Abby's Big Race --Epilogue

"Is she...dead?"

"No, she's breathing, can't you see?"

"Of course I can't see, Margaret, my glasses broke when I fell down the giants' steps."

"Seriously, Franz, sometimes I think there's not much light in your attic."

"I don't have an attic."

"Denser than a black hole..."

"Hey look, her eyes are opening!" 

"Abby? Abby, are you okay?" 

Abby's eyes fluttered, the sweaty faces of her team-mates coming slowly into view. Her head was cradled in Margaret's lap, and it was immediately apparent that she had been crying. Mr. Roskilde was there as well, holding a bag of saline solution in one hand, while his other had two fingers on the side of Abby's neck, checking her pulse. Weakly, Abby said, "Hello everyone."

"Abby!" cried Sara, whose knees looked skinned.

"Oh Abby, thank goodness," said Jutta, who had a bag of ice taped to her ankle. 

"We were so worried," said Franz. He tried holding up the ruined frames of his glasses so he could see. 

Abby's head felt funny, as though her sense of balance had somehow deserted her. "How did we do?" she asked, trying to sit up.

Margaret stopped her, however. "There now," she said, "the EMT said you needed to stay until the bag is empty." She motioned to the bag of saline solution, which looked to be about two-thirds empty. A narrow tube extended from the bag to a needle in her arm.  "But to answer your question, we won. It was amazing, you beat the field by over eight minutes, not to mention beating my best time by three minutes. And Franz out-sprinted a kid from our rival school to give us the team title. We've never done that before."    

"Did he?" said Abby, "Congratulations, Franz," she said with a smile.

"Many thanks, Abby," said Franz."

Margaret continued. "I was so afraid when I saw you collapse though," said Margaret. "I tried to reach you, but Mr. Roskilde and all the ambulance people surrounded you before I could. I was so scared you were dead, it was terrible."

"No, I'm not dead," said Abby simply, "not yet."

"It was just scary," said Margaret, "you just sort of fell over, like you fell asleep while standing up. I was so afraid."

Abby felt a tear trickle down her cheek. "You were afraid?" she said. "You're never afraid."

Margaret smiled for the first time all day. "I never use to be," she said, "not until I met you. You're really different."

"Maybe," said Abby, wiping the tear from her cheek, "but so are you. Right now I'm just really tired." 

"That's to be expected," said Mr. Roskilde, "you were pretty badly dehydrated. Thankfully you don't look too worse for wear. Gave us a scare, though."

"Sorry," said Abby, "I didn't realize how hard I was going until the end. I didn't even know I was in the lead."  

"Well, I hope this means you'll be staying on with the running team," said Margaret, "because you just showed you're the fastest fifth-grader in the whole county...by a lot." 

"We'll see," said Abby, who now sat up and looked around. "There's definitely something special about this running thing," she said, "but right now I think I'll go home."

"Here come your parents," said Mr. Roskilde, gesturing. "Thanks for coming out, Abby. It was a real pleasure seeing you perform so well. I hope we meet again." 

"Of course," said Abby, "thanks for taking care of me."

"Thanks, Abby," said Sara.

"Thank-you, Abby," said Ellen.

"You're the best, Abby," said Franz, who was now eating a wurst sandwich. "Please come back when you're feeling better." 

"Haha, thank-you Franz," said Abby smiling, "I will come back, don't worry." 

She rose to her feet, still feeling a bit dizzy. Everyone was smiling as she walked to the car. I wonder if people could smile like this everyday, she thought. Perhaps someday. She fell asleep on the ride home, a fitting end to Abby's big race.