The Boy Who Caught The Wind

               The Boy Who Caught The Wind

By Paul McCann

Once upon a time in Windy City there lived a boy called Nifty Nipper .
At the sports carnival he always won because he was the fastest and simply the best athlete that ever came out of Windy City.
At five he was already running marathon races with adults and by the time he was seven he was competing in international events .
His fame was spreading over the entire planet .
At ten Nifty Nipper had was incredibly fast , like I mean he was more than fast he was speed itself . There was no competition left for him to defeat. There were no races he could enter He was so fast that at night when he turned off his bedroom light switch he was in bed before it was dark .
Nifty even ran in his dreams and each morning after rushing his breakfast he raced to school . Nifty ran everywhere he went . He ran through the town ,
He ran past Police Cars and through the traffic on the streets . He was like a rocket through town leaving nothing but the dust swirling in the backwash behind him . He was so fast that he never had time to listen to anyone .
In the end no one had time for him as his speed began to frighten people
One evening the town a meeting was held and it was ordered that Nifty had to slow down or leave the town . Nifty was sad and tried hard not to run around but it was painful for him . Speed was a natural gift that he was born with and nobody could understand that . Nifty was having problems with the new restrictions placed on him .
At first he just sat down and didn’t move but that was boring . Next he tried
A daily routine to harness his gift . He went to church in the morning, then he would help old people sweep their paths and he even tried painting for awhile.
Nothing seemed to work . His feet were itching to run .
.All that was left for Nifty to do was chase the after the trains along the outskirts of town and run with the horses in the fields . He found other places were he wasn’t and trouble and was restricted to running around the countryside . It was too much of a danger now for him to run through Windy City . He eventually got used to his lonely life and tuned into the quiet surroundings of the country . He now could not only hear the buzzing of the bees but he could race them from one hive to another . He also raced with the wild birds and rabbits who all loved Nifty .
One morning as he was raced to the top of Windy Peak he saw the town below caught in the grip of a small tornado . So surprised by the damage and devastation Nifty raced straight down to the town. As he made his way through the streets he could hear the sound of the wild wind .
Nifty stopped and stood in the square by the town clock and the wind dropped . People looked out from their windows and doors .
Then in that very moment an angry voice bellowed out ,
“I will blow through Windy City like never before . I will rip off every door from its hinge . I will pull down the flagpoles and tear off the rooftops until nothing is left . I am the wild wind nothing can stand before me .“
Nifty was not afraid and spoke ,
“Wild wind you may be but there is nothing as fast as me .
I am Nifty Nipper and speed is what I am “
The wind laughed and scoffed out in a loud whistle then roared ,
“Silly boy , I am the wind Nifty . There is nothing as fast as me .“
Nifty started to sing a little song, the words of it were meant to tease and annoy the wild wind .
“Oh I am the fastest thing ,run with me and you will see .
Nothing keeps up with me there’s none as fast as me .”
Anyway the wind was furious and challenged Nifty to a race .
Nifty said ,
“I will race you on the condition that if I win you must leave and never return and if I loose I will do the same and then you may destroy the town if you have the puff for it “
“You are on “ Said the howling wind .
People came out from their houses and stood beside Nifty .
“How do we measure the speed and winner ?“ said the Grocer .
“Yes after all the wind is invisible .“ Said one of the crowd .
Nifty though for a second a said ,
“That’s easy . Place a piece of paper at my feet and you must blow it to the
School Gate at the bottom end of the town . If I get there before you then I shall be the winner . Is that ok with you Mr Wind .“
“Lets do it “ screamed the wind .
Right then “ Nifty pulled out a piece of chewing gun from his mouth that he had been chewing and craftily placed it on the underside of the paper .
Then he placed the paper on the ground at his feet and asked one of the people there to count out to three and then go .”
“Ready when you are .“ Said the wind .
“ One two three Go”
Nifty raced off like a bullet from the barrel of a gun as the wing blew and blew the paper on the ground . The wind raised up every bit of its strength but hardly moved the paper an inch . The wind never knew the paper was stuck to the ground by the chewing gum .
Nifty returned and was declared the winner .
“I told you I was fast . So you have to leave us alone “ said Nifty .
The wind rose up like a pillar swirling and turning and threw itself into the clouds and to this day has never returned to Windy City .
Nifty was welcome anywhere from that day on .
He lived a long life and in time slowed down with old age .
The people of Windy City erected a Gold memorial . It is that of a boy with wings on his feet and to honour him they put a Message on the statue read

"The Boy Who Caught The Wind" .

By Paul McCann.

THE END