The Perfect Cartwheel | Teen Ink

The Perfect Cartwheel

February 5, 2008
By Anonymous

Jonathan laughed gleefully as he watched his brother Richard perform a cartwheel on the steps in front of the Lincoln Memorial. He knew that some of the back-up photographers were standing by one of the great stone pillars, but that wasn't going to stop Jonathan from trying to master the cartwheel before his aunt's wedding to Uncle Bill.

“Here I go Richard! Are you ready to catch me if I fall?” Fear flashed across the six-year-olds eyes at the mere thought of not being able to keep his balance again.

“I'm ready buddy. I know you're going to do it this time. Don't even think about the weird men that followed us here. They don't want to see you fail anymore than I do.” Richard knew what Jonathan was actually worried about. In order to get some great pictures, the photographers had been trailing after them ever since they sneaked away from the church to go have some real fun.

Jonathan took a few steps back before trying to do a running cartwheel like Richard could. He heard his older brother yell at him to stop half a second before Jonathan went to jump.

“Remember to try a regular cartwheel first,” Richard warned him before sitting back down onto the steps that were the size of Mars. He laughed loudly as he thought about how much trouble they would get in for the small tear that was already in the knee of Jonathan's dress pants.

There Jonathan was, standing with his hands on his hips and the biggest smile in the nation upon his face as Jonathan thought about the perfect cartwheel that he was about to pull off. He could just feel it in his heart. There was no way that he wouldn't land this next acrobatic stunt.

Jonathan thrust his hands above his head as he bent his knees to begin his best cartwheel yet. He jumped sideways, grimacing slightly as his hands hit the rough concrete before pushing himself off the ground and into a standing position. Jonathan wiped the dust off of his hands before running into Richard's open arms right as the bell struck three times in a row.

“That was the best cartwheel I have ever seen, but we have to get back to the church! Aunt Marie walks down the aisle in ten minutes!”

They both took off running, racing against the clock in order to make it back to the wedding in time. They slowed to a jog as the two boys reached the front steps of the church with the photographers following close behind.

“Thanks for the pictures!” they yelled at the three men ran past Richard and Jonathan to get inside the cold church first. They arrived just in time to take a picture of the bride walking down the aisle.


Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.