Sculpting Alaska

By Gautam R., 5th Grade, Hough Street School
Songs That's Weird, Grandma

“Let the competition begin,” boomed the announcer, as I quickly started planning out my ice sculpture. Scrape, scrape, scrape, went my carving tool as I knocked away ice. This was the regular carving routine. We were at the 2000 year end ice sculpting contest in Alaska.
Nobody would think of such a wonderful sculpture as a fish sculpture.
“Hey Jimmy,” a voice shouted, how you doing?
It was Walter, who, in my opinion, was the peskiest sculptor in the world. He was tying his shoelace at the moment, hands shivering even though they were in thick winter sculpting gloves. As were mine, but they were not shivering as Walter’s were. Poor fellow, he must be freezing to death, I thought.
“I’m alright, Walter, how are you?” I replied
Two hours and fifty-three minutes had passed and seven minutes remained in the contest’s first day. Luckily there would be two more days left to win and take home the prize money of $5000.
I was just finishing the last touches of my enormous fish gleaming in the Alaska sunlight. It had icy scales cut into both sides of the fish and bulging eyes popping out of the head. It had a carved mouth with a small rounded tongue pointing outward. Also, there were swift lines running down the fins alongside, above, and behind the statue.
When I came back from the bathroom, the worst happened. With twenty seconds to go before the day ended, my beautiful right fin crumbled to the ground as I tried to finish up my project by chiseling away some excess ice around the fin. I sank to my knees with my face in my hands
“oh no, no,no,no,” I yelled at myself as time expired, “What, what, what I am going to do?”
As the judges came around, they gave my statue quick glances and looked back at their notebooks and scribbled furiously. A judge would say, “Look at theis great masterpiece.” And heis neighboring judge would comment, “It’s fin is broken though.’
Finally, after about forty-five minutes, the judges came back to give the results.
“And now a the end of the first of three days in this contest in which the top four sculptors in America are competing, I will give you today’s scores,” said a judge; “in fourth place is Len with three points for originality, four points for design, and four points for beauty, and eleven total points. IN third place is Jimmy with five points for originality, five points for design, and three points for beauty, ‘ I shook my head in disappointment, “and a total of thirteen points. In second place is Fredrick. He has four for originality, five for design, and five for beauty. In first place is Walter who had a perfect score, five, five, and another five”

At home I was snug in my bed, but my mind was not as comfortable. “I know there is a perfect explanation for this but I haven’t broken a sculpture in eight years,” I
said out loud. I really didn’t think it was a n accident. At least I had two more days to prove myself America’s best ice sculptor.
In the morning I dressed hastily and collected my tools into a bag. When I got the place where we sculpted, I realized I was a bit late so I got straight to my sculpting spot. The competition started almost immediately after I came. I had been so tired the night before and I was rushed this morning so I hadn’t had time to think of what I was going to create. Two minutes wen by, four minutes, six minutes, eight minutes, and I still hadn’t picked something to sculpt. The others were chiseling away on their massive ice cubes, making cracking noises. Then I had it, I would sculpt Alaska.
Two and half hours later I was coming to the end of my sculpture. When you looked at the sculpture I was unmistakable. Alaska. It had polar bears, seals, Arctic wolves too. There were animals all over the state, carved grandly into the ice. This time the judges loved my masterpiece and even thought they never said a word, you could tell by the delight on their faces when they passed the sculpture. I was awarded five points each for originality, design, and beauty and a total of twenty-eight point over two days. Best of all I was in first place now. Walter was close behind me with twenty-seven points and you could tell he wasn’t happy about it.
That evening while I was watching TV. the door bell rang and a short man stepped into the house. It was Walter. He dropped to his knees and asked for mercy.
“it was me, I did it.”
“What?” I questioned.
“On the first day I threw an ice ball a the fin and made it look like you did it” Said Walter. “I knew you were a better sculptor but I wanted to win so I did it. Now I feel so bad. If you don’t snitch on me I’ll let you win the contest. I will compete in the contest but I will make sure not to win because of my bad actions”
I said “O.K. and he left me. I knew that I wasn’t going to tell the judges about him but he would still have to pay the price of cheating. Bu the end of the day I had made up my mind that I would try my hardest during the last day of the contest to beat Walter.
On the third day of the contest I was putting together Zeus the might god. Walter was making a Roman soldier. We were battling.
I was going to put Zeus’s arms apart with his huge spear in hand.l I was working furiously because I didn’t want Walter to defeat me. Also I had to work extra hard because I need to make up for my first day’s loss. The contest came to what seemed like a quick end.
“In fourth place is Walter with a total of thirty- eight points. IN second place are Fredrick and Len, both with forty-one points and in first place is Jimmy with forty three total points. Congratulations, Jimmy,” said a judge.
I was very happy for myself and I even brought home the $5000 in spite of my handicap on the first day, “I hope I’ll be back for the contest next year.”