Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Harvest Moon and are all
property of Natsume
A school day, which only consisted of about seven hours, seemed like an eternity to Karen. She constantly found herself looking at the clock and just wishing the time would go by sooner. As long as it may have seemed, the time eventually did pass and it was time to get ready for the game.
Karen walked to her locker, put the books she needed in her bag, then slowly headed towards the locker room. "Today's the day," she thought. "It's my time to shine." She went to her locker in the locker room: locker 12, her favorite number. She grabbed the Mineral Jersey and put it on with honor. "It's time to show everyone what 12 is made of."
After about 10 minutes, all the teammates were dressed and ready to warm-up. They stretched, practiced a few warm-up drills, and then pumped themselves up with a cheer. The bleachers began to overflow with high school students, parents, children, and their rivals' fans. Within no time, the game was ready to begin.
The game was close during the whole thing. Karen had her playing time and scored a few points. She was going great for her first time out on the court during a real game. There was only 14 seconds left on the clock and the game was tied. Forget High had the ball, so Mineral needed to put their best players out there. Their best five...
It was the normal starters, but this time, Karen replaced one of them. She couldn't believe the coach was doing this. "Coach, shouldn't Eli be out there? She's one of our best players!"
"But she doesn't have a hot hand tonight, you do. I'm sticking to my decision. Now go out there and get that ball!"
"Yes ma'am." Karen ran out to the huddle with the other four girls. They discussed the play and were ready to play. As Karen was walking on the court, she took a quick glance at the crowd. She had reserved three seats: one for her mom, one for her dad, and one for Jackâshe HAD promised after all. She couldn't help but smile when saw Jack sitting there with a sign in his hands that said, "Let's go #12!"
"How did he know my number," she thought to herself. Looking next to Jack, she saw her mom, but not her dad. She figured that he probably went to get a snack or something like that.
The ref blew the whistle and handed the ball to the Forget player. Karen guarded her player as if her life depended on it. The player threw the ball in it, but Karen managed to reach the ball before the player who she was guarding could. She grabbed it and starting dribbling down the court as fast as she possibly could. She glanced ahead and saw Ann. She threw a bounce pass ahead and Ann scored the lay-up. Mineral won the game!
Karen ran up and hugged Ann. "You did it!! You won the game!! WE BEAT FORGET HIGH!!"
"Yeah we did!! All because of that amazing steal! Way to go Karen!!"
Within moments, the whole stadium had flooded onto the court hugging and cheering. The water jug was dumped on Karen's head and she was hoisted up onto the shoulders of her fans dripping wet. It was the greatest feeling in the world to Karen. She won the game.
When she was finally hoisted down, she went to talk to her family. "Did you see that steal mom?"
"Of course I did! You were amazing!"
"Wait, where's dad? He said he wouldn't miss this game for anything."
"Oh, I'm sorry. He had a really urgent meeting. He really wanted to be here, but he couldn't do anything about it." Her mom didn't seem to be all that confident in what she was saying. Karen sensed that something was wrong; she just needed time and she'd figure it out.
"I'll wait out in the car for you."
"Thanks mom." Then, a figure appeared from behind the bleachers. Everyone had left by now, so she was shocked that there was still someone here.
"I told you that you would win." Jack had a huge grin on his face. Karen couldn't help but smile because he looked so cute. "So how about that date?"
"A promise is a promise."
A school day, which only consisted of about seven hours, seemed like an eternity to Karen. She constantly found herself looking at the clock and just wishing the time would go by sooner. As long as it may have seemed, the time eventually did pass and it was time to get ready for the game.
Karen walked to her locker, put the books she needed in her bag, then slowly headed towards the locker room. "Today's the day," she thought. "It's my time to shine." She went to her locker in the locker room: locker 12, her favorite number. She grabbed the Mineral Jersey and put it on with honor. "It's time to show everyone what 12 is made of."
After about 10 minutes, all the teammates were dressed and ready to warm-up. They stretched, practiced a few warm-up drills, and then pumped themselves up with a cheer. The bleachers began to overflow with high school students, parents, children, and their rivals' fans. Within no time, the game was ready to begin.
The game was close during the whole thing. Karen had her playing time and scored a few points. She was going great for her first time out on the court during a real game. There was only 14 seconds left on the clock and the game was tied. Forget High had the ball, so Mineral needed to put their best players out there. Their best five...
It was the normal starters, but this time, Karen replaced one of them. She couldn't believe the coach was doing this. "Coach, shouldn't Eli be out there? She's one of our best players!"
"But she doesn't have a hot hand tonight, you do. I'm sticking to my decision. Now go out there and get that ball!"
"Yes ma'am." Karen ran out to the huddle with the other four girls. They discussed the play and were ready to play. As Karen was walking on the court, she took a quick glance at the crowd. She had reserved three seats: one for her mom, one for her dad, and one for Jackâshe HAD promised after all. She couldn't help but smile when saw Jack sitting there with a sign in his hands that said, "Let's go #12!"
"How did he know my number," she thought to herself. Looking next to Jack, she saw her mom, but not her dad. She figured that he probably went to get a snack or something like that.
The ref blew the whistle and handed the ball to the Forget player. Karen guarded her player as if her life depended on it. The player threw the ball in it, but Karen managed to reach the ball before the player who she was guarding could. She grabbed it and starting dribbling down the court as fast as she possibly could. She glanced ahead and saw Ann. She threw a bounce pass ahead and Ann scored the lay-up. Mineral won the game!
Karen ran up and hugged Ann. "You did it!! You won the game!! WE BEAT FORGET HIGH!!"
"Yeah we did!! All because of that amazing steal! Way to go Karen!!"
Within moments, the whole stadium had flooded onto the court hugging and cheering. The water jug was dumped on Karen's head and she was hoisted up onto the shoulders of her fans dripping wet. It was the greatest feeling in the world to Karen. She won the game.
When she was finally hoisted down, she went to talk to her family. "Did you see that steal mom?"
"Of course I did! You were amazing!"
"Wait, where's dad? He said he wouldn't miss this game for anything."
"Oh, I'm sorry. He had a really urgent meeting. He really wanted to be here, but he couldn't do anything about it." Her mom didn't seem to be all that confident in what she was saying. Karen sensed that something was wrong; she just needed time and she'd figure it out.
"I'll wait out in the car for you."
"Thanks mom." Then, a figure appeared from behind the bleachers. Everyone had left by now, so she was shocked that there was still someone here.
"I told you that you would win." Jack had a huge grin on his face. Karen couldn't help but smile because he looked so cute. "So how about that date?"
"A promise is a promise."