Wind Racer

Jace ripped the sheet of newspaper into jagged pieces about the size of his hand. He gazed at his sculpture thoughtfully, dipped a paper fragment into his paste mixture of flour, salt, and water, and carefully applied the strip to the long, graceful neck, molding it until it became part of the horse he was making. Slowly, he added two more pieces and then stood back to observe again.

The horse’s head was stretched forward as though it were straining to run even faster. Its mane and tail flew out behind it as though the horse were galloping effortlessly across an open, grassy prairie.

“Looking good, Wind Racer,” Jace muttered, patting his sculpture gently. “All except your legs, which I just can’t seem to get right. How does a real horse carry its body on such thin, long, bent legs, I wonder?”

Jace glanced at the horse photo he was using as a reference and frowned. Gingerly, he tried to stand Wind Racer up on its feet. The horse almost seemed to balance for a moment, but then it wobbled and began to tumble sideways. Jace caught it and sighed, lowering it gently to the worktable. The middle school art fair would be taking place in three days, but if Jace could not get Wind Racer to stand up, all his work for the past two weeks would be for nothing.

“Jace, it’s almost time for dinner!” Jace’s mom poked her head into the garage and then hurried back inside the house to finish preparing the pasta. Jace covered his papier-mâché paste to keep it damp and then wandered indoors to clean up. Maybe he should just give up on this frustrating

sculpting endeavor and find an easier hobby instead.

The following afternoon, Jace found himself standing beside Wind Racer again, adding bits of papier-mâché to the horse’s rippling flank muscles.

“That is one beautiful horse,” a girl’s voice declared, startling Jace. He looked up to see a tall girl grinning at him from the open garage door. “I’m Cinda, and we moved into the brick two-story down the street a few days ago. You’re an extremely talented sculptor!”

Jace smiled back. “Nice to meet you! I’m Jace, and this is Wind Racer, who looks pretty good as long as he’s lying down, but he really doesn’t want to stand.” Jace lifted the horse to demonstrate the toppling-over issue. “I think I’m going to have to give up the idea of entering him into the art show at school on Saturday. Nobody wants to see a galloping horse lying on its side.”

Cinda hurried over to study the horse’s construction. “Your sculpture is flawlessly well-balanced and realistic, so you don’t want to add bulk to the legs to make it sturdier,” she said thoughtfully, and then she glanced around the garage. “Why don’t you use some of those wood scraps to build small bases for each leg? That way, Wind Racer would have just enough stability to stand. I’ve done a lot of carpentry projects and could help you!”

Jace looked at Cinda, his eyebrows raised. “I never considered an idea like that before,” he replied slowly, “but it’s definitely worth a try!”

Over the next hour, Cinda helped Jace select four small pieces of wood and screw them evenly and carefully into the bottoms of Wind Racer’s feet. They stood the sculpture up, and Cinda made a few adjustments until the bases were perfectly level and the horse remained upright without toppling over.

“Wow, this is absolutely amazing, Cinda. Thank you!” Jace exclaimed, high-fiving Cinda. “All I need to do now is paint Wind Racer, and then he’ll be ready for the art show.”

“We can’t let your obvious artistic talent go to waste, so I’m glad I could assist,” Cinda stated

emphatically, smiling at Jace. “I’m no artist, but I can definitely appreciate good art.”

“It was your talent that saved the day, though,” Jace said, glancing at Wind Racer, and then he turned to Cinda. “Want to stay for dinner? I’m sure my mom won’t mind. I would love to learn about the carpentry projects you’ve done in the past!”