Ooogie's Race

"Ajdiiiiiin," Ooogie said to me.  "I wiiiiiiill beeeeeeee in a raaaaaace toooooday.  I hooooooope youuuuuu caaaaaaaan cooooome."

"Sure, Ooogie," I said.  "I'll definitely be there."  And with that, he turned around and went to get ready for the race.

Now Ooogie is my friend, but I couldn't help but wonder why he had entered himself into a race.  He isn't, umm...beary fast on land, you know?  Still, I had to admire his courage.

Ooogie got ready at the starting line.  His opponent was the one and only... Flops!  Flops was the fastest rabbit in our neighborhood.  I began to wonder how this race would turn out.

Uncle Tibbs and I gathered at the finish line.

BANG!  The starting pistol went off.  Flops took an early lead with one gigantic hop and was well on his way to the halfway marker.  Meanwhile, Ooogie had not even crossed the starting line yet.

"You can do it, Ooogie!" I cheered.  But I was not really sure if he could do it.

Flops quickly made his way towards the finish line.  I buried my face in Uncle Tibb's leg.  A defeat such as this one was too painful to watch.

"Don't worry, Ajdin," Uncle Tibbs reassured me.  "I think I know what will happen."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, when a turtle and a rabbit race each other..." he paused.  "Just watch and see, Ajdin."

Suddenly, Flops stopped just before the finish line to snack on some carrots.

"Mmm...CARROTS!" Flops said.  "NOM NOM NOM...."

With Flops still munching on the carrots, Ooogie continued slowly but surely.

Ooogie was more than halfway there.  Flops was still distracted by the carrots.

"GO OOOGIE GO!" I cheered, more confidently this time.

Finally, Ooogie neared the finish line.

Flops jumped towards the finish line at the same time.  It was beary close, a photo finish, in fact!

Let's take a closer look at the footage.  The winner was...

OOOGIE!

"Wow!  You did a great job, Ooogie!" I congratulated him.

"Thaaaaaaank youuuuu," he said.  "Neeeeeever giiiiiive uuuuuuuup, Ajdiiiiiiiiin."

Ooogie is right, don't you think?