her legs as a springboard. She winced, feeling something pulling within her.
She winced her eyes, bracing for impact as her head made a collision course for the dirt track.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU-"
Snap!
Iris felt something near her belly button. It was the finish line tape, tearing in half underneath her.
In that moment, she understood.
Iris won the race.
Whoomph!
Iris flopped onto the ground, the exhilaration, the excitement, the energy inside her reaching a fever pitch. She huffed, sprawled along the ground, drinking in what exactly happened.
And then she realized she won. And she was ecstatic.
"WOOOOOOO! I DID IT!"
Pulling herself together, she bounced to her feet, jogging along for another victory lap! The crowd was stunned into silence. She was living the dream, she was on cloud nine, she...
...She was the only one cheering. She glanced around, whooping and hollering a few more times. Why was no one joining in with her?
Honestly? She didn't care right now. She had won. She'd beaten Sherry. This was her time to drink it all in.
"MIGUEL! SARAH! WE DID IT! WE FREAKIN' DID IT GUYS!!" Iris hailed her friends, laughing and cheering all the while. She hugged them, bouncing up and down...
...And quickly realized something was off. They weren't cheering.
"...Guys? Guys, we won! You could act a little happier! Big smiles!~" Iris cooed, raising her hands to Sarah's deadpan expression, lifting her cheeks to force her to smile.
"...Yeah, wow, uh..." Miguel muttered. "I-I didn't think you'd actually pull something like that off!" Miguel stammered. "But that thing you did was frickin' awesome!"
"...Thing? What thing?" Iris glanced over to Sarah, staring for a moment. "...O-oh, sorry." She quickly removed her hands.
"You stretched." Sarah stated. "Sherry had a pretty big lead on you, but you made that diving leap at the last second, and, well..."
Sarah motioned to the big screen at the foot of the field. It was usually reserved for advertisements and sponsorships, but now it was showing off the instant replay.
"...!"
Iris gasped. She didn't realize entirely what she was doing at the time.
She made her dive, and stretched her torso rapidly, making up lost ground. Her hands reaching skywards, her noodly torso curved in a gentle arc, descending on the finish line. Her track outfit did nothing to obscure her elongated midriff, which made contact with the tape.
"...Oh. Shit." Iris muttered.
"CHEATER!"
Sherry stormed over to the three of them, her cheeks flush with rage.
"I knew you were a disgusting little freak, but I didn't think someone like you would resort to dirty tactics!" Sherry spat at them. "That was my win! You think this is going to fly, you skeevy little harlot!?"
"That depends if there's a specific rule against that." Sarah commented matter of factly.
"DID I ASK FOR YOUR OPINION!?" Sherry snarled at Sarah, who remained utterly nonplussed.
"I didn't mean to do anything like that! It was an accident!" Iris retorted, holding her ground.
"OHHHHH, A FREAK ACCIDENT! Likely story, you little bi-"
Before Sherry could finish, a voice crackled over the speakers.
"The final results of the relay race will be subject to review by officials. Please remain seated as we deliberate the results."
There was a stunning murmuring from the crowd. Sherry beamed, turning to the others.
"HA! They're gonna make the right call in the end and disqualify the lot of you! And then I'll never have to see you freaks again!" Sherry laughed haughtily, still a little on edge after her previous tirade, and stormed off.
"Later, losers!~" Sherry cackled.
The three of them were left in silence. Iris glanced over to the other three.
"Guys, did we... did we win or not?" Iris wondered, concern on her face.
"I... I dunno if it matters anymore." Miguel wondered. "I hope your mom doesn't freak out."
Iris lowered her eyes, hugging her shoulder. Of course, her mother was here.
"...I'm screwed."
----
