Sports Festival Competition Story

It is a beautiful sunny day in the Mushroom Kingdom. Princess Peach stands outside of her castle with her three friends, Princess Daisy, Nekokawa-chan, and Chihiro. All four girls are busy chatting as they plan what to do today.

Princess Peach spins her pink parasol in thought and Daisy twirls her auburn hair between her fingers. Nekokawa-chan and Chihiro are here visiting the princesses for the weekend. Nekokawa-chan wears a white and purple dress, the colors switching between the layers of her skirt and bustle. Purple flowers adorn her black hair and purple headband. She too holds a purple parasol in her gloved hands.

Chihiro is sitting in the shade of the castle wall. Here black hair is cut short with a single red clip to keep her hair out of her eyes. She wears a black T-shirt with a red heart in the middle of it and a red leather skirt. Fashionably torn black high socks reach up above her knees. She is busy plucking at her red and black electric guitar when an idea comes to her.

“What if we all play a game? We can have a competition between the four of us just for fun?” Chihiro asks. Nekokawa-chan, Princess Peach and Princess Daisy smile at the idea, they do love playing games.

“That sounds like fun! We can split into two teams and play three games to decide which team is the winner,” Princess Peach says. She spins her parasol and laughs. “This is a good way to stave off any boredom. It’s such a pretty day, something active sounds fun. It can be our very own sports festival in the Mushroom Kingdom!”

The girls decide on three games: baton races, a ball toss, and tug-of-war. Princess Peach and Nekokowa-chan team up against Princess Daisy and Chihiro. Chihiro points out the rules of the running game.

“The first runner will start here at the castle wall. Carry the baton as fast as you can to your partner who will be waiting by the tree in the meadow. Pass the baton and the partners will race to the finish line at the path beyond the tree. No early starts, let’s play a clean game ladies!”

Everyone sets off and hurries to their starting positions. Peach, Daisy, and Nekokawa-chan pick up their skirts to run unencumbered by the layers of fabric. At first glance, one might assume the princesses and girls to be wary of competitive and rough games. But, with young hearts and fun-loving minds, they all greatly enjoy any game that comes their way.

Princess Peach and Princess Daisy line up by the castle wall, gripping their batons in hand. They place their parasols to the side. Chihiro and Nekokawa-chan waits for them under the tree. Everyone crouches, prepared to run.

“On the count of three!” Chihiro yells from her spot. “One, two—three!”

Princess Daisy and Princess Peach take off like springs released from tension. They race across the grassy meadow, their arms pumping at their sides, one hand holding up their skirts, one clenching around their own batons. The wind catches their hair and the breeze brings the smells of the summer grass, aromatic flowers, and the sounds of birds all in one rush as they run until the breath in their chests strain in an attempt to catch up or to release a peal of laughter in their ambitious run.

Their footsteps pound the earth as they rapidly approach the tree in the meadow neck in neck. Chihiro and Nekokawa-chan cheer and clap for the two princesses.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Nekokawa-chan chants. Princess Peach bursts ahead and leaps towards Nekokawa-Chan, passing the baton into her hands. Nekokawa-chan grasps the baton and spins on her feet, taking off towards the finish line. Chihiro yelps, captures the baton from Princess Daisy and launches after Nekokawa-chan.

“I’ll catch you!” Chihiro yells. She stretches out her legs and pumps her arms, reaching as if she can pull herself towards the finish line faster. Nekokawa-chan and Chihiro race over the second half of the meadow, rushing over low grasses and billowing flowers. Princess Peach and Princess Daisy’s yells of encouragement can be heard far behind them as the sandy gravel path appears up ahead, golden in the sunlight.

In the heat of the excitement, Nekokawa-chan takes a moment to peek over her shoulder and slows on accident when she sees Chihiro racing up behind her. Oh no! Nekokawa-chan thinks, she doubles over and tries to run harder but Chihiro closes the gap and bounds right past her. Chihiro sprints until the golden gravel of the path crunches under her feet at the finish line.

“We won!” Daisy yells from underneath the tree. Chihiro leaps up and punches the air with a happy cry. Nekokawa-chan joins her at the finish line, her chest is heaving as she tries to catch her breath.

“Wow, that was really fast Chihiro! You surprised me!” Nekokawa-chan says with a gasp.

Chihiro goes over to her friend and pats her on the back, “You did a good job too—you ran very fast! If only you didn’t look back to see if I was nearby,” Chihiro says. Nekokawa-chan smiles and laughs.

“Yeah, I felt you right on my heels. I couldn’t resist the urge to see,” Nekokawa-chan says.

Princess Peach and Princess Daisy run over from their positions under the tree.

“Wow, great job everyone!” Princess Peach says.

“Congratulations partner!” Princess Daisy exclaims. She pulls Chihiro into a quick hug. The victors celebrate their first win.

