Sunday Mornin' Hope : The Race p.11

As Puffy looked to her right, she began to see those crazy penguins again. They were swimming and flying out of the water like dolphins. They were coming right for her. Then a giant splash like a whale shook the water and oil around Puffy. It was that big penguin she talked with late into the evening on that island. Under the water she sank because of the massive wave. Then she bobbed back up. Still too tired to move, she noticed some of the oil washed off of her. The other penguins were gathering the rest of the oil that was near Puffy. The big penguin winked at Puffy as he again flew up out of the water and curled his body in a ball. Laughing he yelled "Cannonball!" and splashed right next to her. Like a reaction on a trampoline Puffy soared fifty feet into the air. Her coat was totally clean of oil. She looked up and saw the crop duster swirling again as if to write something more. "SPLASH!" Puffy went into the river head first. All the penguins were laughing with score cards next to the big penguin. Then everything became still. The cross nearby was being transformed. It looked like driftwood, but the letters were again changing. As the crop duster spelled a word the cross itself began to turn bright red. The octopus clinging to the letters that spelled "abandoned" was still trying to free itself from the fire branding. The sky lit up with music and dance. The crop duster spelled "DONE" and the rancher lasso'd it like a red hot iron. Down it came into the cross and burned the legs of the octopus. With a scream the octopus was freed from the cross. Snakes were all around Puffy...well until the penguins came. They were making little balls out of them and batting them onto the shore. One of them called it "snakeball" and the name stuck.

As Puffy was a short distance from the cross she could read it clearly now. From left to right it read "Hope". From top to bottom it read "Done". Would she embrace the cross and it's power, or would she run away from it. Puffy remembered the stories about this wicked river Nis. Very few survived it's under currents. She remembered hearing about those that fell in and cried out to the lifeguard. Those were instantly rescued. As she was watching all the events she felt a cold undercurrent moving through her legs and chilling her feet. Suddenly something pulled her under the water. Dropping deeper and deeper she could see the scarred octopus had wrapped her legs together and was taking her to a cave on the floor of the deep river. With her last breath Puffy screamed "Lifeguard!! Help me."

In a flash the river parted where Puffy was. She was standing on dry ground while the walls of the river were on both sides of her. The lifeguard stood next to her. "You called and I answered. I came here today knowing all this was going to take place. I came just for you." Puffy looked down and sobbed "But I'm such a mess. I blew it so many times. Just look at mmm" Puffy found herself in a new coat. Her scarred legs were completely smooth. She didn't know what to say. She looked up at the edges of the river. High overhead the crop duster wrote "I know." The rancher lowered his nice clean rope and the lifeguard lifted up Puffy as he held the rope. Within seconds Puffy, the lifeguard, the large penguin, the rancher, and the crop duster were all on the beach. Each of the four were very bright and Puffy had trouble looking at them. She turned to the Rancher "You all were in the race with me. Who are you?"

thanks dino

Thanks Dino.