"Hey there, Catherine!" said Molly as she hurried to Catherine.
"Oh hi Molly!" said Catherine as she ran toward her friend. Suddenly, she felt cold. It started off from the shoulders, all the way down to her legs. It felt like a whole minute to Catherine, but it only took half a second in real life. Catherine felt like drinking a cup of hot chocolate, though it was summer, and they were outside in the hot sun. She felt herself tilting left, then everything turned black.
****
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| Photo via Wikimedia Commons |
"Yeah, I'm fine," said Catherine, as she sat up from the sofa.
"What happened, Catherine?"
"Well, I was running, when all of a sudden I felt cold, from my shoulders to my feet, then I started to tilt, and everything turned black," she felt a sting on her forehead. "Ouch!" Catherine cried aloud, as she felt the bandage.
"You scraped your head," said Mrs. Ralph, as she gave Catherine a cup of water. "Now, where were you when this happened?"
"I was outside on the playground."
Mrs. Ralph got up from her seat and walked to her desk. She typed a few things and gasped. "Catherine, I want you to run from the couch to me." Catherine got up, and started to jog forward. It wasn't long before she had the same feeling again and fainted. "Catherine! You have a disease called myotonia congenita!"
"What is that?" asked Catherine as she got up from the couch again. Her head was throbbing, and she couldn't think correctly.
"Well, that means whenever you run, your muscles freeze up, and what that happens, you faint," explained Mrs. Ralph. "I must go inform your parents. You need to go home."
****
A few hours later, Catherine was home in front of a lot of worried faces. "Catherine, how could this happen?" said her mom. "Why didn't we know?" asked her dad. "Why has it never happened before?" asked her helper.
"I don't know," was the reply to all the questions.
"You will never be able to run again," said her mom.
"But the marathon of the year is coming up!"
"I know, but how will you win?" asked her mom. There was no reply.
****
The next day at school, everyone was buzzing about the news. "I heard that she will never be able to run again!" said a girl. "But the marathon is coming up!" said another.
"How will I win?" thought Catherine. "How will I win?"
There was no chance she would win anyway. She was the slowest runner, and she would definitely be the slowest if she had this disease. From that day on she walked, hopped, and crawled, but she never skipped, galloped, or ran.
On the day of the competition, it was raining, but everyone wanted the competition to go on. The rain was like an obstacle. When everyone got to their position on the track, there were many gasps when they saw the worst runner in the world.
"How will I win?" thought Catherine. "How will I win?"
Suddenly, the gun shot, and everyone started to run. As Catherine zoomed forward, she fainted, and woke up again. The others were halfway through the race already. Suddenly, a runner tripped and bumped into another runner, who also fell. Another slipped from the rain and three more did too. And because they slipped, they had no control of their direction, and crashed into five other people. There were hundreds of gasps, as the runners lay there motionless. Catherine walked forward. It took her a long time, but it was worth it. She had won.
****
At school, everyone treated her even better. They complimented her, and were astonished that she had won. "Great job!" said Molly.
"Thanks," said Catherine. "I am actually proud of my disease, or I would have ended up in the hospital like the other players."
"How will I win?" thought Catherine. "With my disease."
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