.... at the gym the next day .....
I did a handstand on the bar and then swung to the low bar. I was practicing my transition from bar to bar. I stood up on the bar and jumped up to the top bar. I did three flips off the bar and stuck the landing. Great job! My coach said. Good enough to make me to the Olympics? I asked. Keep dreaming, my coach said. What is that supposed to mean? Before I could ask, my coach said, I'm going to work on bars with Jessica, go practice your floor routine. I will, I said. But I still couldn't figure out what my coach meant by keep on dreaming.
...... at my house after gymnastics ......
Hi, Mom, I said. Hey, my mom said. Can I ask you something? I asked my mom. Sure, honey, what is it? I told my coach if that I want to go to the Olympics but she just told me to keep on dreaming. What's that supposed to meAn? I asked. It means your not going to make it to the Olympics, my mom said. I thought coaches were supposed to encourage you not put you down, I muttered. Kelly, your only twelve, I don't think you should be thinking about the Olympics right now, my mom said. Just imagine a girl winning a gold metal in the Olympics. That girl could be me, I said. I know, I just don't want to disappoint you if, in four years you happen to not make it. First my coach doesn't think I'm going to the Olympics and now it's my mom who doesn't think I'm gonna go to the Olympics, I said. Honey, I didn't mean it like that, my mom said. Oh sure, I mumbled.