“I think that was a great start to our very own Mushroom Kingdom’s sports festival,” Princess Peach says. “Congratulations on your win! Round one—the baton races—has come to an end. Are we ready for round two? Nekokawa-chan and I won’t go down so easy this time. The ball-toss is one of my many specialties I must say.”

“Okay, princess, let’s see what happens next,” Chihiro says. “May the best team win!”

After the girls finished their first round of their own Mushroom Kingdom Sports Festival Competition, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Chihiro, and Nekokawa-chan walk back to the main path leading to Princess Peach’s castle.

“The second round of our friendly sports competition will be the ball toss game. My personal favorite, I think this will go well!” Princess Peach says. She goes ahead and picks up a box of sports supplies that had been set out by her attendants at the castle door while they were out racing. Princess Peach picks up a pink ball for herself and tosses a yellow one to Daisy. Chihiro and Nekokawa-chan run over to their partners to hear the rules.

“For this game, each partner will stand facing each other over this gravel path. You will toss the ball to your partner, and once each team catches the ball, we all will take one step back. We will repeat this until someone drops the ball and loses the game. Does that all make sense?”

“Yes!” Nekokawa-chan exclaims. She stretches her arms and begins to bounce on her feet. “I’m ready to play, are you Chihiro?”

“Sure thing! Princess Daisy, let’s do our best,” Chihiro says. The four girls all clap hands and high-five before taking their places over the gravel path. Princess Peach stands across from her partner Nekokawa-chan, and Princess Daisy stands across from Chihiro. Both princesses hold the balls.

“On the count of three, we will begin,” Princess Peach says. “One, two, three!”

Princess Peach and Princess Daisy toss their balls into the air. Chihiro catches the yellow ball with ease, and Nekokawa-chan does a little leap to catch hers.

“Haha, you’re a showoff,” she says to Princess Peach, who had tossed the ball very high. “Let’s concentrate on not only fun but winning too!” Nekokawa-chan and Chihiro both crouch and lightly toss the balls to their partners.

“Take a step back!” Chihiro exclaims, and so the game repeats.

After the seventh round, the girls are fourteen paces apart now and are beginning to focus on accurately throwing more than a simple toss to one another. At this distance, a simple toss will not do. They switch to overhand and hope for the best. Chihiro goes first with everyone watching. She taps her shoes on the ground and pulls back her arm, in a pitchers position before she throws. Princess Daisy yelps,

“Don’t throw so hard, don’t throw so hard!”

Chihiro laughs and apologizes, “I’m trying to size up the distance! Sorry!” She relaxes, but instead, she flips her arm, and from an underhand throw, the ball soars up into the blue sky and goes right to Daisy, who reaches out and wraps her hands around the ball.

“Woo-hoo! Good job!” Nekokawa-chan cheers. “Now it’s our turn!” She faces Princess Peach and sways her arm alongside the length of her purple gown. She crouches a little and then springs up to throw a high underarm to Princess Peach. The ball thuds right into her hands.

“I got it!” The princess cheers.

“Take a step back!”

Another summery breeze begins to stir as the girls continue to play. The grass around them waves little bright flowers in the sunlight. Everyone is squinting and trying to read each throw before the balls are launched towards their partners. The distance grows greater and greater.

Chihiro catches a fly ball from Princess Daisy. It slips in her fingers, but she manages to latch on and pull it safely to her chest. Her heart flutters at the nervousness of nearly dropping the ball. Chihiro turns to watch Nekokawa-chan who is crouching with her hands on her knees. Her bustle skirt stands out from her but somehow unencumbered by the dress, as princesses skillfully seem to be, she is ready to leap once Princess Peach sends the ball over and Nekokawa-chan leaps to her left to catch the ball single-handed.

“Wow, that was amazing!” Chihiro cheers.

At two more steps back, everyone stops for a breather.

Princess Peach says something from their far away position.

“What? We can’t hear you!!” Nekokawa-chan yells back. Everyone laughs.

“This-Is-Really-Far-Away!!” Princess Peach yells at the top of her lungs. Chihiro waves her arms to the others while she and Nekokawa-chan laugh.

“I think we can do this—good luck, and let’s begin,” Chihiro says.

“Good luck!” Nekokawa-chan says back.

Chihiro winds up and throws as hard as she can to reach Princess Daisy. Princess Daisy goes back and forth until she finally jumps and dives onto the grass for the ball. She catches it. She bounces up in a second and brushes off her dress, giving a thumbs up.

Nekokawa-chan throws first and Peach jumps and nearly falls, but she’s okay too. They take a step back. The girls don’t know how this next round is going to go. The wind picks up, and they can hear their own cheers from over the distance. Chihiro spins the yellow ball in her hand, her adrenaline building up as she tries to picture the throw, to lead it straight to her partner.

“You can do it!”

