The Race | Teen Ink

The Race

August 13, 2013
By SkippyPeanutbutter SILVER, Utrecht, Other
SkippyPeanutbutter SILVER, Utrecht, Other
9 articles 0 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Happiness can be found, even at the darkest of times. If one only remembers to turn on the light." -Albus Dumbledore
"We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?" -the Eleventh Doctor


Your entire life is a race. Together with the entire population, you are racing against one communal contestant: death. In this race between life and death there are a few simple rules everyone must know.

Rule number 1: Do not let death catch up to you, under any circumstances. Always keep a large distance between you and him. For when he catches up, the race is over; death has won and you stop living.

Rule number 2: Be careful. Death doesn’t play by the rules. He makes sure there are obstacles on your track. Watch out for those obstacles! Carelessness may cause you to lose the game.

Rule number 3: Do not give in to death’s temptations. There will be times when you will be tired and you don’t want to run anymore. Death will then come and promise you something better as long as you let him win the race. The thing is: you cannot take him for his word; he is vile and deceitful. When death tempts you the only thing you can do is start running even faster. When death is out of earshot you can slow down again and you’ll realize that the race is more enjoyable than you had imagined.

Rule number 4: Prepare yourself for what comes after the race. For the race doesn’t last forever- this is something people often forget. At one point you’ll win and if you’ve prepared yourself well enough, you  will realize it was a good race. You will then shake death’s hand and together you'll leave as old friends.

Rule number 5: Don’t forget to have fun.



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This article has 5 comments.


on Jul. 31 2015 at 9:13 am
SkippyPeanutbutter SILVER, Utrecht, Other
9 articles 0 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Happiness can be found, even at the darkest of times. If one only remembers to turn on the light." -Albus Dumbledore
"We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?" -the Eleventh Doctor

Oops, thank you for pointing that out!

Beila BRONZE said...
on Jul. 31 2015 at 4:35 am
Beila BRONZE, Palo Alto, California
3 articles 0 photos 516 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." -Mark Twain

I love this! It made me think of Death, the narrator in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, who somehow came off to me as a rather personable fellow. After all, the world is dog eat dog, every man for himself. I love the creative spin on this idea and the way you oscillate between very serious topics (I appreciate Rule Number 3 immensely) and spot-on humor. My only critique is that you lose proper English grammar conventions in a couple of places, like the you're vs. your in the first line. Watch out for that and proofread extra carefully because honestly, it's the only piece missing. You've got talent! :)

on Aug. 19 2013 at 10:17 am
TaylorWintry DIAMOND, Carrollton, Texas
72 articles 0 photos 860 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Never fear shadows. They simply mean there's a light shining somewhere nearby." - Unknown

Ohh.. I see. Sometimes I just need a little explaining.. x) That's prett creatve!!

on Aug. 19 2013 at 4:09 am
SkippyPeanutbutter SILVER, Utrecht, Other
9 articles 0 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Happiness can be found, even at the darkest of times. If one only remembers to turn on the light." -Albus Dumbledore
"We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?" -the Eleventh Doctor

Thank you for your feedback. What I meant was that an early death is of course a bad thing because well you haven't been able to live life to the fullest yet. But when you're older (like 80) you've probably had some near death situations in your life, which terrified you. But some people accept death when they are 'old' and it's not that scary anymore, and those people are the ones to go happily and peacefully. (I don't know if I just made any sense but I appreciate your feedback a lot :) )

on Aug. 18 2013 at 9:30 pm
TaylorWintry DIAMOND, Carrollton, Texas
72 articles 0 photos 860 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Never fear shadows. They simply mean there's a light shining somewhere nearby." - Unknown

Charming! I liked the whole metaphor of the thing... especially the intense personification. It was really charming! The only thing that kind of bugged me was at the beginning, you portrayed death as a bad thing, but then at the very end said that hands would be shaken with death and you would be old friends... This doesn't make sense to me because earlier the character was running from death, and now they're old friends. I mean - you have to have past experiences to be an "old friend" and it doesn't make sense that one would have past experiences with death... If this doesn't make sense, just reply back and I'll rephrase it. (: Thanks for letting me read!