It ends in failure

A buzzer sounds, and Ayesha takes off running towards the edge of the pool. She has her thin white shirt bunched up at mid-thigh so it doesn’t impede her, but as she makes the jump towards the first sharply-angled platform, she lets go with one hand so she can use that arm for balance. Her shirt falls down to just above knee-height on that side, then she lands on the first platform.

Ayesha’s face is flushed but her veins feel cold and tingly. In her adrenaline-fueled state, she jumped with just a little more oomph than she needed, and her foot landed on the far edge of the first platform. She’s going too fast! At this speed she’ll overshoot the next platform completely.

To try to compensate, she pushes *up* off the first platform, bleeding off some of her speed towards height instead of distance. She succeeds, landing her other foot squarely in the center of the second platform. The arms with the spinning hooks whir audibly, but even when they brush against Ayesha or her shirt, they’re easily ignored.

There are four more platforms to go, though, and now she’s bled off a little too *much* speed. She pushes sharply off the second platform, but her adrenaline-fueled jump sacrifices balance for power. As she soars toward the third platform, her body starts leaning dangerously forward. Desperately, she pinwheels her free arm to try to counteract the rotation, but it’s not enough. Just before landing, she lets go of her shirt and frantically uses both arms to regain control of her body.

She just barely succeeds, and lands on the third platform with enough balance to kick off towards the fourth. But now her shirt has fallen back to her ankles, and it’s interfering with her legs. Her push off the third platform is under-powered.

Ayesha’s blood is running hot now. She sees the fourth platform coming. She’s not going to hit it. She desperately stretches her leading leg up as high as she can, fighting against the constraining fabric. She reaches the apex of her jump and starts to fall towards the pool. Will she reach the next platform? It's going to be close.

With one last stretch of her leg, she gets the ball of her foot on the fourth platform! She’s two-thirds of the way across, now. She stutter-steps, frantically pulls up on her shirt to free her legs and bends her knees for the next leap. She takes off soaring towards the fifth platform - she can do this! The end is in sight!

It was not meant to be. She is still going slower than she needs to be going, and hasn't even fully recovered her balance. Ayesha falls into the pool well short of the second-to-last platform, a frigid dunk ending her first attempt at the lizard sprint.