Chihiro leans back and launches the ball into the air. It soars straight up to the sky. Her arm burns from the effort, pulling at her shoulder. They watch it curve beautifully, but, in all the built-up effort, the ball soars right over Princess Daisy’s head and bounces onto the grass.

Daisy and Chihiro yell, their nerves exploding in laughs and whoops.

“Too bad—wow, wow, but that was so amazing!” Princess Peach yells. “I could never throw that far, even if it was too far!”

“We win!” Nekokawa-chan chats. “What a crazy far throw, I’ll need you on my team next time Chihiro!”

Everyone runs back to gather in the middle on the gravel path.

“That was crazy, congratulations on the win!” Princess Daisy says to Princess Peach and Nekokawa-chan. “I guess round two has come to an end. What’s next?”

Round one and two of the Mushroom Kingdom’s Sports Competition has come and passed with much excitement from the four girls. Princess Peach is gathering the others: Princess Daisy, Chihiro, and Nekokawa-chan over to the side of the castle where a heavy rope is laying in the grass out of sight. A crowd of citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom has gathered to watch the third and final round of the games. Even Toad and Toadette are there to wave flags and banners for the separate teams.

“This is exciting,” Chihiro says. She watches the crowd as a smile stretches across her face. “Are they all here to watch the final round?”

“Yes! I want this to be as fun and exciting as possible!” Princess Peach says. She is happy with her surprise crowd. “We are just about to begin the final round of our Mushroom Kingdom Sports Competition. So far, Daisy and Chihiro won the first round, which was the relay baton races. The second round, the ball toss, was one by Nekokawa-chan and I. This third round will decide the winner of the festival, but no matter what happens, it will be an exciting reveal, and I am proud of whatever team wins!”

“Woohoo!” Nekokawa-chan cheers. “This will be great! What game are we playing for round three?”

“This final round will be the game tug of war,” Princess Peach says. She lifts her arm and points a gloved finger towards a rope lying in the grass that the others had not seen yet. “In our teams of two, we will pull until the other team crosses the line in the middle, losing the game. Does that sound good?” Princess Peach asks.

“Yeah!” Princess Daisy says. “I’m ready to go. Let the best team win—good luck everyone!”

The girls get in a circle to high-five each other before running over to their positions. Princess Daisy and Chihiro take one end of the rope. Princess Peach and Nekokawa-chan go to their side.

Chihiro stands in front of Princess Daisy. She picks up the rope and the rough fibers prickle her fingers. She hands part of the end to Daisy. Lowering into a braced stance and spreading her feet, she readies herself for the game to begin. Her short black hair, loose from the day’s earlier games, has a few strands hanging loosely over her brow.

Chihiro starts the count off, “Three, two—one!!” she yells, her voice booming across the field. The crowd erupts into cheers as the four girls pull and tighten their grip on the rope in between them. The rope shudders, pulling straight between the opposing forces stretching it in opposite directions. Each girl digs their feet into the dirt, leaning back from their opponents. Hands shuffle and fingers tighten as the rope twists and strains between them all.

The first pull shocks and shakes the four girls. It is a sudden jump of fast motion to frozen strain. Nekokawa-chan gasps as the rope pulls in her hands. She tightens her fists and tries to move backward. Princess Peach digs in behind her and pulls as hard as she can.

“Let’s pull back extra hard in three, two, one!” Princess Peach yells. She and Nekokawa-chan put their all into the next tug and the rope trembles, pulling in their direction as Chihiro and Princess Daisy slip on the other end. Princess Daisy scrambles, digging her heels into the dirt as the rope pulls away from her.

“Don’t let go!” Princess Daisy shouts to her partner. Chihiro hugs the rope and pulls desperately as she sees the red line in the middle of the playing field draw closer and closer to her slipping feet.

“Back, back, go back!” Chihiro yelps. She turns sideways and tries to march backward, stopping the movement of the rope.

Nekokawa-chan’s arms tremble and strain under the effort and pressure. She can feel sweat start to gather on her back and brow. This is harder than she thought it would be. She laughs, the challenge is entertaining, but she can’t keep up the hard pull. Princess Peach behind her gasps, and they stumble as the rope pulls away from them and back towards Chihiro and Princess Daisy instead. The red middle approaches them next, and they struggle to avoid it. Nekokawa-chan’s toe almost hits the red line. She yells in shock and with a surge of renewed strength, she and Princess Peach pull backward with a hard run, their feet skidding in the dirt and getting almost nowhere

Chihiro and Princess Daisy react, tugging on the rope as hard as they can in the opposite direction, trying to pull Nekokawa-chan and Princess Peach over the red line. Their knuckles are white with how hard they hold onto the rope. Their fingers and palms are bright red as they pull back and yell in the effort. Each girl is bent, pulling as hard as she can while the rope is an immovable wall between them all.

