The Champions
He had ridden thousands of rails, jumped more curbs,
and spun more midair three-sixties on his skateboard than
any other kid in the state. Even with that, he was always
looking for something new and unusual to challenge
his ability and talents. Fearless, he would try just about
anything to create another one of his mind-blowing tricks.
This undisputed skateboard king, better known as Sky
Ryder, had just expanded his kingdom by capturing the
West Coast skateboard championship.
Clickity-clack, clickity-clack, clickity-clack, you could
hear him ripping along a block away. He was on and off
the sidewalks, jumping curbs and trash cans as he barreled
down the street to hook up with his best friend Silk.
Equally talented, she had easily captured her division at
the same championship competition.
The two friends loved creating and perfecting breakdancing
style tricks on their boards. Ryder specialized in
hair-raising stunts and eye-popping maneuvers, and Silk
added gymnastic acrobatics to her freestyle performances.
Wearing a shirt, jeans, a backpack, and a boogie board
strapped to his back, Ryder came flying around the corner
and crossed the street toward Silk’s house.
When he arrived at her driveway, she was waiting for
him, outfitted the same way.
“Wow, Ryder, you look super cool!”
“You too,” he replied, “awesome prizes we won, huh?
The trip to Ocean World, wetsuits, backpacks, boogie boards,
and these custom-made skateboards with our names on
them—unbelievable.”
Silk agreed, “Yeah, and just for doing what we love to
do best.”
“Got that right,” said Ryder as he pulled a sports drink
out of his backpack, chugged half, and motioned to Silk,
“come on, it’s flying time. This is going to be a blast!”
The day began with an early start, so the two
adventurers had plenty of time to do everything they
wanted to do. It was the first time the pair was going to
skate on their custom-designed wheels.
Heading to the beach, they planned to ride along the
bike path, surf with their boogie boards, and visit a funfilled
entertainment pier. The pier was a great place to hang
out. It had all kinds of shops, food stands, and a double
Ferris wheel that spun high out over the water.
The two stepped on their skateboards, and off they
went. They zigzagged through the neighborhood toward
the road that would take them down to the highway along
the ocean.
In no time, they reached the stop sign at the top of the
canyon above the beach. Ryder spun around on his rear
wheels and stepped off. Silk did the same as he took some
snacks out of his backpack.
“Here you go,” he said as he handed one to her and
then ripped open the wrapper on his. Silk watched as he
devoured his trail mix bar and washed it down with the
rest of his energy drink. Finished in less than a minute,
he barked out a couple of obnoxious belches and tossed
his trash over his shoulder. The wrapper and empty drink
container landed in the drainage ditch next to the sidewalk.
Silk confronted him as she put her trash in her backpack.
“Why did you do that, Ryder?”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, completely
clueless.
“Tossing your trash,” she responded, pointing to the
ditch.
“Duuuuuuuuuuuuuh! Why do you think? To get rid
of it!” he said, ignoring her concern. He rolled his eyes,
jumped on his skateboard, and headed down the sidewalk
along the canyon road.
“You’re a trashing pig, Ryder!” she snapped, shaking
her head in disgust as she followed behind. The road to the
beach paralleled the drainage ditch. As Silk skated down
the sidewalk, she saw Ryder’s trash. It was being washed
down the hill along with other debris by runoff water.
When they reached the bottom of the canyon, they
followed the sidewalk down into a huge cement drainage
pipe leading under the highway. Whooping like a howler
monkey, Ryder shot through to the other side. As Silk
followed close behind, she noticed his container and
wrapper floating in the drainage water next to them.
Upon reaching the other end, the sidewalk connected
to the bike path. It was there Ryder stepped off his wheels
and flipped his board up into his hands. Stepping off her
board, Silk glanced back at the tunnel.
“What’s going to happen to all that stuff?” she asked,
pointing to his trash and the garbage floating toward them.
“You mean you can’t tell?” he said sarcastically.
“Really, Silk! It will just get washed out to sea and sink. You
know, out of sight, out of mind—no big deal. Who cares
anyway?” he added as he dropped his board next to her.
“Enough with the trash talk. Come on now; it’s fun time.
We’re at the beach!”
Silk rolled her eyes and shook her head as they
simultaneously stepped on their boards and sailed off, side
by side down the bike path.
