Story Endings: The Cardboard Boat Race

The Big Dipper Sets Sail

1Every August, the community pool in our town holds a cardboard boat race. The rules are simple: build a boat out of only cardboard and tape, then paddle it from one end of the pool to the other. When my friend Priya asked me to be her partner, I laughed. "Cardboard turns to mush in water," I told her. "Our boat will sink before the race even starts."

2Priya did not give up. For two weeks, we worked in her garage after lunch every day. We cut flat boxes into long panels, folded up the sides and covered the seams with wide strips of tape. We painted the boat dark blue with white stars and named it the Big Dipper. By the end, my fingers were sticky with tape, but I had to admit that it looked like a real boat.

3On race day, rows of colorful boats lined the edge of the pool. We lowered the Big Dipper into the water and climbed in carefully. It wobbled, but it floated! When the whistle blew, we dug our paddles into the water. We passed a pink boat shaped like a shoe and a green boat that had already tipped over.

4Halfway across, I felt something cold on my knees. Water was seeping in through a seam near the back, where the tape had peeled loose. "Paddle faster!" Priya yelled. We paddled as hard as we could, but the back of the boat sank lower and lower. Just a few feet from the finish line, the Big Dipper folded in half, and we tumbled into the water. We were laughing so hard that we could barely swim. Together, we pushed the soggy boat across the finish line while the crowd cheered.

5We did not win the race, but the judges gave us a ribbon for the Best Splash. That evening, Priya sat at her kitchen table and sketched a new design with extra tape on every seam. I looked at the ribbon and smiled. I had been wrong about one thing: cardboard really can float, as long as every seam is sealed tight. Next August, the Big Dipper II will make it all the way across.