Lacrosse a short story by Thomas Squires It was 8th bell and David T.

, a student at KLMS and a lacrosse player, was walking outside to his Latin class when he suddenly ran into his friend Joe. Joe asked him Will you be at practice today David? David replied, Of course. It is the first practice of the season. They walked into the portable and sat down at their desks. A moment later the bell rang signaling the start of class. Their teacher, Mr. Ben, greeted the class by saying Salvete discipuli. The students replied by saying Salve Magister Thomas. Mr. Ben took roll and then began class. About 50 minutes later the students spilled out of the portable eager to get on their busses and return home. Joe asked David how he did on the Latin test that was returned to the class. David replied that he did not do well and was not happy. Joe reminded him that he had to get in a good mood for practice which was coming up. David and Joe arrived at practice and started to gear up. Suddenly the star defense man, Bill, walked over toward them with his friends and said to David, Hey there David. You think you might actually get the ball this year? Well think again! He walked away laughing. David turned to him and said, Boy that kid is annoying. Once they had geared up they walked over to the field and got ready for pass and catch line drills. Afterwards they did 1v1 ground balls. David was set to go against Bill. The coach blew the whistle and Bill shot off the line like a bolt of lightning. He easily scooped up the ball and passed it off to the coach. David felt as if he were like a piece of litter, always being stepped over with no one willing to pick it up and help it out. He knew that he had to prove himself to his teammates. It was the first game of the season and David was one of the three starting attack men. Throughout the game his team and the other team scored many goals. David however never got a hold of the ball. After the game he walked off the field and went to his car. He drove home happy that they one but knowing that it was going to be a long season. He wished that he had a time machine so that he could jump into the future past this season. The next day they had another practice. David, still feeling discouraged, reluctantly went to practice. Once again he was paired against Bill and Bill once again won. David talking to Joe after practice said I dont really want to play anymore. Joe replied to this by saying Look David. Just hold on for the rest of the season. I can feel that things will improve for you. David accepted this and they drove home. Once he arrived home he ate and did his homework. After that he went to be dreaming about a better world. He saw light on the horizon but couldnt make

much sense of it. He felt warm yet he knew not the source. He felt happy and knew not the reason. All he saw was that strange light on the horizon signaling a bright future. A few days later during school he got a lot of tests he had recently taken back. David, not being the best of students, thought that most of his grades would be average and not outstanding. When he looked at his papers throughout the day he was astounded and shocked at his grades, many being As. After school he had practice and he caught and threw the ball fairly well compared to how he had been throwing and catching just a few days ago. When he got home and thought of the days events he recalled his friend Joeys words that things would get better. David also thought about the dream that he had about the dream that he had had a couple days ago, the dream about the light on the horizon. He wondered if that dream and Joeys words had any connection to the current turnaround in his life. He thought that there was no way that things like that were going on but somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that there had to be some connection. A couple weeks later David was still doing very well, his team was undefeated, and his grades were above average. He left school to go to the store with his parents. There he saw Bill and his friends. He thought to himself No this cant possibly be happening. Bill whispered something to his friends and they started to walk towards Davids family. Bill said Hey there Dave. Hows that shot coming along. It cant seriously get much worse than it is. David, humiliated walked away toward his car. His parent followed unsure of what was going on. He explained to them everything about the dream and Bill and how he was doing badly at lacrosse. His dad said that he would do everything he can to help David become a better lacrosse player as he wasnt that great at Davids age but practiced and got way better. The next day was the first day of Davids dad helping him out. They passed the ball amongst themselves and then did some shooting drills on a makeshift net that they set up in the backyard. David made some good shots but none that were outstanding. He definitely felt better about his performance after the next practice but he still wanted to get better. His dad suggested that he tell the coach about Billy. That is what David did the next day. The coach said to him I understand the conflict that you and Bill have but he is my star player and I cant just kick him off of the team. I will look at his grades and amount of penalties but if they dont show anythin g negative then I cant help you. David thanked the coach and went back to his car where his dad asked him what happened. David told what the coach said. His dad said Well, lets hope for the best.

A week later or so, after practice, the coach approached David and told him about what he discovered. He told David that Bill had had a series of disciplinary problems and his grades were poor. Being that this was a school team and all members had to keep their grades up he would approach the principal soon to ask for guidance. The coach reminded that the city-wide championship was coming up and because he was short on attack men he would be starting. David thanked the coach and decided to stick around and talk to Joey for a few minutes. He told Joey about what the coach told him about and what he thought was going to happen. He reminded himself about Joeys words and the light on the horizon. A few weeks later Bill was kicked off of the team for poor grades and disciplinary problems. This was made known only to the team and school administration. When David told his dad about what happened he replied saying I told you to hope for the best. Look at what happened. David suddenly felt a new need for greatness. He wanted to amaze the crowd tournament coming up in a few days. It was the highly anticipated championship game. All of the teams from the city were there but only 2 teams were 5-0, Davids team and their rivals, the Knights. Throughout the tournament David and his team demolished all of the other teams but the only game everyone was waiting for was the big game against the only undefeated team. At halftime the score was tied 0-0. David had been in the whole game. Towards the end of the 3rd quarter he thought once again about what Joey said and the dream. At the end of the third it was still 0-0. Halfway through the 4th quarter the Knights scored one changing the score to 1-0. Davids team fought hard but they couldnt score anything. With a minute to play Davids team finally scored. David then caught a pass to him and started running toward the goal. He remembered everything his dad taught him and everything that had happened to him. With less than 15 seconds to go he let go of the ball and saw as is sailed into the back of the net. The official signaled a goal. David was amazed that he had just scored the game winning goal. He was so happy. All of the parents for his team flooded the field and his teammates held him up and carried him off the field. They carried him into the sunset. They carried him into the shining light on the horizon.