Skating Through

• Isaac Latham, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2013

Skating Through
by Isaac Latham

Chapter 1

Dan stood at the top of the building, glaring down at the city lights below. He had been standing on the building for three hours, his eyes constantly scanning the area for crime.

Dan scowled and got up to leave. Out of the corner of his eye a man in a balaclava and a sack in his hand came sprinting across the footpath opposite the building.

“Gotcha”, Dan said to himself with a sly smile, the look of a tall, thin teenager, a young man who loved fighting crime.

Dan grabbed his skateboard and opened the door to the stairs. He left the door open, hopped on his skateboard and jumped up. He landed on the handrail beside the stairs and slid down in a 50-50 grind, sparks flying off the rail.

At the bottom of the stairs he barged open the door and sprinted into the lobby of the hotel. If it was any place else he would’ve skated but the lobby was a no skate zone.

Dan slung open the front doors and skated on the curb. He spotted the robber and he sped up so he was trailing just behind him. Dan grabbed the man by his collar and tried to pull him down. The man counterattacked, getting Dan in a tight headlock.

CRACK!!! The man slammed Dan’s head on his knee and ran away. Dan’s vision was blurred as he got to his feet. The man ran into the intersection and opened the door of a red ute.

“GET OUT!”, the man yelled in a Welsh accent.

The driver did what the robber said and hopped out.
The man got into the car and waited for the light to go green.

“I’m not going to let you walk away that easy”, Dan thought aloud.

Dan got onto his board and rode to the car as it sped off. The teen’s board was no match for the ute but he continued to chase.

He felt the wheels on his board revolve faster and faster as they came to a little dip in the road. Dan used the dip to his advantage as he flew up into the air.

“May as well pursue in style”, thought Dan as he pulled off a 360 turn, more for show than necessity.

He landed the trick with a small CLACK of his wheels as they made contact with the ground. Dan was only inches away from the ute, he grabbed the towbar and held on.

The ute raced into an alleyway and the man got out. He trudged into a beaten up warehouse with Dan silently trailing behind him, remaining completely hidden.

“Got the money?” said a lady sitting in the corner, looking like she was in charge of the robbery.

“Yeah”, said the robber.

“Good”, the lady replied, “I need that to pay off our debts.”

Dan, after hearing this conversation, skated to the police station. He took a deep breath, and walked in.
The policeman was sitting at his desk eating a donut when Dan appeared through the doorway.

Chapter 2

“Hello officer”, said Dan. “I am here to report a crime.”

“Okay”, replied the police officer, John, a veteran of 13 years in the force, “Tell me the story.”

So Dan told him about the crime. He told John about the chase and the warehouse and the deal.

“Wow”, said John after Dan had finished talking, “Thanks, I’ll track them down.”

Dan walked out of the police station.

“New York, it’s never quiet”, John mumbled as he got up. He walked through a set of sleek wooden doors towards his partner, Joe.

Joe, a burly cop with too many donuts under his belt, was typing on his computer and sipping a Starbucks coffee.

“Hey”, said John.

Joe looked up from his computer. “What?” he said.

“A kid just reported a crime, nothing that serious. He mentioned, though, that he wanted to become a crime fighter.”

“Errm”, replied Joe, “Do you think he could be a good recruit?”

“Yep,” was the instant response.

Chapter 3

Dan had been sitting on the bench, waiting for news from the police. It seemed like forever, but after 15 minutes they called.

“Hello?” said Dan.

“Hi, it’s John from NYPD”, his voice keen to get on with business.

“Any news?”

“Yep”.

“Okay, what?”

“We want you to join NYPD”, John announced.

Dan’s knees buckled and he felt his insides do front flips.

“YES!” screeched Dan.

One night out looking for crooks and he had turned it into a new career. New York’s first ever skateboard patrol.

by Isaac Latham aged 10
Mount Hunter Public School
September 2013