The Running Dream

Coach Kyro asks the track team to meet him at lunch on Friday, where he tells them that they have raised the $20,000 needed for Jessica’s running leg. Thanks to the anonymous donor’s matching donation and the $15,000 the students raised on their own, there was more than enough to purchase the special prosthetic. Kyro then states that the extra will be given to Jessica’s parents to put toward Jessica’s medical bills. The team lets out a huge cheer in response. After the meeting, Jessica tells her coach she doesn’t know how to thank him. Kyro’s response is, “Just meet me on the track next year. That’ll be thanks enough” (270). Jessica realizes that she now needs to learn how to run again.

The school year ends with Jessica experiencing mixed emotions. She sits at home while her friends all go to the prom, wondering if she would have had a date if “I wasn’t walking around on a pipe” (272). At the track banquet, she receives the check for her running prosthesis, only to be told by Dr. Wells that her leg was still changing, and she would have to wait until the summer.