Hundred Yard Dash [FICTOID]

“It's not fair!  They're cheating!” 

“How are they cheating?” 

“You took the balls and chains off their ankles!”  

“So?  They're still starting twenty yards behind you.  They need to run a hundred and twenty yards while you only run a hundred.” 

“Yeah, but in the past I ran against them when they wore balls and chains on their legs.  This is changing the rules, making it unfair.” 

“Unfair?  Take a look ahead of you.  See those people at the fifty yard mark?  That's where they got to start the race.”

“…yeah…well…their parents paid for them to be there so that's okay.  They're entitled to win the race.”

“They aren't going to win.”  

“They aren't?  You mean I got a chance?” 

“Ha-ha!  No, of course not!  What I meant is those people at the fifty yard mark aren't going to win, they're not even going to come in second or third.  At best they'll get honorable mention certificates but the real winners aren't even running.  In fact for the real winners the race was already run and they declared the winners long before their birth.  They'll be lauded in the media and awarded huge endorsement contracts for winning when they never even set foot on the course.”  

“You mean they're the winners already and even the people ahead of me don't stand a chance?” 

“None at all.  Remember what I said about those at the fifty yard mark, that they get honorable mention certificates?  You'll be lucky to get a star for participating.” 

“A gold one?”  

“Why?  No sense wasting money on the likes of you, is there?”  

“Yeah, I guess you're right.  Still, at least the guys twenty yards behind me don't get any unfair advantage.”

© Buzz Dixon