(A Leap of Faith)

*July 4th, 1941*

*3:15pm*

*Alamo Square, San Francisco*

It was finally the day of the relay race as Anya, Alexander, and Linda were ready for the big event as they were discussing it.

"Today is the big day however; I'm pretty nervous about the upcoming event so I may not do as good as I hope.." Linda had spoken out to her brother and cousin in nervousness as she was quickly met with reinsurance by the pair.

"It's okay! Just try your best, that's all but also remember that it all takes a leap of faith to truly conquer those fears and achieve the things you want so always remember that, okay?" Anya had advised her cousin as she let out a smile which was followed with Linda smiling back.

"Anya is right and remember that we'll be cheering for you as well so don't forget it!" Alexander had chimed in as Linda nodded her head in agreement as she began to speak.

"Thanks, I guess. It's just that these type of events never really go well for me but I'll try my best like you two said'' Linda had finally spoken back to the pair as she and the others suddenly heard footsteps which caused them to turn over to see a rather athletic girl who appeared to be 18 years old with a fair brown skin tone and black eyes approaching them.

"So, you guys must be our opponents, right? Well, I'm Amy and it's a pleasure competing with you folks" Amy had introduced herself with a smile as she was eager to race them.

"Hello Amy, It's a pleasure to meet you and my name is Anya and these are my cousins; Linda and Micheal and we're quite honored to race against you and your teammates so we hope we can show great sportsmanship" Anya had spoken back as her comments made Amy smile as she nodded her head in agreement.

"I completely agree but we should get ready since the race is gonna start soon" Amy had advised Anya as the trio nodded their heads in agreement as the trio saw Amy preparing to return to her teammates.

"See you on the race! It was nice meeting you!" Linda had called out to the young girl as she saw Amy waving goodbye to her and the others while running back to her teammates which consisted of one girl with brownish hair while the other was a boy with a conesertive cut.

"I guess we should get ready or else we'll be in trouble so let's get going and we don't want that to happen of course" Alexander had spoken out to his sister and cousin as the trio proceeded to walk towards the starting line with much excitement.

"Alright, we'll go to our respective starting points but I wish you all the best of luck and remember! It takes a leap of faith to truly conquer your fears so always strive for success, okay?" Anya had spoken to her cousins in a motivating tone of voice as she was met with Linda and Alexander nodding their heads in agreement before she and Linda ran to their respective starting points.

"You know, I have a feeling that we might just win this thing…" Alexander had thought to himself as he looked around to see the crowds of people who were eager to watch the race before hearing a voice coming from the microphone.

"Good Afternoon, America! My name is Henry and I'll be your host today on this beautiful fourth of July and why not celebrate good old American values and fun with a fun little relay race of six people! Who are they? Well! We have Anya, Linda, and Alexander representing the blue team!" Henry had spoken out in an anticipated tone of voice as cheers could be heard which made Alexander smile.

"Now on the red team we have Amy, Betty, and Ronald competing against the blue team of course so could we get another applause for them, shall we?" Henry had spoken out once more as even louder cheers could be heard as it was clear that they expected that trio to win while Linda watched everything.

"Gosh, I'm so nervous. I know I gotta take that leap of faith but I just can't for some reason. I'm such a loser…" Linda had thought to herself as she appeared to be sad while awaiting for the race to start.

"Alrighty! I hope everyone is ready because the race is about to begin in 3…2…1…GO!" Henry had cried out in joy as he fired the fake prop gun into the air which alerted everyone to begin racing as Alexander began to take off with great speed.

"Okay, just keep your eyes on the race and bring this baton to Anya and all is well! Keep calm.." Alexander had spoken out to himself as he ran across his area of the square park as he noticed that he was in last place however; He saw Anya waiting for him which pushed him to run even faster.

"You're doing great! Just focus on bringing the baton to me and I'll take care of things!" Anya had advised her cousin as she saw Alexander passing the baton to her which was the signal to run.

"It's up to you now! I'll be cheering for you from this point on!" Alexander had called out to his cousin as he saw Anya running with the second set of runners.

"Thanks, I believe we can win this! We just gotta have faith that Linda is gonna have that same energy as us.." Anya had thought to herself as she continued to run across her section of the park while Linda watched everything with a nervous expression as she was filled with dread.

"Heh, there goes my anxiety again. I truly hate this feeling because it always gets in the way of everyone having fun. I hate myself…" Linda thought to herself as she felt herself feeling more down as she looked over to see Anya running towards her which prompted her to extend her hand out for the baton.

"Linda, It's up to you now! Remember about the leap of faith! We're counting on you!" Anya cried out in sheer motivation as she successfully passed the baton to her cousin which signaled Linda to start running as it was now her and Amy.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem quite sad." Amy had asked Linda while still running as she saw Linda beginning to speak.

"I'm fine…" Linda simply uttered back as she continued to run across the final stretches however; she could feel her anxiety consuming her as she suddenly tripped over, scraping her knee in the process.

"L-Linda?! Are you okay?! Please don't push yourself, my sweet child" Maria cried out in worry as she continued to watch the race.

"I knew this was gonna happen. I always mess things up for everyone so I'm just gonna remain here until the race is done. I don't care if Anya or Alexander scolds me! I'm just a bother to them anyways…" Linda had thought to herself as she suddenly heard Anya's voice crying out to her.

"Linda! You can win this so Don't give up! I believe in you so much so you must stand tall and win that race like you always want to! Those times of doubt may consume you in certain situations but always know that you have people who're always there for you. So get up and win that race because I didn't the sound of the whistle blowing and more importantly, I love you so much, Cousin Linda'' Anya had cried out with tears flowing down her face as this speech was enough for Linda to slowly get back up which was seen by Amy who waited for her.

"That's the spirit. Now show me what you got" Amy had thought to herself as she let out a smile while Linda got back up.

"I have a race to win. I won't let my family down so I must finish with all I've got!" Linda had cried out in motivation as she ignored her pain while she resumed running while Amy began to resume running as well.

"After a heartfelt speech from Anya, Linda had finally gotten back up and it seems that her and Amy are tied for first place but who's gonna come on top!" Henry cried out from his microphone as the relay race was now tense as Linda and Amy raced towards the finish line.

"I'm almost there so don't give up on me!" Linda had spoken to herself as the atmosphere was dead silent as both girls were crossing the finish line and..

"And the winner is…LINDA! Everyone cheers for Linda! She's this year's winner!" Henry cried out in joy as many cheers erupted.

"Linda! You did it! We're so proud of you!" Anya cried out in joy as she, Alexander and everyone else ran towards Linda.

"I-I won! I WON!" Linda cried out in joy as she looked over to see Amy staring at the sky before turning her direction towards the young girl.

"You did good, You should be proud of yourself but you wanna know something interesting? You remind me of myself when I was your age. Both were insecure and rather resentful of those around us but we had someone who never gave up on us…" Amy had spoken to Linda as she reached out her hand for a handshake.

"Thanks, same for you. I'm glad I could relate to someone…" Linda had spoken back as the girls shared a wonderful handshake before releasing each other's hands as Anya's voice called out to her.

"Linda, Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!" Anya had called out once more which made Anya smile.

"Anya, thank you so much for motivating me. I can't thank you enough. I thought this summer was gonna be terrible however; I was wrong because this was without a doubt the best summer in my entire life and it was thanks to you, my wonderful cousin…" Linda had thought to herself as she let out a smile with a newfound sense of hope and purpose in her life.