Hopscotch Sprint

A fresh hopscotch course stretched across the asphalt pathway in thick pink chalk. Ten connected squares. Pure invitation. I charged the opening line without tapping the brakes. Beat one: flat thud right into the center of square one. Beat two and three: rapid-fire hops down the single track. At squares four and five, the lane split wide. No feet to spread? No problem. I launched into a wide mid-air tilt, banked hard off the chalk boundary, and rebound-cleared both boxes in one soaring leap. Six, seven-eight, nine, ten. My base stuck the final semicircular goal flat and square, puffing up a tiny cloud of pink dust. Course cleared, zero faults.