Take the Challenge

I don't even have to think about it "there's no way I'm backing down without taking on a single challenge Jackie, I'm definitely man enough". "Well then lets get you into your new shoes shall we" Jackie guides me over to the start of the course where a pair of black 4 inch stiletto high heels are waiting for me, after taking my shoes and socks off, I slip into my new footwear for the evening and immediately lose my balance. "Whoa, woops, jeez this is a lot harder than it looks" I manage to say as I struggle to even stand still, suddenly 10 minutes doesn't seem like a very long time limit. The crowd starts to laugh at my struggle which is a little embarrassing but that is the point of the show I guess. "Are you ready!" Jackie asks and I reply "as I'll ever be" getting myself another chuckle out of the crowd. "Well then here we go! 3! 2! 1! GO!". All of a sudden the clock starts ticking and I stumble my way forward like a baby deer learning to walk, I make it to the stairs which look a lot taller now, it only looks around 20 steps but that's a very daunting challenge in these heels. I can also see now that there are small holes in the steps which the heel of my shoes could slip into throwing me off balance and all the way back to the start.

I lift up my foot to take the first step up only so immediately lose my balance and fall on my ass getting a cheer and some laughs from the crowd. "Well at least its not a long trip back to the start" Jackie say's talking more to the audience than to me as I get back onto my feet ready for my second attempt. Ok I'll go slower this time, just carefully lift my foot up, as I'm thinking this I start to wobble again and stop to think this through. Surely there must be a trick to this otherwise women wouldn't be able to wear heels all the time. Focusing only on the foot I'm not lifting and trying to balance most of my weight on the front of my foot I go for another attempt and finally I get some success. I get onto the first step and hear a round of applause from the audience, after that I make some good progress, remembering to keep my weight on the front of my back foot with each step I slowly make one step at a time. As the timer hits 8:30 remaining I reach the top of the stairs getting the largest reaction from the crowd yet, I can hear the cheers and applause and a few people yelling "you go girl!" making me blush.

Now I'm stood staring down the next obstacle, the stepping stones, I can see around 40 platforms spread in a random pattern in between where I'm stood and the platform on the other side about 10 meters away. I need to make sure to pick the shortest path with the least stones to make sure I don't waste too much time. They are all shaped like stones with mostly flat tops but with some un-even bumps mixed in. Before I take my first step it's probably best to figure out the path I want to take since some of the gaps between platforms look bigger than others. I take a deep breath and go for my first stone, this is the first time I'm stuck with my legs apart and I cant already tell this is going to be much harder than the stairs. I quickly make my next step to move my other foot to the stone closest to the one I'm currently on and hardly keep my balance, I start sweating profusely from the concentration this is taking. Slowly but surely I make my way across the stones, one step at a time, never rushing and always being careful to check if the stone is flat or not. After what feels like an eternity I make it to the other side. "And there it if folks, our lovely contestant breezes through the stepping stones on their first try, but with just over 5 minutes left does he still have enough time?".

Now it's time to take on the see-saw's There are two roughly 5 meter long see-saw's in front of me that are only wide enough for one foot. Not only am I going to have to keep my balance on this narrow beam but there's also they fact that it starts off with a steep climb until I can get to the middle when I'll have to try and not fall as it tips into a steep decline. I'm honestly starting to lose hope already at this point but if I don't try I'll be stuck with no money and walking in heels for a whole year. I place my first foot onto the beam and keep my eyes looking straight ahead, even just attempting to lift my other foot makes me start to wobble, it'll probably be best to go quickly on this one other wise I'll never keep my balance long enough. I take one step forward and tilt over to the left, throwing my arms to the right to counter balance myself and stop form falling. Before I'm even standing straight again I start to take the next step bending over forward to stop from falling backwards from the steep ramp. Then disaster, I reach the middle of the see-saw and it suddenly slopes down, before I can get my balance back I tumble forward and off the edge. "Oh what tragedy John Tumbles off the see-saw's and now has less than half the original time limit to make it through the whole course, I can't see how he's going to pull this off now."

I look to the timer and see 4:32 left as I get back to the starting stairs but I'm not panicking yet because on my way back to the start I realised something, I'm no longer having trouble just walking anymore. After going through those trials I've gotten used to walking in these heels, that along with the fact I know the technique I need for the first two obstacle's mean's I should be able to finish them faster this time and the last stairs should be similar to the first. That means the only thing I need to worry about is the see-saw's. But I think I've got an idea for those this time. On my way back to the start I noticed my hips were swaying which was helping my balance. If I do that on the beams it would not only help keep my balance but should also make sure my feet don't miss the see-saw. With this in mind I start my accent of the stairs being careful to avoid the holes in each step. Then following the path I took last time I stride through the stepping stones. "Look at that confident strut, you'd think he'd been born in those heels. But now it's time to face the see-saws again, can he do it?". A huge roar comes from the crowd as the timer hits 2:47, at this point I'm full of confidence, nothing can stop me now. That being said I'm not going to rush through this, I'm going to carefully make sure not to make a mistake here. I sashay my hips as I step on the beam making sure to keep my centre of balance over the see-saw, immediately I can feel how much easier this is making things although I also realise that I'm walking like a woman would in heels, but if that's what it takes that's what I'll do. Up and down the first see-saw I go, the timer hits 1:28. I reach the end of the second see-saw and stand at the top of the second stairs. 34 seconds left. I make it to the bottom of the stairs and see the goal a short distance away with just 5 seconds left. I'll have to jog to reach it in time, if I tried to run I would definitely fall. "FIVE" the crow starts to count down the timer. "FOUR, THREE... TWO..."