I walked slowly towards the clearing which was the meeting place for all yoshis, apart from during the egg-laying season, before important events. We were all going there to listen to the elder make a speech before the competition, as he has done many times before. Funny how this morning I was so excited to compete in the events, and now I was nervous, very nervous. My thoughts were something along the sort of: "Do I have what it takes?" "Will I be able to pull through?" These and many more thoughts were rushing through my head, I was somewhat worried that I got myself way over my head by participating in this competition. I knew, though, that it was well worth. I needed to pass through these.

As I arrived close to the clearing, I could see that I was one of the last ones to arrive, most of the others were already awaiting the elder to make his entrance. "At least, I'm not late." I joked at myself, which made me be at ease
a little, which was a relief. After several minutes and a few late yoshis later, the elder made his appearance to the crowd.

He was the oldest yoshi on the island, being the most wise and filled with life experiences, thus being given the title of elder of the island. He stood proudly in front of us, looking at everyone before making his statements. Everyone had great respect for him, not only because of his status, but because he's wise enough to do what is good for everybody. By now, everyone, including I, had given their complete attention to him everyone had great respect for him. for this was something special, it happened once every time the weather heats up again,
the Journeyman Competition would start right after his words of wisdom.

"Good day, my fellow yoshis." he started, "The time has come to start the competition as we have done many times now, to determine the yoshi that will be the most capable of crossing the ocean to make contact with the other island. The rules have not changed, the events have not changed, this time will be no different as the pervious times. The competition holds four events, starting with the jump, then going with the shell, then the stomach and finally the throw. And as you all know, if you fail one of the events in this competition, you cannot continue to the next..."

I winced at the comment. How could I have forgotten such an important detail as this one. Reminding myself of this rule did not help my state of mind one bit. I became very nervous all of a sudden, but I tried to get myself together. "All I have to do is pass 4 events to qualify, I can do this." I kept telling this to myself over and over again, trying to calm myself a little. By the time I got back to listening to the speech, the elder was closing it off.

"So, I know you will all try to do your best and don't forget, even if you don't make it this time, don't get discouraged, there will be a next time. The jump event starts in a little while, competitors should use this time wisely to prepare themselves. Good luck to you all."

I wasted no time, I left the clearing as soon as the speech was over, trying again next time was not something I was terribly fond of doing. I didn't want to live through another many days of being ignored or being treated special, I wanted to find this Yo'ster Isle where yoshis would finally treat me as equals. As I was thinking of all this, I knew where I needed to go before the jump event would start.

***

All the participating yoshis were present and everything was ready to start. The jump event was held on the on the eastern banks of a small river that starts from the beginning of the forest in the middle of the island and end in the ocean at the northern shore. The jump was to be made from one side of the river to the other side, crossing a distance of about 2 trees' height, not to mention that the distance from the ground to the river was about one tree's height, meaning that if one would fail the jump, the yoshi would fall down into the river, disqualifying the yoshi and ruining any chance of making the cut this time around.

The event was underway, and thankfully I was not the first one to jump across, this gave me the time to see how other yoshis would fare and actually see some yoshis jump the gap before me, which could help me out in the process. Time just seemed to fly by, and it was already my turn. I looked nervously at the gap, it was long, I don't recall ever jumping that far in my life before, which was bothersome, but I had to make it. I stepped backwards, far enough to give me enough room to run before jumping across. I gulped, trying as hard as I could not to think about what would happen if I failed here. I tried to concentrate on what I did earlier on...

***

"No, not like that." Kiiroshi stated after watching me jump. "Like this." And as those words left his mouth, he leapt gracefully through the air.

"Well, it looks easy, but it's not." I replied. I tried again, landing further ahead and marking it on the ground how far I jumped.

"See, you're getting better already!" Kiiroshi exclaimed gleefully.

I knew that Kiiroshi was an excellent jumper, maybe the best around. After the elder's speech, when I left the clearing, I came up to Kiiroshi and asked him for help, to train me before the event. He gladly accepted and we practiced this for a long while, until he thought I was ready for the jump.

***

I started to sprint towards the edge of the gap, trying hard to put into practice what Kiiroshi told me. My feet were pounding on the ground with every running step, it felt as if time slowed down before I arrived at the jumping
point. Then I reached it, and jumped off and into the air. If everything was in slow-motion beforehand, the time I was in the air felt sped up. All I remember is that my foot landed on the edge of the bank and I tumbled forward and a tree halted my tumble. From another yoshis point of few, that might have been hilarious, and I did hear a few spouts of laughter in the background, but there was only one thing going through my head at that time... "I made it."

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