Clash of the best

On a sunny Saturday Camill felt bored. It was a rare occasion, as she always had cheerleading practice or followed the school team to matches at weekends, but this time the games were cancelled. She had finished all her homework the day before, because she had been used to not having any free time for that on Saturday or Sunday. She was stretching on the couch, scrolling down videos on her phone, when someone yelled from the street:

‘Camill, are you home?’

Camill looked out the window and saw Tyler and Trevin the tigers.

‘Yes,’ she answered. ‘I’m stuck here, bored to the bone.’

‘Do you want to hang out in the park?’ Tyler asked.

‘We could call Chloe, too,’ Trevin added.

‘Absolutely. I’m coming.’

After a minute Camill appeared at the gate hopping enthusiastically. ‘I’ve spoken to Chloe, she’s going to meet us in the park.’

‘Cool,’ the tigers said.

When they were all sitting together in the park, trying to figure out what to do with their time, Harper the horse arrived.

‘Hey, what are you guys up to?’

‘It’s so good you came! I’m sure you’ll be able to help us thinking up a competition of some kind,’ Chloe said.

‘Well, you are all athletes. Why don’t you check who’s faster and stronger? That way you could see which sport makes you the fastest and strongest. I’ll be the referee,’ Harper suggested.

‘That’s a great idea!’ Camill exclaimed and started jumping around. The others got excited, too.

‘All right, then. I’ll draw the starting line here. Let’s see who can run the fastest around the park and get back here first,’ Harper instructed them. The four friends lined up and excitedly waited for Harper to yell: ‘Ready, steady, go!’

They ran around the park at a dizzying pace and Harper was surprised to see that they passed the finish line at exactly the same second.

‘Who won? Who was the fastest?’ they cried out in one voice.

‘None of you and all of you. You finished at the same time,’ Harper explained.

‘Oh, no! I can’t believe it!’ Camill was disappointed.

‘So are we all equally strong and fast?’ Trevin asked.

‘Well, I think your sports strengthen these skills the same way. We have to find another way to check,’ Harper said. ‘Chloe, what’s your strength in cheerleading?’

‘Jumping high, obviously’ the cat smiled.

‘OK, what about you guys? What’s your strength in ice-hockey?’

‘Speed skating,’ Trevin answered. ‘But we can’t do that here in the park.’

‘Then we’ll borrow skateboards from the bulldog twins. First, each of you will have to jump and the one going the highest will win. After that, you’ll compare your speed on the skateboards. What do you say? Then we’ll add up the scores and see who’s the absolute winner,’ Harper looked at them.

‘Cool,’ the tigers said.

‘So great,’ the cats enthused.

‘Then let’s do it, let’s go!’ Harper said happily.

They prepared the race course and did some warm-up exercises. On Harper’s count of three they all jumped as high as they could. The cats won effortlessly, Chloe even beat Camill by a few inches. The tigers had no chance.

‘Girls, congratulations!’ Trevin said.

‘You are way better than us, hats off to you,’ Tyler praised them.

‘Thanks guys, but let’s wait for the next round. I’m really not sure about my skateboarding skills,’ Camill laughed.

All four friends lined up again, but this time on skateboards. When Harper yelled ‘Go!’ they pushed themselves as hard as they could. On the first section Trevin was the fastest, then Tyler took over the lead, but the cats were following them dangerously close, not allowing the tigers to relax for one second. By the time they reached the finish line, Trevin managed to pass Tyler and he won.

‘Who’s the fastest and strongest?’ Camill demanded.

‘Have I won? What’s my overall score?’ Tyler asked Harper.

The horse quickly added up the numbers. ‘Hm,’ she said. ‘This is funny. Your total scores are the same. You all won,’ Harper smiled.

‘So there is no best?’ Chloe asked.

‘Yes and no. Each of you is the best in one skill or sport, but it makes no sense to compare them, because they are different. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. You are all uniquely talented,’ Harper explained. ‘And it doesn’t necessarily have to be sport. Think of Ollie, for example. He makes sure not to do any sport… like ever, and still he is the best DJ we know, right?’

‘Or like Vernon,’ Tyler added. ‘He doesn’t even come out of his room if there’s a tiny ray of sunshine, but everyone knows that he has the best parties.’

‘Exactly,’ Harper agreed.

‘Speaking of Ollie, why don’t we go to the beach and check out what he is playing today,’ Camill said.

‘Yes! And we can chill with the others after racing so hard,’ Chloe smiled.

‘Cool!’ the tigers said.

‘Let’s go then,’ Harper said and the group of friends headed to the beach. Ollie the octopus was really happy to see them.

‘Ollie, we are the best!’ Camill exclaimed.

‘Oh, I know’, Ollie nodded. ‘We are the best of friends.’

They all stayed there until late afternoon, chatting, enjoying the music and celebrating that each of them is the best at something.