Once upon a time, in a small village by the seashore, there was a baseball team named the Giraffes. It was by no means a bad team, however it had not yet made it to the state championships in its entire 30 years of existence. The coach, at this point, had been the same one who had first formed the team and assembled its original members 3 decades ago. Now, paralyzed from his waist down after a bad riding accident, he was too weak to coach, and would be retiring at the end of the season.
The coach, however, had been a great role model for everyone on the team, and all the players desperately wished to give the coach some sort of farewell gift. Of course, nothing was better suited for this purpose than the state championship trophy, and so, throughout that season, the players did their utmost to train hard, and do their very best in every game.
Unfortunately, some teams were just better than others, simply because of the ages of the players. The baseball league of the land, you see, had no age limits, and as a result, it was not uncommon to find a team with a handful of toddlers and senior citizens in the mix. It so happened that all of the adults in the village with the exception of the coach were Latin teachers, which was such a time consuming job that it left no time for even eating or sleeping, let alone playing baseball. As a result, all of the players were schoolchildren.
One of these players was a young girl named Sisi. She was a fast runner, but unfortunately, not a very good hitter. It's not that she would miss the ball. She usually hit it, but would do so at such an angle that the ball would fly high but not far. As a result, it was pretty easy to catch. Whenever the opposing team caught a ball hit by Sisi, which they usually did, she would be "out." I think that's how the game works (Zach, since you used to play baseball, correct me if I'm wrong). In any case, whenever the opponent team failed to catch the ball, Sisi would often get to second or even third base, being as fast of a runner as she was.
Sisi was sick and tired of getting out so often. Her teammates, being nice people, did not criticize her at all, and were quite glad to have such a nice person on their team. Sisi, however, wished she could do more for her teammates. The ninth game of the season had just finished, and Sisi, having gotten out several times, had contributed greatly to her team's loss.
Sisi kicked a rock all the way back to her house, angry and sad. Upon entering her room, her high heels were full of scratches, and she was on the verge of tears.
"You know, maybe if you wore sneakers instead of high heels, you would play better," said her cat to her.
"No, Muffin, it's not running that's a problem for me; it's hitting the ball with the wooden stick thing, whatever it's called. Oh yeah, a bat, that's right. Anyhow, no matter how hard I hit it, it just flies straight up into the air. I don't want to hit high. I want to hit far, but I just can't seem to do it."
"Uh, have you tried hitting at a different angle, instead of just hitting harder," asked Muffin.
"Of course! I've tried everything!" said Sisi, "You know what, I'm just not meant to play baseball. I just don't have the skills or talents needed to win a game for my team. Ugh! I'm just not good enough."
"Well," said Muffin, "If your talents don't lie in hitting a baseball, where do they lie?"
"Oh, the academics," said Sisi, "I've never really been much of a sports person. I like physics, although I don't see how that's going to help. I'm a pretty intelligent, but that's not going to help me hit a ball further since my body just won't listen to me and kind of does its own thing, sending the ball up and not out. Sheesh."
"Someday, somehow, you're going to have to find a way to put that brain of yours to work," replied Muffin, "Don't try to be someone you're not. Use your skills and talents to your advantage. Come on, you can do it."
Sisi sighed and lay down on her bed. As her mind wandered, she was suddenly struck with a flash of insight. "Aha!" she said out loud, "Oh Muffin, you were right! I have an idea!"
Later that afternoon, Sisi snuck into the shed of the Giraffes and stole the baseball to be used for the next game, taking it into her lab and locking the door tightly. A moment later, the lab was ablaze with light and noise as Sisi got to work hammering, sawing, and soldering. Scraps of carbon iron, rubber, and wood went flying in all directions. Inside Sisi's brain, neurons were firing everywhere with superhuman speed as Sisi calculated spring constants, coefficients of friction, changes in potential energy, air resistance, and all sorts of complex integrals and derivatives.
An hour later, she took a deep breath, having finally finished. Her frantic work pace had taxed her mind and body. Still, she found the energy to drag herself back to the team's shed and place the ball back where it was before, in the exact same position.
The next week, the Giraffes were to play their final game against the team of a neighboring village called the Fingernails. The Fingernails were a very fierce team indeed, consisting entirely of grown men, almost as strong as Jake. Still, the Giraffes played well, and at the the twenty sixth inning, they were only two points behind. At that moment, Sisi stepped up to the bat. The rest of the team smiled in encouragement. They knew she would most likely get out, but wished to show their support nonetheless. As you can see, it was a very friendly team.
The opposing team's pitcher laughed when he saw Sisi's high heels, before winding up and throwing the ball full force. Sisi, keeping her eye on the ball, swung her bat and struck it, causing it to fly straight up. A player from the opposing team, with a sneer on his face, immediately ran right under it, prepared to catch it with ease. Suddenly, the ball opened up, transforming into a giant barn.
The whole field was in commotion. The audience clapped, having no idea what was going on but glad to see something unusual. The opposing team all ran away from the barn, not wanting to be crushed under it's massive weight. The Giraffes cheered as Sisi ran around the bases and scored a home run.
Just as she reached home base, the barn landed on the field. Because it was made of rubber it bounced up and went flying into the air once more. Upon passing by the sun, part of the barn's surface began to melt, turning into a thick glue-like substance, causing the barn to stick fast to the sky upon crashing into it.
