Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty...-
“Jayla, honey!” a voice called from below.
I looked up in surprise as my hula hoop dropped to the floor. I could hear my mother calling again through my open door. Quickly, I grabbed my hoop and ran out of the room, raced down the stairs and bust into the kitchen.
“Yes mama?”
“Could you go get the mail for me dear?” my mother asked as she continued to mix the dough. She looked busy, but still genuinely happy. Her apron was covered with flour and she had some in her vibrant auburn hair, so I decided that she really did need my help.
I nodded once and ran to the front door. It was about noon and the air was nice and fresh, I noticed as I walked across the lawn. It was mid-summer so the sun was quite warm on my skin. I absently took a few letters out of the mailbox, at the same time looking around my neighborhood. It wasn't too loud out, although there were a few kids running and playing. I closed the box and headed back home.
I was back in my front yard two minutes later, with my hula hoop. I was determined to break the 3rd grade record of 156 hula hoops. I had decided to do it today, and now I was outside, ready to focus entirely on my goal.
I slipped the hoop over my head and set it on my waist. I took a deep breath as I held the hoop in place securely with my hands. I looked around the yard, and beyond at the road and the other houses. I gave a little push and off it was.
With a constant swinging of my hips, timed precisely to the very right moments the hoop was rotating away beautifully.
Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen... I counted silently. Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one...
The noises of the outside world were starting to fade, and I could no longer hear the squealing of the children, the barking of the dogs, or any of the other sounds around me. My sight started to blur. The moving shapes around me started to slow down as if time was being manipulated.
Seventy-three, seventy-four, seventy-five...
I thought about how impressed my classmates would be, how they would all be amazed at my new accomplishment. I could almost see myself at recess, surrounded by kids cheering for me. I could almost feel the wind in my face as I would swing in the highest swing, that was only aloud for the champion of the hula hoop record. I could see the pink-and-yellow hula hoop that I had gotten for Christmas being recorded into the history of our small school.
One hundred and thirty-one, one hundred and thirty-two, one hundred and thirty-three...
My mom would bake me a special batch of her magical chocolate-chip cookies. My dad would probably get me a new bike. My older brother and sister would finally want to play with me, and the kids next door would let me borrow their red wagon. My whole life would change when I broke this record, all I had to do was make a few more turns, and I would be the most-
“Hey Jayla!”
My concentration broke and I slowly started to see everything around me again. The smells, the sounds and the heat all slowly crawled back to me. I looked to the end of my driveway to see my best friend, Melony, on her red bike. And then, as I looked down, I realized my hula was lying on the ground, encircling my feet. I stared at it for a moment longer and looked back up.
I had to cover my eyes with a hand quickly to keep the glare out.
“I have a whole three dollars today, I'm gonna go get some ice-cream, wanna come?” She shouted again.
I looked from her down to my hoop and back up again.
I smiled and picked up the hula hoop. Running back toward my house I shouted back,
“I'll ask my mom real quick!”
There would be other days, and other records, right now, there were two fruit pops waiting for me and Melony at the store, and who could resist that?