On a day like any other (except for the fact it was raining a bit harder than usual), Tala Nicole Dimaapi Valdez, or Tala for short, was running in the field close to her home. She lived in Manila, which is the capital city of the Philippines. Tala was a great runner, she had always won the races she competed in, even during high school. Some kids called her the flash, others said she looked like she lit up when she was running. Although she was one of the fastest in the city, she still wasn't #1. 2 other people were still faster, and she didn't bother to learn their names. She just wanted to go fast and faster. And soon, she was to compete in a race against the other 2 racers in only 2 days. She had practiced ever since she signed up, which was exactly 3 weeks ago. She ran at about 32 kilometers per hour. She knew the other 2 ran at 34 KPH and 35 KPH. Her competitor's age was also unknown to her. She assumed they were older than her, as she was only 19. She ran to laps around the field until
her mother called her back to the house.

Chapter 1

She ran back and as she ran she thought "What if my opponents have been training too? I've only increased from 31 to 32 KPH." Her mother, a justice officer, and her father, a scientist, were discussing something when Tala got in. They stopped discussing rather abruptly and looked at her. She wondered why. They went back to their daily work after that though, and her father, who was taking the day off, asked Tala how she was doing, how was university, etc, to which she answered "good" to all the questions. Finally, her father asked how she felt about the race. To that... she didn't have an answer. She had gotten faster, but her competitors were still faster. She told him that she didn't really know and that she still had 1 more full day of practice ahead. She ran outside and began running laps again.

Chapter 2

The rain was pouring harder now, making it hard for Tala to think, and not to slip. The grass was getting muddy, and she was trying to calculate her chances of winning the race. It was a 600-meter run, which wasn't too hard. She had the speed and a bit of endurance. The only wildlife out in the field she was running in were a few birds and a hedgehog. Of course, she ran faster than all of them, meaning if she wanted she could grab them and then release them. She was talking to herself now and then when she was taking a short water break. She would say "I can do this. I can beat them all." She didn't think of anything except her speed and what she had thought about before she was running. "Aerodynamics, speed. That's all I need." she thought. And then, with periodic breaks for water and food, she kept training, running, and practicing until about 6 PM.

Chapter 3

As she was running home, the storm started releasing giant lightning bolts, hitting places all over. It didn't hit anyone in the city, but it was close. Firemen had been dispatched around the city to protect against fires caused by the lightning bolts. So far, there hadn't been any damage. Then, out of nowhere, a bird fell upon her, causing Tala to fall over. While she was down, she got muddy and it was hard to get up. Then, she felt her skin burning and saw an incredibly bright light. Then, it all faded to black.

Chapter 4

Tala, with her eyes too heavy to open, heard beeping and quiet talking. A soft buzz and a familiar voice could be heard. She worked hard to open her eyes and saw she was in a hospital. She was 4 nurses and her parents. She was in emergency and saw it was about 11 at night. She heard the nurses asking her if she felt ok. Tala answered "Yeah. Can I get up?" to which one of the nurses replied, "If you want." She got up and looked at the mirror in the room. She instantly saw that her hair, which was blue since birth, was sticking up. However, some of it wasn't. Using this, she assumed she had only been out for a short time because some of it came down again. She saw 4 bandages on her face, which she assumed was to stop some kind of bleeding. "What happened?" Tala asked. A different nurse this time answered "You were hit by a huge lightning bolt, and, miraculously, didn't catch fire. Instead, you were just hit by the bolt and were knocked out." Her dad added "We saw you glowing, that's why we noticed you and saw you were down. We called the ambulance as soon as we saw you." "I was GLOWING? What does THAT mean?" Tala thought. She asked her mom if she could still race, and her mom said "Only if you feel like you can." Tala felt no major pain, so she said she'd still like to compete.

Chapter 5

Tala knew that the hospital was only a small distance away from her house. She asked her mom and dad if she ould run home and they answered "Sure." On her way there, she felt something. Her hair frizzed up again, she felt like electricity was coursing through her veins and like she was being electrified. Before she knew it, she was running at least 50KPH! She was running almost as fast as a car! She was home before her parents and when they had arrived home, her speed surge had ended.