Last year at the sports day finale Dominique was
inconsolable. In all her 5 years in the school, her house had never won. She
was sobbing loudly. Fifi’s house had won but rather than celebrating she was
reduced to consoling her older sister. No comforting words seemed to be working
though – until Fifi had a brilliant idea. She told Dominique that since Imani
was joining the school next year, she would be in Dominique’s house and they
would win. Dominique was instantly cheered up. Even when I provided the proviso
that there was no guarantee that Imani would end up in the same house as
Dominique.
You see earlier that term, Imani had joined a sprinting
competition between the boys in Dominique’s class. Imani is a full 5 years
younger than the said boys, but she outsprinted them with ease. But it was not
just getting there first; I noted her technique and commitment. The knees rose
high with every stride, the arms swinging through the stride and the focus on
her face. I knew then that she was a born sprinter.
As fate would have it, Imani joined and was assigned the
same house as Dominique. When sports day came round, Imani’s race was a day
earlier. It was a relay and she was running the last leg. By the time of the
switch over her team was well ahead, but she took off without the baton. 10
yards in and a teacher reminder her she had to go back. She was now fully 20
yards behind. But then she turned on the turbo and sped past the lead girl with
10 yards to go. It was EPIC!
The next day Dominique was in the tag of war. They came dead
last in that event. They came dead last again when the final results were
announced. Dominique was inconsolable again, but Fifi was in no mood for
niceties this time (probably because her house had not worn either). She made
it clear to Dominique that she cannot expect the house to win if she has not
won her own event. She assured her that she had let Imani down by coming last.
The sobbing stopped and was replaced by introspection.