“Just a little more, just a little longer!” Princess Peach yells.

“We can do this Chihiro; we can win, keep pulling!” Princess Daisy yells to Chihiro over the struggle.

Dust kicks up and the rope trembles over the ground. Both teams are the same distance from the middle, back to where they started and are pulling harder than ever. The crowd cheers for all four contestants. The strength and determination in the girls astound them as they cheer them on, lending strength through their support so no one should tire out in the middle of the game and end. Toad waves his banner, chanting along with the cheers.

The girls are reenergized by the crowd’s cheers. They put their backs into it and pull as hard as they can. The rope stretches, the fibers pulling and shifting in each braid and layer. Their hands grip harder, they breathe and pull and pull, giving it their all.

Snap!

In a breathless moment, the rope snaps under the incredible pressure and pull. Like a freeze-frame, everyone is upright, their eyes widening, and mouths opening in shock. Their hands are on the rope, their balance suddenly slack with nothing to pull against. Then, the world returns to motion and the four girls are sent flying backward as the shredded rope flails above them in two directions.

“Ooof!” Princess Peach gasps. She lands hard on her butt, her skirt’s bustle protecting her from the pain of the fall. Nekokawa-chan is sprawled next to her. She gets up, brushing dirt off of her jacket.

“Wow, are you okay?” Nekokawa-chan asks. “That was crazy!”

“Yeah, are you hurt?”

“No,” Nekokawa-chan answers. “Hey! Are you guys okay?!” she yells across the field. Laughter and shouts greet her. Chihiro rolls over and waves from her position on the ground.

“Yeah, we are okay! A little surprised!” Chihiro yells back. Princess Daisy sits up beside her, giggling out loud at the suddenness of the fall.

“We were so serious! And then it broke!” She says through her laughter, “just broke!”

The girls help each other up and go to pick up the frayed pieces of the rope. The broken fibers slowly unroll in their hands.

“Wow, no way,” Chihiro whispers.

“We actually broke it?” Nekokawa-chan asks.

“We are so strong!” Princess Daisy says in a cheer.

During their investigation of the rope, the crowd had grown quiet with worry. Princess Peach turns to them and lifts her arms to show she is alright.

“We are okay! Thank you for your support!” she says.

Everyone jumps out of their seats to cheer and whistle. No one has been harmed and it seems that laughter is the only side effect.

“So, does this mean we need to try again to see the winner?” Nekokawa-chan asks.

“But the rope is broken.”

“Can we find another one?”

“No,” Princess Peach answers. “Do you know what this means?”

“It’s a tie?” Princess Daisy asks.

“Not just a tie,” Princess Peach says. “It means we are all winners! We all won!”

“Really?! That’s amazing!” Nekokawa-chan yells. She claps and throws her arms around the other girls for a celebratory hug. “We did it! We all won the Mushroom Kingdom’s Sports Festival!”

“Congratulations!”

“Way to go, team!”

“We rock!”

The girls jump around until they tire themselves out and the crowd eventually departs and heads back to the castle. The four all sit down together in the grass to talk about their fun-filled day.

“What a great way to spend a day. It’s funny to think that we didn’t know what to do today of all days,” Chihiro says. “It’s a beautiful day, the sun is out. I’m glad we decided to have the sports festival.”

“Yes! It was so much fun. I hope we can do it again sometime,” Nekokawa-chan says. She has regathered her parasol as well as Princess Peach’s and Princess Daisy’s. She passes them out. They open them and rest in the shade the parasols create.

“We have many days of sunshine left, I’m sure we can play more games tomorrow,” Princess Peach says.

“The baton relay race was really fun, but I think the tug of war was my favorite,” Chihiro says.

“I think we should have a rematch one day with a stronger rope!” Princess Daisy says.

“Yeah! That would be fun!”

The day slowly comes to an end as the girls chat about the games. The sun has lowered deep into the afternoon, darkening a little towards evening.

“Well victors,” Princess Peach says, “I think it is time to go inside to our celebratory dinner feast!”

“What? Really?!”

“Of course, we need to properly celebrate today’s winners with a great meal and friends.”

“Will there be dessert?” Nekokawa-chan asks. Her eyes sparkle with excitement at the possibility of the desserts a dinner at the Mushroom Kingdom castle might have.

“Of course!” Princess Peach says. Princess Peach closes her umbrella and stands up. She extends a hand to Nekokawa-chan.

“It’s time for dinner, let’s go celebrate!”

Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Nekokawa-chan, and Chihiro all get up and brush themselves off. They head to the castle to enjoy a feast, just as Princess Peach promised.

Today’s summer day may have passed, but the girls know that they have many fun-filled days ahead of them. Who knows what challenge, adventure, or game will come their way next. No matter what they decide to do, they know they will have fun and do their best to have a good day.