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. He thought he could see Melissa in the bleachers, but her face was so tiny, he couldn’t be sure.
    Then it was time to come down.
    Bummer
, he thought.
    As he plummeted to the earth, he thought he heard the announcer say something about a world record. He didn’t have time to think about it. He barely had enough time to get Maggie under his feet again before he hit the track.
    His agility amazed him. He thought he would just end up as a greasy spot on the concrete, but by some miracle he stayed upright, streaked to the end of the track, and shot over the judges’ table.
    Oh great
, he thought—
the trees
. He covered his stomach with both hands and waited to hit, but he didn’t have to worry.
    He went too high to hit the trees.
    I’m leaving
, he thought—
leaving earth
.
I’ll never see it again. Not any of it. Not Dunc or Melissa or anybody
. He even had time to feel sorry for himself and started to compose a will.
I’ll leave Uncle Alfred some new socks, clean ones, and my bike to Dunc and a disease for my sister.…
    All that time to think. And the final thought, just as he started back down, was:
I bet I go down faster than I came up
.
    But it seemed to go slowly. At least at first. On the way back to earth again, he looked over his shoulder and saw Emile and Claude still waiting for him. He also saw Sherman Hemlock walking through the crowd—he was wearing shorts and a loud flowered shirt and sunglasses and zinc paste on his nose and the tops of his ears. He saw Dunc. And Melissa. There she was, watching him, actually looking right at him.
    Then he saw the ground.
    It was hurtling up at him at a terrible speed. He had cleared the parking lot and was over the public swimming pool.
Luck
, he thought—
I’m finally getting lucky. I’m going to hit the pool
.
    He almost smiled. He plugged his noseand closed his eyes and prepared to hit the water.
    He missed.
    He didn’t miss by much, only three feet, but he found that the ground is just as hard three feet away from a pool as it is a hundred miles from a pool.
    There wasn’t any pain. Not at first. He went into the dirt like a bullet—in the exact center of a small decorative flower bed next to the lifeguard chair. The ground, as ground goes, was soft, at least it was before he hit it. But his body packed it, and he tried to remember what his science teacher had told him about the formation of sedimentary rock. He also tried to remember his name. And how to add. None of it worked.
I am
, he thought,
I am
.…
    “Amazing.”
    “Huh?” He looked up. Dirk Cordoba was standing over him, shoving a microphone in his face.
    “Incredible,” Dirk said. “A run of astronomical proportions. If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it. Lash, how did youdo it?” Amos was still wearing Lash’s helmet and glasses.
    I am Lash
, Amos thought.
My name is Lash. This man is calling me Lash
.
    “Tubular,” Amos said. “Like rad to the max. I was fully tweaked and boned out and rockin’ and rollin’—” He stopped as memory came back.
I’m not Lash. I’m Amos. Amos Bender. No. Amos Binder. And I want my mother. Now
.
    “I’m not—”
    “You’re not,” Dirk said, smiling. “Listen, ladies and gentleman, to this boy’s modesty. You are, Lash, there is no question that you are.”
    “Are what?”
    “You are the greatest skateboarder who has ever lived.”
    “But—”
    “No buts, Lash. No need for any qualifying statements. Your actions speak for themselves. Do you have anything to say?”
    “But—”
    “Well, thank you, Lash. Thank you for your time. Thank you for this breathtaking run, this moment in history you’ve given us.You’ve left even me speechless. Now back to George in the booth.” Before Amos could say anything else, the camera was off and Dirk was on his way to his dressing room.

Amos was still on his knees when Dunc and Lash came to him. Lash held Maggie, and Dunc leaned over Amos.
    “What happened?” Dunc