Creative+Writing-+Good+Copy



Greed and jealousy. Two traits that can alternate original desires and turn any type of being against others, both humans and animals. Greed can transform any animal or human into a completely altered version of themselves and may be ensnared in their own greed for the object they desire so much for. Jealousy can change people’s original desires in its own way; it can also turn many close relationships that seem impenetrable, and change into deep contempt. Both of these traits can change any living being into someone completely different and alter their needs, goals, and dreams. It was the evening of the 15th of July, 1955, in a small old town in Florida, a 15 year old boy named Peter Martin was dawdling along the river holding his good luck charm given to him by his family after he lost it when it belonged to his father; it was his first moment where they were proud of him. Peter was just taking a stroll and thinking how much he wished that life was a dream, so carefree like the clouds. After he finished thinking, Peter found something peculiar, it was a small, damp, sheet of paper that had some writing that was barely legible. It said, "Fountain of Youth Elixir" as the title, Peter had heard of these ancient rumours of the elixir and that it had wondrous effects to the person or any living being that consumes it. Peter read on, it said: Event: Competition for the Fountain of Youth Elixir! Contestants: Anyone! Location: Florida Time: July 29, 2:30 pm. Peter was dumbfounded. This was just what he needed, his parents had recently got a mysterious illness and none of the doctors could find a cure for them. This could be the first time that he had a chance to help his parents to pay back the numerous times they have helped him. Ever since they caught this illness, they still helped Peter and his 16 year old brother, Jimmy, to the best of their abilities. Peter felt like the happiest person alive. So he decided to run home and tell his family of this miraculous news. But after he read it, he started to think about what could go wrong, he then thought that if he lost, his parents would be disappointed and think that he is a disgrace to the family. Once he got home, he immediately smelled the phenomenal scent of his parents cooking; he ran to the kitchen and held out the advertisement. They all gathered around to see what the big fuss was about, once they saw the paper, there were mixed reactions. Jimmy was excited to have something interesting in this boring town, and his parents simply said to him, "That's great, Peter." Peter was utterly shocked. He thought that they would be happy for once. What he didn't know was that they were deeply appreciative, but they did not know how to show it towards Peter. After dinner, Peter had a discussion with Jimmy about the competition for the Fountain of Youth Elixir. Peter started the discussion, he said, "First off, we need to prepare for this, I'll ask my friend to help out for setting up a course for us to practice on." "Okay, I'll ask my friends to snoop around to see if anyone knows any information about the rules and courses,” said Jimmy. They discussed for what felt like the whole night to Peter as he was exhausted since he came home from discovering the paper. Once they finally stopped they went to sleep, with Peter holding his good luck charm. Once the weekend came, Peter and Jimmy had gathered some information and were ready to try Peter’s friend’s course. Peter’s friend’s name was Steven, who was the same age as himself. “Hey guys!” yelled Steven from across the field. “So, this is the course. I’ll walk you through it first, as you informed me, there are going to be four different courses; team activity, strength, speed, and endurance.” Peter and Jimmy were both impressed by his hard work ethic. Steven explained how each course would prove to be an asset once the competition came.  The next day Peter and Jimmy rushed home from school, and went to the field. Steven was already waiting like he was there for years. The first course went dreadfully; they did not work together well at all. They had finally found a solution and had it had worked wonders. After a couple more practice runs, they moved on to the next course. This one went pretty smoothly, although Jimmy was always boasting that he could do more of everything. “Well, let’s move on.” The next two courses went very well. Steven assessed their speed and he thought that they had no problem with it. By the end of it, they were flat out exhausted. They immediately flopped onto their beds and fell to sleep. Peter even forgot to take out his good luck charm to admire it. After 2 weeks of gruelling training, the competition finally came; it was the morning of July 29th. Once he got up, he knew that he was in perfect shape and fully rested, he had taken it easy the day before as he did not want to overexert himself like his brother, who had sprained his ankle and could not compete today. Everyone decided to head over to the area where the competition was held. Once they got there, everyone was utterly overwhelmed by how many people were here to compete. “//Well,”// Peter thought, “//I guess there are a lot of people out there who want to have the fountain of Youth for themselves, since it even prevents people from aging, temporarily.”