OMW: Fable

One-Minute Writer: Fable

My take: Write a short-but-true story with a moral.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Up the road was a guy on a bicycle. He was tall, like a giraffe, and on top he was splashed with vibrant orange, red, and yellow of a cycling jersey. Only, he wasn’t wearing a cycling jersey; he was wearing an Afghan sweater!

The image didn’t add up. A giraffe on a triathlon racing bike sticking his neck out of a little old lady sweater… This was an Ironman triathlon, not some Thanksgiving Day parade.

I laughed when I thought about Mr. Giraffe’s plight. He had probably grown too cold from racing for hours in the hypothermic driving rain, so a few miles back he pulled over to the side of the road and beat up a silver-haired old lady for her ragged Afghan sweater. It was probably his grandmother.

Within seconds I caught up to the colorful rider and, as I was making a pass, Mr. Giraffe craned his neck my way and gave me a warm smile that I would recall an hour later upon finishing the bike portion of the event as I transitioned over to the run.

This was an Ironman. I was about to achieve a life-long dream. I wasn’t about to throw away a year of training because the weather had turned. Instead, I stayed warm and did everything in my power to keep moving forward, even if it meant stealing an Afghan sweater from a little old lady.