“Hi, Dorothy!” Rebekah said as her friend was waiting for her on the sidewalk to walk to school. “Hey Rebekah!” Dorothy said while waving her hand. As soon as Rebekah stopped walking down her porch stairs, Dorothy started to say something. “Have you heard of the school marathon next week?!” Dorothy said to Rebekah. “No! What day is it?” Rebekah said.

“Thursday, After school. You should totally enter!” Dorothy said to Rebekah. “I’ll only enter if there is a prize.” Rebekah said. “Oh, but there is! The winner gets a 50$ Amazon gift card. And the runner-up gets a 25$ gift card.” Dorothy said. “That. Is a LOT of money. Ok. I’ll enter.” Rebekah said. “You go for it, girl! But we need to train you first if you want to win that race.”

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“And One, and two, and three,” Dorothy said as she was counting Rebekah doing pushups on the grass in their school playground. “Did I reach 20 yet?” Rebekah said gasping for breath. “No, you only did 1/4 of 20.” Dorothy said. “What?! I only did 5?!” Rebekah said. “Yep. 15 more to go.” Dorothy said. “Aww.” Rebekah said.

“By the way, have you seen Darius lately?”
“Not around. Must be sick or something. I haven’t seen Steve either.” Dorothy said. “Do ya think he’s planning a scheme?” Rebekah said. “Probably. And 20! Ok Rebekah. Now time for some sit-ups.” Dorothy said. “Good grief!” Rebekah said. “Well, don’t you wanna win the race?” Dorothy said. “Aim for the gold, Rebekah.”

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DING DONG! The doorbell rang as they were on the porch of Darius’s house. When the door was opened, Darius’s mom was outside the door. “Why, who are you?” Mrs. Daisy said. “Hello, Mrs. Daisy. I am Rebekah. And this is Dorothy.” Rebekah said. “We’re friends of Darius. And we have heard that he’s gotten sick. So we brought a card and flowers for him.” “Why, Darius had told me all about you. Please, come in.” Mrs. Daisy said.

As Rebekah and Dorothy entered the room, they saw a poor looking Darius on the couch, with an ice-pack in his head, and with a thermometer in his mouth. “101, sweetie. You’re getting better!” Mrs. Daisy said as she pulled the thermometer out of his mouth. “Hey Darius. You ok?” Rebekah said. “Oh. Hey Rebekah. Hey Dorothy.” Darius said. “Here.” Dorothy said as she gave him the flowers and the cards. “We heard that you got the flu. So we came over to say hi.” Rebekah said to Darius. “Well, we outta go. But it was nice talking to ya.” Dorothy said. “You guys to.” Darius said.

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“Today’s the day, Rebekah. You think you got this?” Dorothy said. “I hope so.” Rebekah said. “Look.” Dorothy said, pointing at Steve.  “He signed in?! I’m toast. No jelly, no butter, just TOAST!” Rebekah said. “Looks like he’s been skipping school.” Dorothy said. “Attention, all racers!” The speaker announced. “The race is about to begin in two minutes. I ask that all racers join the racing line.” “Well, gotta go. Wish me luck.” Rebekah said. “Oh, I will.” Dorothy said.

“Ladies and gentlemen. Are you ready for the annual spring marathon?” The announcer spoke. All the audience cheered and clapped. “All right, racers. On your mark, get set, GO!” All of the racers started to race. And turns out, Rebekah was in 2nd place on the first lap. The first? Well, it was Steve. But on the second lap, Steve tripped on a rock, and broke two of his ribs. “Are you ok?” Rebekah said. “No. I think I broke two ribs.” Steve said. “Here. Let me help you up. Grab my hand.” Rebekah said. “Thanks, chicken.” Steve said. Yep. Rebekah or Steve didn’t win the race. But Dorothy found something that Rebekah needed to know.

“Hey, Rebekah.” Dorothy said. Have you read Ephesians 4:32?” “No. Please read it, though!” Rebekah said. “Dorothy grabbed her tiny Bible out of her fanny pack, and flipped the pages of the sacred book. “Ah. Here it is! Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ forgave you. You were really kind to Steve today. So I just wanted to say that.” “Thanks!” Rebekah said as she and Dorothy walked to their homes.

See you later, Guidecos!