Dancing in the Wings
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p. 12mBy the end of the day there were only seven of us left. Mr. Debato
called out everyone's name except mine and asked them to step forward.
Standing alone, I really had to fight to hold back my tears.
Then I heard him say, "Thank you all for coming today. Keep working,
keep trying. You are dismissed."
Mr. Debato said to me, "Sassy, you have a great deal of potential.
You have beautiful long arms and legs, but you flail about with no control.
You must learn to use your feet better—and timing, timing. We have a lot
of work to do when you come to Washington this summer. Dismissed."
He walked out.
Jumping and shouting, I ran to the parking lot. "I made it! I made it!
Mama, I made it!"
One month later Mama and I boarded the plane for Washington, D.C.
She held my hand as my heart pounded when we landed.
In class the first day Mr. Debato introduced me to his twelve-year-old
protégé, a boy named Dwight who was five feet ten inches tall. "Dwight, I
think I have found you a partner. Meet Sassy."
Mama was right—being tall wasn't so bad after all.
By the end of the summer I got to dance a duet with Dwight in the summer
concert. When Dwight lifted me high in the air, I felt like I was dancing on the
Milky Way.
Then there are the gibbons, small apes in Southeast Asia. They swing
by their long arms through the treetops—sometimes letting go and "flying"
like a trapeze artist from one branch to another. In one free-form swoop, a
gibbon can travel nearly 10 feet (3 m).
And don't forget those super show-offs, the spinner dolphins. They leap
high out of the water and can do four complete spins before flopping back
down again. That deserves a gold medal, for sure!
Zoom, Zoom
Cheetahs are super-star sprinters. They can dash as fast as 64 miles
(100 km) per hour over short distances. How? A cheetah has a super-bendable, spring-like spine. So, with each stride, the animal can gather its legs up tightly,
then stretch them w-a-a-a-y out. This helps the animal zoom across the ground.
For high speed over the long haul, the pronghorn wins! It can keep running
at 35 miles (55 km) an hour for many miles. And it can speed up to 50 miles
(80 km) an hour if it has to.
The fastest humans can keep up a pace of about 13 miles (21 km) an hour
over many miles. And for short bursts, they can sprint as fast as 26 miles
(42 km) an hour.
So, watch the Summer Olympics. But just don't be too impressed. After
all, most of these human competitors just can't measure up to all the winners
in the animal kingdom!
One Giant Leap: The Story
On July 16, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins sat
in a cramped capsule atop a Saturn rocket.
At 9:32 A.M. the main rocket motors erupted. Flames spewed from the Saturn's
tail as it lifted from the ground. Soon the first set of engines exhausted their fuel
and fell toward the ocean. Smaller engines sprang to life and sent the capsule
circling the globe. After two turns around Earth, a final rocket engine blasted the
capsule to 25,000 miles an hour and they hurtled to the moon.
When they reached the moon, Neil and Buzz entered a special spacecraft
designed to part from the main capsule and land on the moon. Mike remained
aboard the main capsule to pilot it as the other two astronauts dropped to the
moon's surface.
Earthlings Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had finally reached the moon!
Wearing space suits and helmets, they opened the hatch of the spacecraft.
Before them was the moon, magnificent and empty. Neil climbed down a ladder
and hopped to the ground. Special cameras allowed 600 million people on
Earth to watch and listen.
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," Neil said into
his microphone.
Buzz climbed down the ladder and stepped onto the moon's surface.
Neil stood next to Buzz. Their helmets almost touched. Buzz grinned broadly.
Neil clasped his hand on his partner's shoulder.
"Isn't it fun!" Neil said.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon and became a hero
to millions of people.
But inside him was the memory of an ordinary boy from Wapakoneta, Ohio.
A boy who loved books and music.
A boy who was shy and who made friends carefully.
A boy who dreamed of hanging in the air suspended only by a trapped breath.
T.R. TOC
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