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Alex Gomez

Mr. Neuburger

Eng Comp 101-129

21 February 2011

Descriptive Essay

The Race

I awoke; my throats dry as a desert. I stretched, yawned, and then looked at the clock.

The bright red numbers reminded me of a stop light, telling me to stop and go back to sleep. I

slid out of bed and climbed down the stairs of the bunk house. It felt like walking a mile to the

bathroom.

I sauntered down the aisle between the other crew members. They were like sleeping

giants. They snored and growled as I made my way past. I opened the door and turned on the

light. I was blinded for a moment as if looking directly at the sun. Who was this in the mirror? I

saw a worn looking stranger with heavy bags under his eyes. They looked as if I going on a back

pack trip through Europe or some far away country. I looked fatigued and probably should be

since I was up all night making the grand stage and entrance for the biggest show of my life.

I turned the sink on, and the water was as cold as ice. As I drank, it felt as if I would

never parch my thirst which felt like the seven deserts of Egypt. It tasted great, like a fresh

mountain stream. I splashed it into my face and awoke a little more. I then turned to the shower

thinking, “I don’t want to step into this abysmal pool,” but the wash would be good and wake me

more since I crashed like a boxer getting knocked out after going seven rounds. I turned the

water on and thought of a waterfall cool, clean, and refreshing then stepped in. The shower was

great, and I was refreshed, exhilarated, and ready to go. I was feeling like a kid on Christmas, I

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was excited to behold the surprises that await me. I started getting dressed. I came to an

astonishing notion like a switch just flipped the light on in my head. This is the day the skills I

learned in the last few months would be put to the ultimate test. The giants that were sleeping

were now getting around groaning, stretching, stumbling, and cursing the day ahead of them.

Some even started fighting for the bathroom, and I thought to myself, “That’s why I wake early.”

I chuckled to myself and headed out into the world. Now, since I stumbled upon this place at

night, it looked like a spooky twilight zone montage. We set up that night, but when I opened the

door it was like walking through a portal into a new world.

I was seeing anew for the first time, and the sun beat against my face warm, and

welcoming. It was so beautiful as far as fair grounds went. The noises and smells of the animals

and foods assaulted me. As I looked around, I did notice the cook had already prepared a feast fit

for a king. There was plenty of food, and the smells were colliding like a traffic jam in my

nostrils. That made my mouth water, and dribble; as I peered down the way I saw bacon, eggs,

oatmeal, sausage, cereal, milk, pancakes and more.

I sat down with a plate of my favorites. I started eating like a shark, furiously thrashing

every piece in my mouth. The cook looked over and said, “You better slow down or you will

make yourself sick.” I nodded and slowed my pace. I was startled by big, heavy cement like

hands grabbing my shoulders, and then a bellow came, “You ready my boy.” I looked up. It was

my boss, a tall man big in stature with white hair, and a cowboy hat. He looked as if he had

stepped out of a rodeo. I smiled with eggs between my teeth, choked back the food, and said,

“Of course sir. Why wouldn’t I be?” He laughed and said, “Well you better be ready or this will

be number sixty three, right?” I smiled and nodded. Now sixty-three would be the number of

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times I ate dirt after falling off of an ostrich. I just couldn’t get down the technique and stay on

the damn bird.

Ostrich are six to seven feet tall chickens that weigh about four hundred pounds. These

monsters could flatten a tractor tire in three kicks. They have long necks half the size of their

body in length, but are so sturdy they could knock you down swinging it into you. They also

have big beaks, eyes, and have a tendency of eating anything shiny. They were like riding a giant

rocket without a steering wheel jerking back, and forth, here and there, and spasming the entire

ride. After a lot of failure, I felt I would succeed. I finished my breakfast, and walked to the

outhouse near our camp. I would do my duties before getting ready for this glorious day, in

which I hoped to not make a fool of myself.

I strolled by the animal pens, and as I looked at the animals getting groomed for the

petting zoo, I noticed there were a plethora of animals. No wonder the farm he had stayed in

business for so long. I walked up to Dezzy and gave him a big hug. I let out a loud burst of air as

his muscled squeezed the life out of me, as if I was to squeeze a banana and the insides were to

shoot out. Now Dezzy was my pet red kangaroo, an alpha male, and my best friend. I rubbed his

head which felt as soft as silk and then carried on to the other end of camp. I could hear the

people all around and the sounds of the fair. It was wonderful; there must have been five hundred

people here already. I could not see them for there were big flat white shimmering shades

around our camp, so no one could disturb or steal the animals.

I peeked out of the camp into the arena. My throat went dry again, as my heart jumped

into my throat. It was like a cat escaping a dog up a tree. My eyes wandered around the arena,

and there were already about three hundred spectators sitting and awaiting the first show, which

was about to start. I stumbled backwards as if my legs were made out of spaghetti. This was my

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first time doing a show of this sort, and even though I had prepared for the last couple months, I

still felt like a scared little girl seeing a spider. I changed into my costume. These were the same

uniforms horse jockeys wore with the tight pants, little helmets, and lash whips, but they had an

ostrich emblem on the back of the jackets. I then heard, and felt it like an earthquake tearing

through a city reaping destruction and mayhem in its wake. The crowd roared as Joe Hendricks

started to announce the races. His loud, deep pounding voice shook the ground. Then everyone

started running around getting ready acting utterly mad with excitement and drama as we all

started getting into character for the show.

The gates opened wide. The crew and I strolled out into the arena, and the crowd cheered,

and it shook the stadium again, and again. We were loved no matter the consequences. I knew

now how the gladiators felt when they entered the arena wondering whether they were going to

die or live in glory. I said, “I hope I don’t die,” to myself and laughed. It was kind of funny to

think like that. Three others and I headed to the starting shoots where are mounts waited. I

jumped up on the side of the shoot, and looked down at this monster of a chicken that was to

carry me to victory. However, he was pissed! I got down on top of the ostrich, and got my

technique down. I held in tight, and the bird was anxious, and slammed me into the side of the

shoot three or four times. It stung like getting smacked with a brick. “These birds mean

business,” I told myself.

I waited for the pleasantries to be over. I held fast, and the gate flew open. My bird was

off like a bolt of lightning and gaining speed as we went. I was holding tight and leaning with

him as he took the first turn. It was like riding a motorcycle at thirty miles an hour, but you don’t

have control, and all you can do is hang on. When you are riding it feels like forever, and a day,

but in reality it’s over in a blink of an eye. I watched as my bird sped up passing the third, and

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second rider. This was it. I was in first place, and everything went slow motion as we crossed the

finish line. I looked up as the crowd burst to their feet. I jumped off the ostrich and landed in the

soft dirt. As I looked around the stadium, I felt immortal. I had done it, I held fast, tight and

worked with my mount. I did it, and I won my first Ostrich race.