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| Skating Dreams |
| By: Kip Curnutt |
| As the bell rang at the end of the school day, thirteen year old skateboarder, Steven Hunter, felt a great joy. It was finally the end of the long agonizing school year, and he had a summer ahead of him to skate and have fun. Steven grabbed his board and belted out of the building. Once outside he got on his board and sped through the parking lot when a security guard stopped him. "I thought I done told you kids. No skateboarding here. Get lost." The security guard said as he shooed Steven away with his hands. It was almost impossible for kids to skateboard in Montgomery, Alabama. Somehow, everyone had it all wrong about skate boarders. Skaters weren't hurting anybody,they were just trying to have some fun. All the adults had a preconceived image of skaters as troublemakers and vandals. People think whenever a group of skaters make their way through a parking lot, they leave a lake of graffiti in their wake. That's not the way it is at all. "Not at all," Steven thought as he cruised home in a grim mood. This wasn't how he wanted his summer to start. At his house Steven was cheered up a bit when his mom let him spend the night at his best friend's house. Wes's house was the only place to skate without hassle from security guards. Wes had an empty concrete pool in his back yard where everyone skated. "Hey Wes, what's up?" Steven questioned as soon as he arrived. "Dude, you should have been here. That new guy Kip was just here and he 360 flipped over my mail box; that guy's dope. Two of his friends from Califorinia were here too, Micheal and Donovan. They were tearin' up the pool." Wes answered with enthusiasm."I got it on tape, you wanna' see." "Sure."Steven replied. The two went inside, and Steven picked up a copy of Transworld skateboarding magazine while Wes got the tape ready. Steven stared in amazement at the tricks some of the pros did. He wished with every ounce in his heart he could go pro. That dream seemed nearly impossible. Talent-wise he wasn't too far from being pro, but it was the task of getting sponsored. Nobody would want to sponsor a hick from Montgomery, Alabama. Even if they would, he'd have to leave his home. That wasn't very likely seeing as how he was only 13 and had many years of school left. Then a stroke of genius hit him. "Hey man, I've got an idea," Steven shouted to Wes,"We could make a movie, like the pros, we could send it to magazines and stuff; we'd get recognized." "Dude, what are you talking about?" Wes questioned the sudden outburst. "We could make a movie, a skate movie like the pros," Steven jabbered on excitedly. "Why?" Wes managed to cough out still confused by what Steven was getting out. "To make a name for ourselves. C'mon, let's go skate the pool and talk about some ideas." "But don't you wanna see Kip's 360 flip?" Wes asked. "No," Seven replied bluntly. Wes and Steven went outside and skated and skated and skated. They talked about the movie as they casually rode around the pool doing a trick once in a while. Wes began to be more enthusiastic about the movie, and their decission fueled on. They talked about where to do cool tricks, what to call it, and what kind of theme to give it. They decided the theme should deal with how skaters are treated. The next day Steven and Wes took their boards, a camera, and some friends to a shopping center. This shopping center was known around town as a great skating spot, mostly because of it's 10-stair handrail. Steven and Wes decided for an opening trick to board slide the handrail. They were setting up the camera when an angry voice was heard. "What on the good earth are you doing?" The man asked as he walked out of the store where he was working. "This is a place of buisness. We won't have this here." "We're just doing a little filming of us skateboarding," Steven shrugged "Not here you're not." The man replied with anger. "And why's that?" Wes asked. "Because I won't allow it," the man said eyeing Wes. "You just don't get it, do you?" Steven spoke up as he got on his board, did the trick perfectly and rolled away his friends following. "Let's get some pizza, I'm starving," Steven suggested while he and his friends were leaving. "My mom will buy if we eat at my house,"Wes offered to his friends. "Sounds good to me," Steven said as they hopped a bus to Wes's house. Back at Wes's house, they got some food and reviewed the footage. They decided to finish the filming the next day. They were all angry at the store owner and neede some rest. Tomorrow was to be full of skateboarding, and afterwards Wes would be at the tv station where his dad worked to edit the tape. "Hey Steven, when we're done let's send it to Shorty's kinda like a sponsor me video, but better," Wes said to Steven as he was walking out the door. "I wish," Steven replied. "I'm serious. I saw an ad in a magazine where you could send a video to get them to sponsor you," Wes started to get excited."The guys at Shorty's will love the whole thing about people not letting us skate." |