This original fiction, set in the Vampire Slayer universe is the property of Mutant Enemy, should they want to take it. Characters featured in Buffy the Vampire Slayer are most definitely them.
Take a moment to review, or privately E-Mail TheZorker@aol.com what you thought worked and what you know just didn't. Nothing encourages me to keep going like a well worded piece of "I read this and...".
The Others:
The Slayers in Training were told they had a choice.
They were told it was coming.
They couldn't tell everyone.
My story is not unique, I'm just still around to tell it.
My story, however, isn't about me at all. It begins in the house of a young girl, not yet in middle school.
Chapter One: First Game
"The only way is onward. There is no turning back."
-Treguard, Knightmare
Her name was Jennifer Rathe, and to look at her, she was an ordinary fifth grade girl. She kept her brown hair shoulder length, and her light blue eyes bubbled with life. She was a little taller, perhaps, then other girls, and a little more athletic, but there was nothing extraordinary about her. At the moment, she was trying to think up excuses on a beautiful May Saturday, in the northern Chicago suburb of Lake Bluff.
The doorbell rang. She was too late. "Jenny!" came the exclamation of her mother up the stairs, "Brian's here!"
Jenny pulled on her other cleat. She liked the sport of baseball fine. She just wasn't good at it, and therefore she didn't like playing it. Her friend Brian, however, adored it. It was all his fault, after all, persuading her to play in the local little league, and though there were no tryouts, she felt she didn't quite belong, she was one of only two girls. Pulling on her uniform, gold with black trim, she clambered down the stairs.
Brian was waiting in his mother's wagon, his brown eyes smiling at her. She shook her head in mock exasperation, and with a hug from her mother, headed out to the car. Brian, with his black hair cropped short, held his hand out for a high five. Jennifer gave in, smiling.
"I can't believe you talked me into this, Brian," Jenny said.
"You LIKE baseball!" Brian told her, "You told me so yourself yesterday."
"I don't know what I was thinking," she said, glancing out the window.
"You were thinking it was such a shame Annika Sorenstam didn't do as well as she could have at the Colonial golf tournament. I think it might be a good thing, or you might be playing golf this weekend!"
She stuck out her tongue at him. "I might yet."
"Come on," he asked her. "Wouldn't you rather be the third baseman for the Cubs instead, and play on a team, rather than by yourself?"
"I (sigh) suppose."
The talk turned to the major leagues, with the Cubs still in first place, but it wasn't far to the away field.
Coach Robinson was standing, surrounded by the other seven members of the team. Brian and Jenny had to run to join them, as he was finishing reading the line up. "You made it," he told them. "I was afraid you weren't going to. Brian, you'll be batting sixth and catching today. Jenny, you're batting eighth and playing first. We're on the field first today, so grab your gloves, and give them trouble!"
David, who was their pitcher, was one of the two twelve year olds on the team, and a good pitcher. He sat down the first three batters, striking out one, one fly out, and a lazy grounder to third. Brian tossed the ball straight across to Jenny, and the inning was over.
The opposing Libertyville team, however, was just as good defensively as the Bluffers, and the first inning ended with themselves going three up and down.
The first ball of the second inning, was hit hotly straight at Jenny, who couldn't quite react quickly enough to catch it. Caroline was on the ball, however, and fired it into the second to keep the runner from advancing.
David recovered afterward, and set down the next three hitters he faced.
There were two outs in the bottom of the second before Lake Bluff knew what had happened. It was Brian who broke through, getting a single on a a sharply hit ball to left field. Frank continued with a single through the other side, advancing Brian to third.
"Come on, Jenny! Bring me home!"
Jenny watched the pitcher throw the first ball. She didn't even try to swing, but tried to gauge the pitch. Strike one.
Jenny connected with the second pitch, but only tapped it weakly foul. Strike two.
She gave the third one as hard a cut as she could...but only made contact with air. Put out on three pitches, she ended the hope for the side.
The rest of the game was a disaster as far as Jenny was concerned. Her catching error in the fourth inning, while it didn't lose them the game, allowed additional 'insurance' runs to score. In her own defense, it was a hard throw to handle, and she made other plays.
Her batting was more abysmal, and harder to defend. She managed to put the ball in play only once in her two other at bats (as the games were only six innings long), and in the sixth, she struck out with the bases loaded. Lake Bluff went down, four to one.
Jenny stared out the window of the wagon, on the way home.
"Cheer up Jenny. We'll practice together, and we'll get better," Brian told her.
"I don't know, Brian, I just don't think I'm cut out for baseball."
"Jenny, if I stick with it, I'm going to make you stick with it with me. You're the only one my age willing to try."
Jenny mumbled something, and Brian let it go, for the moment.
When Sunday rolled around, Jenny was surprised when Brian came knocking at her door. "You and I are going to work on our hitting. Come on, your mom says you need to go outside."
I saw them that day, and for the next few days, in the evening, after school. They would practice until dusk and beyond. I lived across the street, and frequently walked my beagle, Penny, around their block.
Jenny's timing, I learned later, improved. She didn't have the strength, perhaps, to hit one hard, however. She had to, in addition, be dragged out to start practicing, every day.
"You're going to get your first hit tomorrow," Brian told her. "I can feel it."
"I hope you're right," Jenny responded, unconvinced.
Brian sighed, shaking his head. "We need to get you a dose of self confidence, but I don't know where to find it."
The sun was down, but the lights of the neighborhood meant things were still lit, especially with the full moon. "Come on, Brian," Jenny said, "it's time for bed. If I'm to get my first hit tomorrow, I'm going to need plenty of sleep."
