1
The Runaway SegwayJesse
Typically, in Iowa City, an average summer day is steaming hot with an average of ninety degrees or so. Today was a typical summer day. With a glass of lemonade at his side,Todd was in the downstairs of his house sitting on the couch playing NCAA Football 12. He was all alone. All his friends were either away on vacation or suffering from heat stroke. His main player on the game had just fumbled the football.
“Come on!” screamed Todd. “What was that? He should be booted off the team!” Todd angrily ran upstairs and out of the door and threw the controller at the homeless man across the street.
“That wasn’t nice,” calmly replied the hobo.
“Sorry,” said Todd. He then rushed inside to finish his game. But before he could his dad burst through the door with some exciting news.
“Guess what happened at work today!” he yelled.
“I don’t know. Just tell me,” replied Todd.
“I got promoted,” Todd’s dad explained, “to the top product tester at Segway Industries, and they’re letting me test out the new Segway 2000!”
“Cool! Dad, that’s awesome!” stipulated Todd.
“But that’s not all,” Todd’s Father blurted. “To make sure it retains its speed and stability over long periods of time, they’re going to let me keep it!”
“Can I ride it?” asked the hobo, who now happened to be hiding in their bathtub.
“Never, it’s mine!” renounced Todd. Just then he sped downstairs to get another controller to launch at the poor homeless man. The hobo fled immediately.
The next morning, Todd’s father taught him how to start up the Segway and how to steer. After that, Todd requested that he should ride it around town for a while. His father denied his request because he was using the Segway to get to and from work. His father did agree to let him go on a joyride after he returned.
Later, after Todd played a game of MLB Baseball on his Xbox 360, his dad returned from work. As his dad walked through the door, Todd rushed by him without even saying hello. He got on to the Segway and sped down the street. Unfortunately, the top speed of the Segway 2000 was five miles per hour. As Todd slowly made his way down the road, he realized that his best friend, Pueblo, got home from vacation today. He quickly changed direction and headed toward his house. As he kept driving, he realized that Pueblo lived all the way on the other side of town. That means that he would have to cross the bridge.
“Oh well,” he murmured, “it’s worth it.” Todd’s wasn’t concerned about the long ride. He though the personal human transporter was very fun. His only worry was crossing the long wooden bridge to get to Pueblo’s house.
When he arrived at the bridge, Todd had second thoughts about crossing. He had crossed the bridge plenty of times, but not with heavy machinery like this. As he finally overcame his fear, he slowly began to cross the bridge. His Segway was now really starting to pull to the left. He was about half way across when the Segway started to go out of control. The whole thing shifted to the left and broke through the wooden railings. As he flew toward the water below, he seriously thought that he was going to die. As everything started to get dark, a ragged glove grabbed him and swept him out of the water.
A few hours later, he awoke in a hospital bed. Next to him were his father and the hobo who lived outside their house.
“What is he doing here?” Todd questioned while pointing to the homeless person next to his father.”
“He saved your life, Todd,” replied his dad. “According to him, he was going to ask you if he could ride the Segway again. He was following you when he saw you fall in the creek. Then, he reached in and grabbed you out of the water.”
“Oh, thanks Mr. Hobo,” thanked Todd.
“It’s always a pleasure to help out a person in need,” replied the hobo. Because of his help, the hobo went to live with Todd and his parents.