The Contest

This passage is about Ernie, who tries to eat more blueberry pies than his competitors.

Lexile Level: 550L

Categories: Adventure

Ernie was nervous. Five blueberry pies sat before him on the table. Ernie looked at the giant man to his right. He patted his belly and laughed at Ernie. Then Ernie glanced at the tiny woman to his left. She sipped water and looked out at the audience. A man called them to attention. He held up a stopwatch. The judge waved his hand down for them to begin. Ernie jabbed his hands into a pie and scooped it up. Blue syrup ran down his hands and face as he shoved it in his mouth. Then he scooped another faceful of pie. The crowd cheered loudly. As he finished his third pie Ernie glimpsed the giant man doubled over with a towel over his head. Then he noticed that the tiny woman was nearly finished with her last pie! She wolfed down the final bite and wiped the blueberries from her face. Ernie had at least finished second.