The Race with Two Finishes

Chapter 1Four Times Around

The race route went around the schoolyard, past the water tap, and back to a chalk line beside the bench.

Four laps.

Mr. Levin explained it twice while the boys stretched their legs.

"Stay on the marked path. Pass with room. I will call your lap count at the bench. Your fourth crossing is the finish."

Yossi nodded, but he was watching Eli tie his shoelace.

Eli was usually the fastest runner in their class. If Yossi could stay near him today, he might finally finish among the first three.

The prizes waited on the bench: three small wooden puzzles with sliding pieces.

Yossi wanted the one with a fish on it.

Mr. Levin blew the whistle.

Eli shot forward. Yossi followed, remembering to leave space at the corner.

Chapter 2Behind the Red Sleeve

On the first lap, Yossi could hear boys laughing behind him.

On the second, he heard only shoes and breathing.

Eli's red sleeve kept swinging just ahead.

Yossi watched it through the corners. He did not look toward Mr. Levin's hand when they passed the bench.

He was too busy staying close.

On their third trip around, Eli began to run harder near the water tap.

Yossi thought that meant the finish was coming.

His breathing grew louder. He kept an even pace along the last straight part.

At the chalk line, Eli threw up both hands.

Yossi crossed a moment later and stopped beside him.

"Second!" he said.

Two other boys kept running past them.

Mr. Levin's whistle sounded again.

Chapter 3The Unfinished Finish

"Keep going! One more lap!"

Eli stared at Mr. Levin.

"That was four."

"That was three."

Yossi stood with his hands on his knees. Across the yard, the boys who had continued were already near the water tap.

He could not catch them now.

"But I followed Eli," he said.

Mr. Levin held up his record sheet.

He had a row for each runner and a mark for every completed lap. Yossi's row had three marks.

Eli's row had three too.

They had not skipped a mark by stopping together. They had stopped too soon together.

Yossi looked at the fish puzzle.

If he ran another lap now, it would not be second place.

The next boy crossed the finish. Mr. Levin called his name and wrote his time.

Yossi walked to the bench without finishing his fourth lap.

Chapter 4Almost Second

When the prizes were given out, Yossi stood at the back of the group.

Eli sat beside the water tap, pulling at a loose lace.

Nachman came over.

"You were second when you stopped."

"I know."

"Tell Mr. Levin. Maybe he will give you the spare puzzle."

There was a fourth puzzle on the bench. Mr. Levin had brought it in case one of the prize boxes was damaged.

Yossi imagined carrying it home.

He could say he had come second. Nachman had said it first. He would not need to invent much.

Then he saw the record sheet again. Three marks, where four belonged.

"I was second to the wrong finish," he said.

Nachman tilted his head.

"That sounds strange."

"It was strange."

Yossi went to find Eli instead of asking for the spare.

Chapter 5Another Race

Eli looked up when Yossi sat beside him.

"I lost count," he said.

"I used your count."

"I did not tell you to."

Yossi wanted to answer quickly. Eli had raised his hands. Eli had started the last rush.

But Yossi had chosen to watch the red sleeve instead of the judge.

He untied his own shoelace and tied it again, more slowly.

"No. You did not."

For a while, they watched boys trying the wooden puzzles.

Then Eli asked, "Would you run it again? Not for prizes."

Yossi looked around the yard. The other races were finished. Mr. Levin was collecting the cones, and the path was clear.

They asked him.

"Rest and drink first," he said. "Then four easy laps. I can count while I put these away. Do not try to beat your tired legs."

They sat in the shade and drank water. When Mr. Levin called them, they stood on the chalk line together.

This time there was no crowd.

Chapter 6The Fourth Mark

They ran at a slower pace.

At the first crossing, Yossi looked toward the bench.

"One," Mr. Levin called.

Yossi repeated it under his breath.

At the second crossing, Eli said, "Two."

At the third, Yossi's legs felt heavy. He saw Mr. Levin raise three fingers.

They did not stop.

The fourth lap seemed longer than all the others. The water tap was still where it had been, but it took longer to reach it.

Eli moved ahead near the last corner. Yossi let him go rather than sprinting after him.

At the chalk line, Mr. Levin raised four fingers.

Yossi ran across, took several walking steps, and stopped.

There were four marks on the fresh row.

Eli finished first. Yossi finished second out of two.

Neither boy received a wooden puzzle.

As they picked up the last cones, Nachman asked how the new race had gone.

"I came second," Yossi said.

Then he grinned.

"And this time I finished."