Turn On Your TV and Write A Story

Turn on your TV. Write down the first line that you hear and write a story based on it.

Okay. Prepare yourself for a shock: My family does not have satellite…or Netflix. We only have movies.

So, the way I am going about this challenge today is that I am just recalling a line from a movie we have. 

The movie that I chose was CARS and the line I chose came from Lightening McQueen.

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“Speed. I… am… SPEED. One winner. 2 losers….I eat losers for breakfast.”

The race horse pawed at the loose dirt beneath him, every one of his muscles tight, like a loaded spring. He snorted as he stood anxiously in his box, waiting for the buzzer and the doors to fly open, meaning his release to run…to run like the wind.

His jockey spoke softly to him “Easy SpeedWind…easy.” he could feel that the man on his back was as anxious as him, muscles tense and mind racing.

SpeedWind glanced at one of his competitors, Black Galaxy, who roared angrily and reared in his box “LET ME OUT!” he said “Let me pound these lesser 2 horses into the turf!” the black stallion glared at SpeedWind as the humans forced him to settle down.

SpeedWind rolled his eyes and faced the doors again. He took a long, deep breath, readying himself for the lunge that he would take as soon as the doors opened.

“Speed. I am speed.” He told himself “The wind is my friend. It carries me to victory.” He glanced at his second competitor, Likely Lady Locks. She was looking at him also. She nibbled at her bit and nodded at him, wishing him luck.

He returned the nod and faced the doors again. He tightened the muscles in his powerful back legs.

Any moment now…any moment.

DING!

The doors seemed to swing open in slow motion, shrieking on their hinges painfully, opening up the road to momentary freedom: the race track.

SpeedWind put all his weight on his back legs, and as soon as he felt the hand holding his bridle move, he exploded from the cage.

Everything turned to a blur then as his hooves harshly pounded against the ground, daring gravity to hold him down.

Black Galaxy was to his right, and Lady to his left.

Galaxy, ears pinned straight back, began to surge ahead, glaring at SpeedWind as he ripped devilishly at the ground with his hooves.

SpeedWind felt his jockey tug slightly on the reins, telling him to save his energy and let Galaxy wear down.

SpeedWind looked at Lady, her flaxen mane jerking and flowing behind her as she stayed neck-and-neck with him, and his jockey had to tap him with the crop to get his mind back on the race.

Dirt clots began to fly into SpeedWind’s face as Galaxy’s hind quarters stared at him, so with a huff, he moved to the outside, forcing his legs and heart to pump faster as he struggled to move up beside the black horse.

His jockey tugged at him again, letting him know that he was getting in too much of a hurry, but SpeedWind ignored the warnings. He could keep up, and he knew it.

He gradually pulled up beside Black Galaxy, his muscles contracting and retracting as he galloped in long, fast strides.

Galaxy locked his dark eye on SpeedWind and glared. He bared his teeth as they began to run neck-and-neck, but SpeedWind knew that Galaxy couldn’t bite him and run at the same time.

He ignored Galaxy and began pushing himself. He was warming up now, his muscles starting to rise in temperature as he thundered down the track.

As he began to take the lead, Galaxy roared and forced himself forward, coming neck-and-neck with SpeedWind again.

SpeedWind glanced at Galaxy, but turned his focus back on the track. His lungs took in gulps of air just before his feet would hit the ground, his heart pounded in time with his hooves, and his muscles flowed smoothly and naturally as he flew across the ground, nearly airborne at the speed he was running.

He looked at the stands where all the humans were. He saw them bouncing and cheering, roaring, encouraging, hoping to make their favorite win by sheer will.

He looked at Galaxy again and saw that the horse was struggling to keep up now, slowly falling behind inch by inch. Or was he falling behind? No. SpeedWind realized that Galaxy was not falling behind, but that he, friend of the wind, was gaining speed. He was becoming his name: SpeedWind.

Never had he run so fast. The wind brushed past his face and around his legs, roaring as it whipped past his ears. The race track and stands shifted then into rolling plains, and he was suddenly running free with his wild ancestors, nothing stopping them, nothing forcing them on: Just running to keep up with the wind that rolled across the grasslands.

He was ahead now, unable to even see Galaxy and Lady. He thundered on, his muscles seeming to be stuck making this fluid motion of stretching out, grabbing the ground, and forcing it under him again, propelling him into the air and forward.

He stretched his head out as he pushed for more speed. He felt his jockey grip him tightly as a harsh gust of wind brushed by him, telling him that he had in fact picked up speed.

He charged on and on, never wanting to stop, running to keep up with the wind.

Something suddenly brought him back to reality, and the roar of the cheering humans grew until he thought it would shake the ground. He didn’t understand why they seemed so must more excited than before, but just galloped on, determined to find his way back into the world that he was in with the wild horses.

His jockey gripped him harder and began to tug at the reins “Whoa! Whoa!”

He didn’t understand at first, until his jockey yelled at him again “You won you big oaf! Whoa!”

He gradually began to slow his pace until he was at a trot, his legs feeling stiff and awkward, his body wet with sweat.

Another horse and rider galloped up to him, and the rider reach out and took him by the bridle, leading him to the winner’s stand.

The other horse looked at him and smiled “Congratulations. You really were fast.” He said.

SpeedWind felt like he was walking on clouds then, feeling proud beyond words, and he began to prance his way toward the growing crowd of people who thronged around his owner.

“Hey!” he looked back and saw Lady, caked with dirt, and exhausted looking, but wearing a proud expression on her face “You rocked out there!” she smiled at him before she was led away by another horse and rider, following Black Galaxy who also was being led away.

SpeedWind smiled and paused, standing stock still as the crowd of ecstatic people crowned him and his jockey with flowers and took his photo. He stood there with his head held high, and his tail raised proudly.

A wisp of wind blew across his ears, and played with his hair, running cool fingers across his face before moving on, leaving a whispering in his ears that drowned out the sounds of the rest of the world: “Victory is yours, Child Of The Wind…Victory is yours.”