Welcome to disney's magic of storytelling podcast, brought to you by wake med children's, because inside every child is a story waiting to be told.
Our storyteller is abc 11 news anchor john clark.
Star wars, the phantom menace, race to the finish line.
A long time ago, on a small planet called tatooine, a young boy named anakin skywalker looked up at the planet's moons.
Although he had never left his home, Anakin had always dreamed of going on great adventures and racing across the stars.
One day, it looked like Anakin's dreams were coming true.
He had met a Jedi Knight named Qui-Gon who needed supplies to repair his ship.
Anakin didn't have money to help the Jedi, so he had entered a pod race hoping to win the supplies.
Although Anakin had never won a race before, he knew that he could do it.
As the timer counted down to the beginning of the race, Anakin looked at all the other racers.
He wasn't worried about any of them, except Sebulba.
Anakin knew that Sebulba cheated to win, but he wouldn't get away with it this time.
Suddenly, the starting gong rang.
They were off.
But something was wrong.
Anakin's pod racer wouldn't move.
Anakin began to panic.
Sebulba must have done something to his pod racer.
But Anakin thought of what Qui-Gon had told him right before the race began.
Concentrate on the moment.
Feel.
Don't think.
Use your instincts.
Anakin took a deep breath, flipped a few switches, and restarted his engine.
A war to life.
Anakin quickly flew away.
But he was a long way behind Sebulba.
Meanwhile, Zabalba knocked his ship against another racer's.
The hot racer crashed off the course and burst into flames.
Zabalba laughed.
One fewer racer to worry about.
Behind the crash, Anakin flew through a cavern and into a deep cave.
One of the other racers wasn't paying attention and ran right into some rocks.
The ship exploded.
Anakin quickly flew around the fire.
That was close, Anakin thought.
Anakin raced through the stadium.
He had two more laps to finish, but he smiled.
He was catching up to Sebulba.
The racers thundered across the planet.
Sebulba was still ahead of everyone else, but he wanted to make sure it stayed that way.
Sebulba threw a piece of metal behind him, and it went right into another racer's engine.
The engine exploded.
Pieces of Podracer flew everywhere.
A piece cut through the cable connecting Anakin's cockpit to one of his engines.
Anakin began to spin out of control.
But he remembered Qui-Gon's words.
Anakin couldn't just worry about his problem if he wanted to win the race.
He needed to fix it.
Anakin quickly brought his cockpit under control and grabbed the loose cable.
Soon he had reattached the engine and was back in the race.
Sebulba and Anakin zoomed through the stadium one final time before the final lap.
With all the other racers far behind, Anakin realized that Sebulba was the only one between him and the finish line.
Sebulba's pod racer was much bigger than Anakin's.
He forced Anakin off the course and high up onto a cliff.
But Anakin wasn't going to be beaten.
He changed gears and crashed back onto the course right in front of Sebulba.
For the first time, Anakin was in the lead.
Suddenly, Anakin saw smoke coming out of one of his engines.
His pod racer was on fire.
The hard landing must have damaged it.
As Sebulba raced ahead of him, Anakin knew he didn't have a lot of time.
He needed to fix his pod racer right away.
Anakin closed a flap above the engine to put out the fire.
Then he quickly pumped coolant into the overheated area.
Soon the engine roared back to full power.
Anakin grinned.
It was time to win the race.
Anakin could see the stadium getting closer and closer as he pulled up right next to Sebulba.
Sebulba tried to push Anakin's smaller ship off the course again, but Anakin had a plan this time.
As Sebulba rammed him, Anakin caught his podracer on Sebulba's.
Sebulba was stuck.
Then, as Sebulba tried to pull his ship away, Anakin unhooked the aircraft.
Sebulba zoomed wildly off course and smashed part of his podracer into a rock.
Anakin used Sebulba's own attack against him.
Anakin raised his hands over his head as he crossed the finish line.
The crowd cheered.
Qui-Gon ran to Anakin's podracer and lifted him high onto his shoulders.
Anakin had done what it seemed impossible.
He had won the race.
Anakin smiled.
One of his dreams had come true.
He couldn't help wondering what great adventure he'd have next.
Wake Med Children's is proud to support the ongoing enrichment of children in our community and beyond through our sponsorship of the Disney Magic of Storytelling podcast.
To learn more about Wake Med Children's, please visit kids.wakemed.org.
