Emersyn’s writing assignment describing her Metro Madness.

“Jonathan, Judy, once we get off the Metro and we get above ground…sprint. Just sprint like crazy to the Science and Technology Museum.” I say, calculating our game plan. Judy and Jonathan nod in agreement. We have ten minutes left, and we need one more region before we can hand in a semi-complete Metro Madness form.

“So we just pass everybody and sprint, right?” Judy asks, uncertain.

“Yep, ” I say, my anticipation making the butterflies in my stomach flutter. The metro train begins to slow as we reach the station. Judy, Jonathan, our trip leaders and I shove our way to the car’s doors. When the car stops and the door open, we push and shove our way off the train to see the smiling face of Mr. Lambert.

“Crap!” I think. “We needed to run, now!”

“Hey, guys. How did it go?” Mr. Lambert asks us striking up a conversation.

“It was fine, ” I comment behind my shoulder as I speed walk to the escalator. Judy and Jonathan trail behind me, uncertain what to do. “Guys, ” I whisper harshly motioning for them to come. Following my lead, Jonathan and Judy rush up the escalator after me.

Together, we race up to the dark, smoggy sky. The wind sends a chill down my back and causes my breath to freeze in my lungs.

“Run! Run! Run!” I scream as I take off into a sprint. The cool breeze rustles my hair as I slap my feet on the pavement. I turn around for a couple of seconds to see Jonathan and Judy barreling towards me.

We race to a guard booth with Chinese writing. We crowd around the booth and read the information. It’s not what we’re looking for and my stomach falls to the floor. We have ten minutes and I’m panicking. We were are all panting hard, out of breath.

I turn and scan the area ahead of us. Like a hawk searching for prey, I see another Concordia group racing to the main entrance of the Science and Technology Museum. “There!” I say to my group as I point to the other group racing, their navy blue shirts flapping in the wind.

I gather up my fallen stomach from the floor and stuff it back in place. Jonathan, Judy, and I sprint again, leaping down the huge stairs. The cold temperature sharpens my senses as I rush to the main entrance.

Halfway there the other group spots us. My friend, Julian, stops running and waves his hands wildly. As we approach, he steps right in front of us. “Move!” I say forcefully to Julian shoving him out of the way.

“Emersyn! Come back, ” Ignoring his helpless cries, Judy, Jonathan, and I push past Julian and continue to dash towards the Science and Technology Museum entrance. We scramble past the other Metro Madness group and randomly click pictures. We take a sufficient amount of pictures and write down the answer to the question.

I turn around just in time to see Julian’s group sprinting back to the meeting point. “Hurry! We have five minutes left!” I say to my group.

“We’re done, ” Judy informs me.

“Lets go!” Jonathan calls, already running. Again, we sprint back up the stairs, taking them two at a time. We race past the other group who are taking pictures. My legs ache and my stomach is cramping, but I keep running.

“We can’t be late!” I think to myself, knowing it’s true. Slowly, the Metro Madness meeting point comes into view. I push harder, forcing my legs to run faster. Finally, Judy, Jonathan, and I make it back and just in time. We’re all breathing hard, gasping for breath. The cool breeze freezing the small sweat I broke running. Judy and I are smiling from ear to ear, while Jonathan cracks a small smile.

“Finally!” I say, exasperated. “I have been trying to get you to smile the entire day!” At this, Jonathan’s smile widens. A round of high fives travels though out the group while a sense of achievement washes though me.

“Ahem!” Mr. Halula says, attempting to quiet the crowd before continuing another speech.

“We made it back just in time!” I think. Accomplishment keeping the chilling winds at bay.