High-Beam Sprint

Trotting along the park grass wasn't giving me enough vertical thrill, so I scaled the cast-iron leg of an empty bench to inaugurate my first high-beam sprint. The narrow top slat was my official track. Halfway across, an upright yellow bottle cap stood directly in my path like an Olympic hurdle. I didn't break stride for a second. I leaned in, flared my tail out for dynamic counterweight, and pushed off the weathered wood with both clawed feet. I sailed clear over the plastic rim and stuck the landing with an emphatic two-foot thud. My antennae pompoms dipped forward with the momentum before snapping upright. Pure athletic gold.