"Fireside Diaries"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
So, in production order, Gretchen is the first girl to get her own entry displayed. And this is one of those warm and fuzzy tales. Hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney.
The school bell rang, and the students began to file out of the room. The kids' teacher was standing at the door, passing out report cards as they exited. Isabella, Adyson, and Gretchen were in line together, anxious to see what their grades for the quarter were.
Entry #161 - Written by Gretchen
So today was the day. The day in which I'd find out if all of that training paid off.
The trio made their way out, with Gretchen bringing up the rear.
"We'll look at it on three!" Isabella commanded.
The two girls gathered around Gretchen, peering over either shoulder, as Gretchen held the once-folded piece of paper in hand and in front of her.
Today, I'd finally find out if I had gotten that A... in gym.
She unfolded the card, and...
-
Entry #161 [FSD102] - The Hardest 'A' Ever (08.11.11)
-
To explain why getting an A in gym is so important to me, I'd have to take you back a couple weeks...
Gretchen had a frown on her face as she walked up to Isabella, who was at her locker, currently filling her backpack with the books she would need to do her homework that night.
"Chief," Gretchen told her, "I have a problem."
"What do you mean?" Isabella asked in return.
I explained on the bus ride home to Chief and the girls about my inability to get an A in gym.
"How can that be?" Adyson asked. "You show up, you participate, you get an A!"
"I wish it were that simple," Gretchen said. "But then comes... the physical fitness test!"
"The one we have to do every other month in school?"
"I think those are fun!" shouted an exuberant Katie.
"For Gretchen they aren't," Isabella revealed. "Gretchen and I have been in the same class since kindergarten, and she dreads taking the physical fitness test. So much so that she's always been absent from school the day they've been given the last two years!"
"But this year," Gretchen started to cry, "the gym teacher said the test is mandatory! Anyone who doesn't take it automatically fails for the quarter!"
The other girls gasped in shock.
"Even when I've attempted to take it, I always do the worst in the class by far! Oh... what am I going to do? I don't want to get an F, but I don't want to embarrass myself in front of my classmates again!"
"Which is why," Isabella interjected, "you're not only going to take that test next Friday, but we're gonna help you pass it! Right, girls?"
"RIGHT!"
Gretchen gathered herself as she wiped a couple tears from her face.
"But how, Chief?"
"With belief and a firm amount of conditioning! Gretchen, prepare to become the fittest fifth grade girl in school!"
And thus, my training began...
Isabella blew a whistle, and Gretchen took off from the starting line. The former had a stopwatch in hand and was timing the latter in the mile run. Gretchen seemed to be doing well to start...
...but when she came to complete her first lap, she collapsed right in front of Isabella, to her surprise.
A bar seven feet off the ground has been set up, and Gretchen was trying to jump up to grab it so she could attempt a pull-up. But then Adyson arrived to tap Gretchen on the shoulder, and pointed at the five-foot high bar right next to it. Gretchen blushed in embarrassment.
Gretchen sat down at a sit and reach box, to test how far her arms could extend. She made a spirited go at it, and reached 24 centimeters. Holly, who was next to her, shook her head, seeing as that was only a centimeter past the baseline.
Next up was the shuttle run. Ginger timed it as Gretchen was to run 30 feet, pick a small rectangular block off of the ground, run back, place it at the starting line, go back to get the second block, then return once again, running through the finish line. Seemed simple, but Gretchen bumbled that up by tripping over her own two feet as she bent down to pick up the first block and turn at the same time. As a result, Ginger winced as Gretchen fell face-first onto the clay track.
And last came curl-ups, which Gretchen did while Katie held her feet down and Milly watched the clock. Gretchen came up, her arms crossed over her chest, and pressed her elbows against her knees.
"Time!" called Milly.
Gretchen lied back down, breathing heavily and sweating profusely.
"Wow!" Katie gasped in amazement. "Ten in one minute! Great!"
Milly looked at a pamphlet she had in hand and whispered in Katie's ear.
"THIRTY?" shouted Katie. "No one can do that many!"
Things seemed grim at first, but...
Gretchen began to show vast improvement in just a few days, starting with actually finishing four laps around the track, or a whole mile, without stopping.
"Attagirl!" Isabella exclaimed, giving her a thumbs up. "Now we just got to get you to do it faster!"
Adyson lifted Gretchen up so she could grasp the high bar, but the second Gretchen tried to pull upwards, her strength would give out, and she would fall backwards, and onto Adyson.
Gretchen raced past Ginger, who pressed the stop button on her watch. The Asian girl looked at it, then jumped up and down in celebration, happy with Gretchen's time.
Milly and Katie were actively encouraging Gretchen as she started getting better at doing curl-ups. At the end of each session, Milly wrote the number Gretchen did successfully. One day, it was 14. Then 17, 19, 20, 26, and finally, 31!
