George gulped down the air as she took another bounding leap forwards. Out of the corner of her eye she swore she saw something move. Frantically she picked up speed and set her eyes firmly ahead of her. Then all of a sudden she was all too aware of a presence beside her. Her aching body was pleading with her to stop yet she could not. Something inside her was willing her to go on. It would not be long now before this battle reached its conclusion one way or another, yet she was determined not to admit defeat. Tears were streaming down George’s flushed face due more to exhaustion than to the cold chill in the air. Yet she feared all her efforts might not be enough to overcome the powerful force that pursued her.
A sound to her right caused George to glance sideways. Immediately she wished she had not done so. The image left her in no doubt, capture was looming near and the struggle would soon be put to an end once and for all. Her fingers tightened around the brown material which she would not let go of for anything in this world and her tired legs carried her on with unimaginable speed.
If she could just hold on a little longer maybe she could outrun it, she told herself as her feet came into contact with the soggy ground beneath them. Her mind was racing yet her energy rapidly failing.
This was it then, the end. For a brief moment she lost her concentration. The next thing she knew she was lying in a crumpled heap on the muddy ground.
She had stumbled.....then it came to her.....she had bumped into something. She slowly gazed up and all at once became aware of a noise coming from every side. She felt many arms grab hold of her and was overcome by dizziness as she was lifted high into the air. She looked back to where she had fallen and sure enough she saw what had caused her to collapse. Tape, lots of it, attached to two sturdy Oak trees.
As she was carried off into the night she allowed herself a smile. ‘Junior sack-race champion,’ she thought. ‘This is the happiest day of my life’.
