The Competition

Michelle was sitting at the table eating cereal when her father exclaimed, “Hey, Michelle!” She looked up form her Cheerios. “There ‘s a cooking contest for kids in this town. The winner gets an iPad.”

“Wow,” said Michelle. “I’d like an iPad.”

“Why don’t you enter?” asked her dad. “You’re great a cooking.”

“Okay,” she said.

“It’s seven days from today at the Elm Elementary School cafeteria,” said her dad. “It says that all contestants must be there by 3:30 P.M. to compete.”

So Michelle marked her calendar and prepared for the competition.

Soon the day came. Michelle showed up early and waited for the other contestants. Then at 3:30 a man stepped out to talk to them.

“Welcome, contestants,” he said. “Let me tell you what will happen in this contest. You will have one hour to make a dish using the items in the basket. Then the judges will pick the winner, who will get the iPad. I will assign you to a station.” Then he went around telling each person to go to a station.

Once everyone was in place, the clock was started, and the competition began.

Michelle looked in her basket and saw the ingredients for her favorite recipe: chocolate cake. So she began to make it. She started off fast so that she wouldn’t run out of time. But soon it was almost the end of the hour. Michelle was running out of time! Michelle started to go faster and faster, so she would finish on time.

Just when the hour ended, Michelle finished. She proudly handed the cake to the judges. They each took one mouthful then immediately each spat it out.

Michelle couldn’t understand why. She took a bite of the cake, then she, too, spat it out. In horror, she realized what she had done. In her hurry she had skipped the sugar.

Moral: Haste makes waste.