Jump Rope for Heart

Written by Ika

�Don�t let her get away!� a boy cried. He was running after a teenager who was jumping rope and running at the same time at a surprisingly fast speed. Four other kids followed the main boy in pursuit of the girl.

As she was running away, she would continuously say things like, �I�m the Jolly Jump Roper! Keep jumping! Good exercise! Jump rope for heart! Jump rope!� Every once in a while she would go up to a random person in the street and pull out another jump rope from an invisible, infinite supply and make them jump.

�Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground...�

Then, when the kids drew closer, she would give the rope to the bewildered person and go jump roping off, saying, �Keep jumping! Jumping is good!�

The Jolly Jump Roper rounded a corner and came across a crowd of people, calmly walking about, and gasped.

�Oh no! Lazy walkers!� she exclaimed.

She pulled out a long, blue-and-white-beaded jump rope and raised it high. The jump roper then brought it down quickly, hitting several people. People screamed, either because they were screaming in pain from getting hit, or from the shock of the jump rope-whip coming down, or just because they were scared.

�Get jump roping! Jump! Jump!� she shrieked as she flailed her jump rope-whip about.

People scattered to get away from the flying jump rope. Some hid behind bushes, while others ran for their lives. The kids who were chasing the energetic teen finally caught up and saw the teen girl yelling and thrashing crazily.

The Jolly Jump Roper saw a chubby, brown-haired girl in the middle of the chaos. �You need to get fit! The best way to burn off that fat is to jump rope!!� she said, aiming her whip toward the poor girl.

The main boy ordered the others to try to calm the jump roper. Just then, his eyes fell on the jump roper�s next victim who was turned away, not sensing the danger she was in. The jump rope-whip was coming down on the oblivious girl. The boy leapt forward.

The rope came down.

�Watch out!� the boy cried, soaring through the air. The girl turned around and saw the jump rope and the boy above her.

The boy stuck out his foot.

Contact.

The rope fell back the other way from the blow of the boy�s kick.

The boy landed, the jump rope next to him. The girl, stunned, stared at him. The other four kids attempted to capture the older jump roper. A boy in an orange hooded sweater used a yo-yo shooting gun to confuse the teenager and tie her up. Meanwhile, a boy in goggles snuck up from behind and pulled a sack over her head. A black-haired girl took the long jump rope-whip from the Jolly Jumper, as well as several other jump ropes the tied up teenager had. As she waited for her leader to return, she looked at the jump ropes and began happily jumping rope.

�No! I was just trying to help them!� the Jolly Jump Roper pleaded.

�Right�� said a girl in a red cap, �Let�s go.�

The kids walked away with the teenager captured. The leader followed the others out.

The brown-haired girl still stood watching. Staring.

A girl walked slowly down the street. She was a girl probably in the fourth grade and wore her long, brown hair in two braids. She had large glasses that framed her chubby face.

This girl, Lizzie, thought hard about what had happened the day before. Lizzie had been at the scene when the crazy jump roping lady came, and would have gotten whipped by the jump rope-whip if someone hadn�t saved her. She thought about her savior�a boy, about the same age as herself. There was something remarkable about him�a professional feel, despite his young age. But most of all, Lizzie couldn�t forget his sunglasses and his bald head. Lizzie longed to meet him again.

Several days passed as Lizzie pined away. She couldn�t pay attention during class, or at any time for that matter, and instead stared longingly out the window the whole class time, hoping to see her knight in shining armor. Everyday she hoped against hope to see him again, but feared she never would. She often thought she saw him, only to find it to be her imagination.

One day, Lizzie was walking home from school. She was on a busy street, crowded with people. Lizzie looked up and saw what looked like The Boy pass by, then disappear into the midst of the crowd.

�Wait!� she cried, chasing after him desperately. �Wait!� she cried again.

Lizzie ran after the shadow as it weaved in and out of the crowd. He walked briskly and Lizzie had to run to keep up. Finally, he turned a corner sharply. Lizzie did the same. When she turned, Lizzie found herself facing an alley with no sign of anybody around.

�Did�Did I imagine him again? He looked so real this time�� Lizzie muttered, looking down at her feet in despair.

There was a soft landing behind her. Lizzie spun around. There, in front of her very eyes, stood the boy that she had longed to see again, sunglasses and all. He looked at her suspiciously with his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.

�Who are you and why were you following me?�

All Lizzie could do was gasp and stare.

�Who are you?� the boy repeated, this time with more force in his voice, �Are you a spy for the Delightful Children?�

�The Delightful�?� Lizzie said confused.

�Hm. Never mind,� the boy said, a bit of distrust still in his voice.

�Well�I-I�m�um�L-Lizzie� You know�that girl�you saved that day. I�ve been�um�wanting to see you�again�� Lizzie answered nervously, blushing, �And�I-I think you�re really neat.�

�What?� the boy said, very surprised.

�Yeah�� Lizzie said, trailing off. She was silent for a moment, and then asked meekly, �Um�Could�Could you tell me your name?�

�Oh yeah. Um�Nigel. My name is Nigel.�

Lizzie met with Nigel after school when their schedules allowed. Often, the two of them walked together and talked. One such day, the two kids were taking a walk together when Lizzie asked, �Do people ever call you �Nigey�?�

�Um�no�� Nigel said.

�Oh really? But it�s so cute! Can I call you Nigey from now on? Please?�

�Oh, all right. You can call me that if you want to.�

�Thank you, Nigey,� Lizzie said, giggling.

Nigel blushed.

Nigel and Lizzie were walking down the street when Nigel suddenly stopped. He pointed to the building next to them, which had a sign that read Kids� Burger Buffet, and said, �Want to get something to eat?�

�Okay, sure!� Lizzie said, eagerly walking in.

Nigel followed her in saying, �This place is great. It�s operated entirely by kids.�

�Wow�� Lizzie said, seating herself and looking at the menu. �Let�s get the Twin Burger Special,� she decided, giggling. �Yoo-hoo! Waiter! Waiter!!�

Nigel blushed crimson.

Meetings like these continued and Lizzie hadn�t realized how close they had gotten until�

One day, the two were walking together when Nigel bravely asked Lizzie a question.

�Um�there�s a new carnival open,� he said nervously, scratching his head, �Do�do you, Lizzie, want to go to it�with me?�

She turned to face him, and her smile was enough of an answer.

Author's Notes: I had to do a short story for Language Arts at school, so I decided to hit two birds with one stone and write a Kids Next Door story. Lizzie's hair is actually rather orange, but I can see it as brownish too, so I just called it brown because describing people as "orange-haired" seems a little bit odd.

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