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The narrator wonders what to do when a competitor lies about the outcome of a race

What if a lobster and a crab bumped into each other? Who do you think would win? This is the usual start of a popular Who Would Win book series. Do you believe that in real life conflicts like this could happen? Imagine two girls confronting one another at school: will they end up pinching each other’s arms or kicking each other’s legs?

*          *          *

One warm spring day, our GT class teacher, Ms. O, informed us about an upcoming relay race. There would be two boy teams and one girl team, with four students in each. Each team could choose its own strategy, including the running sequence. So, my team decided to have an internal race to determine the relay order.

“Ready, set, go!” All four girls dashed to the finish line. I made every effort with my heart pounding, but it was as if I were running in slow motion. Everything around me became a blur.

I caught a glimpse of Girl L rush past me. I call her Girl L because she has really long legs. Every time I spot her run at recess, it reminds me of a creature called a daddy longlegs.

Girl E also outpaced me like the wind. I named her Girl E for a very obvious reason. She is very energetic and tireless.

I was running faster than Girl P. P stands for perfect. She seems so perfect at everything. I also gave myself a letter: O. O means ordinary. An ordinary girl has a lot of failures, a few successes, and some happy moments.

Surprisingly, Girl P was the last one, not me. Even more surprisingly, she claimed that I was last, totally ignoring the fact she was at least two feet behind when I reached the finish line.

At first, I was shocked and tried to persuade her to accept that fact. But she insisted she was faster. Girl L and E didn’t catch sight of us, and there were no other spectators. No one could determine what happened.

*          *          *

“I don’t mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy,” Samuel Butler once stated. Maybe she was too proud to acknowledge even a small failure. I couldn’t help thinking about the Who Would Win series. Usually, in the end, the loser of the fight would perish. Luckily, there is no fierce result here, of course. So, I gave up the meaningless argument. But who do you think actually won?