"First place is... Carter Moon!" When the announcer said my name, the stands erupted. Clapping and cheering thundered behind me as I made my way up to the stage. A girl in a yellow dress handed me a shiny gold medal with a figure of a person diving off a block in the middle. The clicking sounds of cameras started. I stood up on the podium in the first place position and smiled.

This is what I worked my whole life for. This is what I've been dreaming of since I was a little girl. Beaming, I looked up into the stands to see a thousand screaming people. Then I saw my family sitting in the front row closest to me. My dad and brother stood as they cheered and whistled loudly, my mom clapped while she wiped her tears. And my two sisters jumped up and down holding a sign that had, "We Love Carter," painted in large red and blue letters.

I laughed and tried to hold back my tears. I can't believe this was happening. This is the best day ever--a gun shot rang. Everything was in slow motion. People hit the floor. The screaming changed from cheering screams to screams of fear. And my shoulder was jerked back painfully as the bullet hit it. Pain shot through my arm as I fell backwards off the podium. Once I hit the floor with a thud, people were surrounding me. People were yelling at other people and people were yelling at me. Someone told me to stay awake, while someone else began to press a shirt onto my shoulder which was now numb. Another person held my face and yelled at me to keep my eyes on him.

Now I'd realized what had happened. I began to laugh, but was stopped short by a series of coughs and I tasted blood in my mouth. "Someone was a sore loser," I laughed weakly. Then I couldn't keep my eyes open and the last thought I had was the picture of my family smiling and cheering me on, because if I was going to die I wanted to be happy.