Take a moment to review, or privately E-Mail TheZorker@aol.com what you thought worked and what you know just didn't. Nothing encourages me to keep going like a well worded piece of "I read this and...".
The Others:
The Slayers in Training were told they had a choice.
They were told it was coming.
They couldn't tell everyone.
My story is not unique, I'm just still around to tell it.
My story, however, isn't about me at all. It begins in the house of a young girl, not yet in middle school.
Chapter One: First Game
"The only way is onward. There is no turning back."
-Treguard, Knightmare
Her name was Jennifer Rathe, and to look at her, she was an ordinary fifth grade girl. She kept her brown hair shoulder length, and her light blue eyes bubbled with life. She was a little taller, perhaps, then other girls, and a little more athletic, but there was nothing extraordinary about her. At the moment, she was trying to think up excuses on a beautiful May Saturday, in the northern Chicago suburb of Lake Bluff.
The doorbell rang. She was too late. "Jenny!" came the exclamation of her mother up the stairs, "Brian's here!"
Jenny pulled on her other cleat. She liked the sport of baseball fine. She just wasn't good at it, and therefore she didn't like playing it. Her friend Brian, however, adored it. It was all his fault, after all, persuading her to play in the local little league, and though there were no tryouts, she felt she didn't quite belong, she was one of only two girls. Pulling on her uniform, gold with black trim, she clambered down the stairs.
Brian was waiting in his mother's wagon, his brown eyes smiling at her. She shook her head in mock exasperation, and with a hug from her mother, headed out to the car. Brian, with his black hair cropped short, held his hand out for a high five. Jennifer gave in, smiling.
"I can't believe you talked me into this, Brian," Jenny said.
"You LIKE baseball!" Brian told her, "You told me so yourself yesterday."
"I don't know what I was thinking," she said, glancing out the window.
"You were thinking it was such a shame Annika Sorenstam didn't do as well as she could have at the Colonial golf tournament. I think it might be a good thing, or you might be playing golf this weekend!"
She stuck out her tongue at him. "I might yet."
"Come on," he asked her. "Wouldn't you rather be the third baseman for the Cubs instead, and play on a team, rather than by yourself?"
"I (sigh) suppose."
The talk turned to the major leagues, with the Cubs still in first place, but it wasn't far to the away field.
Coach Robinson was standing, surrounded by the other seven members of the team. Brian and Jenny had to run to join them, as he was finishing reading the line up. "You made it," he told them. "I was afraid you weren't going to. Brian, you'll be batting sixth and catching today. Jenny, you're batting eighth and playing first. We're on the field first today, so grab your gloves, and give them trouble!"
David, who was their pitcher, was one of the two twelve year olds on the team, and a good pitcher. He sat down the first three batters, striking out one, one fly out, and a lazy grounder to third. Brian tossed the ball straight across to Jenny, and the inning was over.
The opposing Libertyville team, however, was just as good defensively as the Bluffers, and the first inning ended with themselves going three up and down.
The first ball of the second inning, was hit hotly straight at Jenny, who couldn't quite react quickly enough to catch it. Caroline was on the ball, however, and fired it into the second to keep the runner from advancing.
David recovered afterward, and set down the next three hitters he faced.
There were two outs in the bottom of the second before Lake Bluff knew what had happened. It was Brian who broke through, getting a single on a a sharply hit ball to left field. Frank continued with a single through the other side, advancing Brian to third.
"Come on, Jenny! Bring me home!"
Jenny watched the pitcher throw the first ball. She didn't even try to swing, but tried to gauge the pitch. Strike one.
Jenny connected with the second pitch, but only tapped it weakly foul. Strike two.
She gave the third one as hard a cut as she could...but only made contact with air. Put out on three pitches, she ended the hope for the side.
The rest of the game was a disaster as far as Jenny was concerned. Her catching error in the fourth inning, while it didn't lose them the game, allowed additional 'insurance' runs to score. In her own defense, it was a hard throw to handle, and she made other plays.
Her batting was more abysmal, and harder to defend. She managed to put the ball in play only once in her two other at bats (as the games were only six innings long), and in the sixth, she struck out with the bases loaded. Lake Bluff went down, four to one.
Jenny stared out the window of the wagon, on the way home.
"Cheer up Jenny. We'll practice together, and we'll get better," Brian told her.
"I don't know, Brian, I just don't think I'm cut out for baseball."
"Jenny, if I stick with it, I'm going to make you stick with it with me. You're the only one my age willing to try."
Jenny mumbled something, and Brian let it go, for the moment.
When Sunday rolled around, Jenny was surprised when Brian came knocking at her door. "You and I are going to work on our hitting. Come on, your mom says you need to go outside."
I saw them that day, and for the next few days, in the evening, after school. They would practice until dusk and beyond. I lived across the street, and frequently walked my beagle, Penny, around their block.
Jenny's timing, I learned later, improved. She didn't have the strength, perhaps, to hit one hard, however. She had to, in addition, be dragged out to start practicing, every day.
"You're going to get your first hit tomorrow," Brian told her. "I can feel it."
"I hope you're right," Jenny responded, unconvinced.
Brian sighed, shaking his head. "We need to get you a dose of self confidence, but I don't know where to find it."
The sun was down, but the lights of the neighborhood meant things were still lit, especially with the full moon. "Come on, Brian," Jenny said, "it's time for bed. If I'm to get my first hit tomorrow, I'm going to need plenty of sleep."