// Once he saw the course, Peter thought, “//Yes! The three-legged race, Jimmy’s friends were right!//” Peter had almost forgot, he took his good luck charm out of his pocket and put it around his neck, he kissed it, and was ready for the competition. Before the competition began, everyone had to choose a partner to work with, immediately Peter started to search for someone that would make up for no teamwork. He decided to go with someone his size, but with a big build. But throughout the past few weeks, he had become a lot more muscular and had a bigger build from all the intense training he had overcome. He had finally paired up with someone the same age as himself named Joe Smith, although this guy was quite rude to Peter. “You better not slow me down,” he said plainly. Peter could not think of a response. The race had started; it was simply a 3-legged, 400 meter-dash to the finish line, and the top 200 were to stay, the others were sent home. They were not doing so well at first, but started to gain ground at the last 100 meters and ended in the top 10, so they passed the preliminaries. The second one was what Jimmy’s friend’s thought it was although it was the third one he had explained, strength. All they had to do was lift and hold a variety of items for a certain amount of time. This one wasn’t much of a problem for Peter; it then came to the final one. Then he picked up his final item, he was having some trouble, then he thought to himself, “//Come on Peter, you can do this! You have to, for your parents!//” It took every ounce of his strength to lift the weight, but he had to. He held it for a gruelling 5 seconds, and let it drop. Peter saw that at least half the people leaving, so that means there would be less than 50 left. Then he saw Joe, he had no trouble lifting the weights and held it like it was nothing. There was no doubt; he was as strong as bear. The next one was all about speed. All people had to do was race around the 400 metre track 4 times, which meant 1600 meters. The first 5 will be in the finals. Once they heard the gunshot, everyone sprinted away. After some time had passed, Peter passed everybody except for one, Joe. He was at the very front, but Peter was picking up speed and ran like the wind. Peter had surprisingly beat Joe at the last second. It was at long last the finals, he wasn’t sure he could beat Joe, and the other contestants seemed pretty formidable too. Now it was time for the final competition for the Fountain of Youth elixir. And the competition was then explained, the rules were simple, all they had to do was stand on a log, one-footed, and be the last one standing. The competition finally began. For the first half an hour, it seemed really easy to Peter, and then it started to worsen, his leg was cramping up, and his foot was in severe pain. He looked over to the others, one had already fallen off, two were struggling, and Joe seemed like it was second nature to him, he was standing as still as a statue and as strong as lion. After another hour, he almost couldn’t take it anymore, but then he saw that Joe was struggling to. “//I have to win no matter what!”// Peter thought. By now, he was in excruciating pain and was about to give up, but he //had// to persevere. His foot had lost feeling, and his leg was giving away, he finally fell. He lost. It was all over. At the award ceremony, he was given a small medal, while Joe was given the jug of Fountain of Youth Elixir. He held it in the air to show everyone, and gave it to Peter. Peter was completely shocked. “Thank you,” was all Peter could say, he was at a loss for words. All of a sudden, Peter collapsed. Once he woke up, there were many people surrounding him; his family, Steven, and even Joe. He then realized he was in the hospital. “Are you okay, Peter?” asked his mother. “Yeah, I feel fine, just a little tired.” The doctor entered and explained the situation. Everyone gave a sigh of relief. “Have you drunk the Fountain of Youth elixir yet?” questioned Peter. “Yes, we are already making a steady recovery, thank you so much Peter, we cannot be more grateful.” Peter was overjoyed; he had finally made his parents happy. Peter had immediately fallen into a deep, content sleep. The next morning, after Peter arrived home late last night, Peter went to the kitchen drowsily for some breakfast. Once he arrived, he was woken up by a loud, “Congratulations!” Peter was stunned. He had just noticed that Joe was here too. Peter had gone up to Joe and thanked him once again. While the party was still going on, Peter left the house and went back to the river, where he took another long stroll while looking into the sky thinking how his life could now be as carefree as a cloud. While he was walking, he was still grasping on to his family’s good luck charm like it was his life.
 * __ Short Story __**