The Slice: A Bloomsday Cinderella story

Little kids, as you might know, aren’t always tethered to reality.

This can be quite charming. They haven’t been beaten down by life. So they think almost anything is possible.

That’s why I suspect some little boy or girl in the Spokane area believes he or she is going to win the Bloomsday race in a few weeks.

Sure, it’s magical thinking. Not gonna happen.

But have you ever actually listened to little kids talk? They do not lack imagination. No, sir.

Oh sure, you can try to acquaint them with the impossibility of their dream. You can provide them with information suggesting an elite runner from Africa will undoubtedly win the race.

You can even explain how a child’s body simply doesn’t provide for running mechanics and stride length that would prove competitive come Bloomsday Sunday.

Does the youth care? He/she does not.

In the child’s mind, something akin to a loop tape of Carl Spackler’s golf fantasy keeps playing, over and over.

“Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac … It’s in the hole.”

Spackler, memorably played by Bill Murray in the 1980 movie “Caddyshack,” created a lasting template for improbable sports stories.

Of course, kids come by that sort of invention naturally. It’s in their nature.

So, if you know of a little boy or girl who believes he or she has a shot at the Bloomsday title, please send a photograph of the young runner to The Slice.

I’d like to document the upset-in-the-making even before it happens. After all, you never know.

“Cinderella story. Kid outta nowhere. A former kindergartner, now, about to become the 2017 Bloomsday champion. It’s a mirac … wait … he’s putting on a final kick! He is sprinting to the finish, leaving the other runners far behind.”

Multiple choice: The highest I ever flew a kite when I was a kid was …

A) High enough that I was worried about interfering with airplanes. B) High enough that I had to tie it to our porch and go in to dinner. Then I came back out and finished reeling it in. C) I’m pretty sure I had it up near a nebula once. D) Other.

Today’s Slice question: Ever been driving to your job in the morning and absent-mindedly gone to the place where you used to work before you changed employers?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Come up with an old-timey nickname for a boxer that includes the word “lilac.” (You know, like “The Lilac Mauler.”)