Gretchen was grimacing as she only needed to lift herself one more inch to get her chin above the bar. But her attempt ended when Isabella walked over, visibly miffed, as she tapped Adyson on the shoulder... because Adyson was holding onto and pushing Gretchen upwards. Adyson let go, and so did Gretchen... and she ended up landing on top of both girls.
Holly demonstrated for Gretchen how to arch her back properly to extend her reach. Afterwards, Gretchen applied that lesson to the sit and reach. And it worked, as Holly nodded upon seeing Gretchen stretch out to a hair over 28 centimeters.
Back to the mile run, as Gretchen crossed the line and Isabella ran over to show her a completion time of 12:45. The next day, it dropped down to 12:19. Then 11:58, 11:44, 11:37, 11:30, and, finally...
The day of the physical fitness test...
"Come on, Gretchen!" Isabella shouted, despite being short on breath. "All the way!"
Gretchen was in the last 30 meters, pushing herself as hard as she could as the finish line got closer and closer and closer...
And then she crossed it, raising her arms with glee. She then quickly slowed down, and promptly fell onto the track. Isabella and Adyson hurried over and picked her up off the ground.
"11:20!" Isabella shouted excitedly. "She passed, she passed!"
"You hear that, Gretchen?" Adyson looked at her. "You passed!"
Gretchen could only give a simple nod, still too exhausted to even speak.
After a short period of time, Gretchen found herself looking up at her toughest nemesis... the pull-up bar. Isabella was standing right behind her, designated as her lifter and spotter.
"You can do this!" Isabella told her inspiringly. "You've passed all of the other tests!"
Gretchen nodded, though she was still scared.
"You only have to do one to pass! If me and Adyson can do it, then so can you!"
Gretchen took a deep breath, then glanced over her shoulder at Isabella.
"You're right, Chief. I can do this!"
She turned around and then raised her arms up and over her head. Isabella wrapped her arms around Gretchen's waist and then lifted her friend up to the bar. Gretchen made sure she had a firm grip, then signaled for Isabella to let go. She did, taking two small steps back and waiting to catch Gretchen if she should fall. Meanwhile, Adyson turned to the other girls in the class and started to chant...
"Just do one! Just do one! Just do one!"
Quickly, they all joined her in cheering Gretchen on...
"Just do one! Just do one!"
As did Isabella.
"Just do one! Just do one! Just do one!"
Gretchen squeezed the bar with all her might and attempted to pull herself up. Slowly but surely, her body moved upward. She got to the point where her eyes were level with the bar, and she could not see through it. Then she could begin to peek over it...
"Just do one! Just do one! Just do one!"
Everyone watched as Gretchen's eyes were over the bar, then her nose, and then her mouth.
"She's gonna do it!" Adyson exclaimed. "Everyone, keep cheering! Just do one! Just do one!"
Gretchen was really straining, but she really wanted to get that one pull-up. She just had to lift herself an inch or two more, to get her chin clearly over the bar.
And then... her arms gave out. She instantly dropped down to her starting position, then down to the ground as she let go of the bar. She safely landed on her feet, but she was sad that she had not accomplished her goal - and the silence of her fellow classmates showed their disappointment of her falling just short. Isabella, though, was not going to stand there and let Gretchen be sad, so she leaned in, wrapped her arms around her friend's stomach, and gave her a big hug from behind.
"I don't care that you failed the last test," Isabella told her. "You'll always get an A in gym in my heart!"
"Awww..." cooed Adyson. "That's so sweet!"
Adyson ran over to join in the hug, and the rest of the girls were right behind her. Even in failure, Gretchen was still getting tons of support from the entire class.
But would that be enough on paper?
"The moment of truth..." Gretchen said aloud.
Back in the present, as Gretchen unfolded her report card with Isabella and Adyson looking on from over her shoulders.
"I... got an A? I got an A in gym! I GOT AN A IN GYM!"
Isabella and Adyson looked at each other, then shouted in unison...
"GRETCHEN GOT AN A IN GYM!"
They both reached in and gave Gretchen a big hug. After doing so, they continued to celebrate. Gretchen was proud too, but what really hit her was the comments the gym teacher had left her.
So my gym teacher's comments were, "Gretchen is the most improved student in her class. Although she did not pass the entirety of the physical fitness test, she showed effort and determination that I haven't seen in years. Great job!"
And that, my friends, is how I finally got an A in gym class.
"Gretch!" she heard Isabella yell. "Let's get some ice cream to celebrate!"
"Coming, Chief!"
Gretchen rejoined her friends and they walked out together, all with smiles on their faces.
End Entry
Author's Notes:
I'm glad this turned out to be a heartwarming little tale. Gretchen in this entry reminds me of myself in elementary school. Fit mentally, but far from it physically. Hopefully, this is inspiring to those of you still her age and have fitness tests in your future.