The Ultimate Fantasy Fan by Amanda

Okay, here's the actual essay that I won the prize for. As you begin to read, I cross my fingers, hoping that you will like it....

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Crash!
The abrupt disturbance among the shadowed trees echoed through the night sky as a young girl fled from her eager pursuers.
She tripped and tumbled her way through the underbrush, searching for a refuge that was not found.
Spotting the thrashing tree among the outskirts of the forest, she aimed her sprinting legs toward it with newfound hope.
The chasers behind her smiled and began to advance in full confidence that she was cornered. Soon the prize would be theirs for the taking.
The girl, Amanda, for that was her name; saw a flaw in her plan as the tree began to batter against her advances toward its trunk. As if granting her silent plea for help, a cat-like creature with a pig snout nose darted out from the forest. He clawed at a shallow knot in the wood with a stubby claw.
Suddenly, the tree froze. Entirely. From the very southern-most root to the tip-tops of its branches, the tree was motionless. Wasting no time, Amanda grabbed the cat-thing by the fur and dove through the hole that occupied the space between two large roots.
They tumbled through the downward-sloped opening, suddenly coming to a stop in the basement of an old and, apparently, forgotten house.
The Hobgoblin, not to be confused for a cat, stood up, dusted itself and glanced at Amanda. With adrenaline flowing, and in a mild shock, Amanda looked reasonably excited. She exchanged a silent glance with the Hobgoblin as they came to an agreement.
Moving forward, they began to climb a steep set of stairs that ascended into the gloomy darkness.
“So, its true then ‘innit?” the Hobgoblin grunted from the corner of his mouth, “That you’re —”
“Yeah, it is true,” Amanda replied hesitantly, “I am the Chosen One - I mean, The Ultimate Fantasy Fan.”
The Hobgoblin let loose a low whistle, pondering this for a moment, “So the people chasing you were…?”
“The runners up,” Amanda said, a little out of breath from climbing stairs, “Obviously, they really wanted to win.”
“So, what makes you the ‘Ultimate’?” The Hobgoblin said after a moment.
Amanda chose her words carefully, not wanting to be taken as arrogant, “I am… because I love it with an entirety of heart. Without fantasy, I couldn’t be the ‘me’ I am today. I am a Fantasy fan throughout my whole self.”
“You haven’t read all the fantasy books in existence,” her guide admonished.
“How could I ever?” replied Amanda in incredulence, “It’s not about how many books you’ve read or the smarts you’ve gained from them. It’s about being appreciative of them and loving the imagination that runs through their pages.”
The Hobgoblin grumbled to himself, wondering why he had volunteered to take the “Ultimate Fantasy Fan” to the “premiere.”
“So,” he said in search of a new topic, “have you read ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’?”
“Of course!”