Football Practice

Matthew and John were walking home together after football practice. It was drizzling. It had been a tough practice, but a good one.

“Man, I’m wiped out,” said Matthew.

“Me, too,” responded John. “I didn’t think I was going to make it.”

The boys took a shortcut through Mr. Hepner’s back yard. They were close to the end of the fence when a bright light beamed down directly overhead.

“Whoa!” hollered Matthew.

“What is that?” wondered John.

Just then, a creature walked through the gate and said, “Hello. I’m here to tell you that you have been chosen.”

“Chosen?” asked John.

“Yes,” replied the creature.

John took off in a sprint trying to get away. He didn’t want to see what happened next. He flipped his agile body over the fence. He was running as fast as he could when he tripped and fell flat on his face. He groaned.

Just then, he heard someone calling his name. Was it the creature? He opened his eyes and saw his coach standing above him. “John, are you okay?”

“Yeah, Coach!” said John. “I just tripped.”

“No, you’ve been lying here for a while. You really got hit on that last tackle. By the way, did you hear you’ve been chosen to play varsity?”

John smiled. He had been chosen! He jumped up and hurried back to the football field.