Level 18.1 Procrastination

Vocabulary: (procrastination, rake, gigantic, frantically, pile, inspect, underestimate, steady, challenged, leaves, hare, tortoise)

Title: Procrastination

“The kid with the biggest leaf pile in one hour will get five dollars,” Dad announced. He handed a rake to Dean and another rake to Dean’s little sister, Kayla.

Dean smiled. This was going to be easy. He was not only older than his little sister, but also bigger, stronger, and smarter, too. She did not stand a chance against him. Kayla immediately began to rake leaves into a pile. However, Dean decided to take a break under the shady oak tree in their backyard.

“Aren’t you going to get started?” Kayla asked. “Don’t you want the five dollars?” Dean looked at Kayla’s tiny pile of leaves. “I can rake more leaves in five minutes than you can in a week,” he said. He closed his eyes and was soon asleep. He began to dream.

“Slow and steady wins the race,” a booming voice said. Dean stared in surprise at the rabbit in front of him. The rabbit was wearing a tracksuit, and one of his big feet was tapping against the ground. Thud. Thud. Thud. “Excuse me?” Dean asked. “I said, slow and steady wins the race,” the rabbit repeated. “I’m sorry, but what does that mean?” Dean asked.

“It means that your sister is going to have five more dollars than you,” the rabbit said, grinning. “That’s what it means.” “No way,” Dean disagreed. “I can rake faster than she can. I’m just giving her a head start, so she won’t feel bad when my leaf pile towers over hers.” “Never underestimate someone,” the rabbit said. “Haven’t you ever heard the story of the tortoise and the hare?”

Dean shook his head, so the rabbit continued, “I am the hare in the story, and, boy, did I learn my lesson. You see, a tortoise challenged me to a race. I thought I would win it easily because tortoises are so slow. I knew that I was faster than him. I was also bigger than him, stronger than him, and I thought I was smarter than him. I decided to give him a head start.”

“As soon as the race began, the slowpoke tortoise started to make his way toward the finish line. He was moving so slowly that I decided to sit by an apple tree and eat some apples. I had plenty of time. Before I knew it, I fell asleep. I didn’t wake up until I heard everyone cheering for the tortoise as he crossed the finish line.”

“You lost a race to a tortoise?” Dean asked in disbelief. “I can’t believe it.” “I was so embarrassed,” the rabbit admitted. “But I learned my lesson: slow and steady wins the race.”

“Dean! Kayla! Five more minutes!” Dad’s voice broke through Dean’s dream. Dean opened his eyes. He had slept through almost the entire hour! Kayla’s pile of leaves was not gigantic, but Dean did not have a pile at all. Dean jumped to his feet, grabbed his rake, and began frantically raking leaves into a pile. Leaves flew in every direction. Kayla continued to neatly rake leaves into her pile.

When Dad came out to inspect their work, Dean found that he had more leaves on his clothes and in his hair than he did in his pile. Kayla stood proudly by her pile of leaves.

As Dad handed the five dollars to Kayla, Dean sighed. “Slow and steady wins the race,” Dean said. “But I’ve learned my lesson. Watch out for me next time!”