June 1st 2022

Chapter 152
Our Participation in Practice

Of the many benefits to not only having access but also something near control over a place like Sullivan Stables, one of the more unexpected ones was what Lucas had been able to provide for today. It wasn't unprecedented for him and his basketball team to suddenly find themselves cut off from their usual practice space. Anything from a mix up in the schedule, to a special event, to – in this case – some physical issue could mean that they'd suddenly find themselves stuck between finding a backup or skipping the day's practice. Sometimes they might consider the latter, though very rarely, but more often than not they would just try and go for another option, which would tend to mean going to the park.

Today, the first of them had shown up at their usual place to discover that a pipe had burst overnight, and they wouldn't be able to go in. This had triggered a chain of messages sent back and forth through their shared chat, to stop the rest of them, whether they'd started on their way already or were about to hit the road, from making the trip unnecessarily. They had an actual game that afternoon. They couldn't skip this practice, so… where would they go?

It just so happened that the reason why Lucas was neither there already nor on his way was that he was already at the ranch. He had been called early, a situation with one of the horses, and he was about to head back to his car and start for practice when he got the message. He stopped where he stood as he looked at his phone, and from there the idea wasn't hard to come upon: why didn't they just come here? They had the space and, maybe most importantly for this, they had the hoops and a few balls on hand. It was a very easy sell, and the team was soon on its way.

"Hey, big guy," Lucas grinned when he felt a nudge at his legs. He didn't even have to look before he knew who it was. Thor… The dog really felt like a whole other animal than the one that had first shown up at the animal hospital where Lucas had first met him, in the midst of his residency. The change had been seen in him since the day they'd first brought him to the ranch to stay, him and little Sweetie. She tended to find her spot for the day and stick to it, but Thor was a wanderer, always. They'd just see him here and there, stopping at times to interact with the people, or observe… What a far cry this was from the growling, scared beastie he'd once been…

Today, Thor followed Lucas out to the ranch's hoops. The dog was overall very well behaved – though the training had definitely had its challenges – but when the ball came out, he was immediately excited. When Lucas tossed it at the hoop, Thor shot up to try and send it back to him. He succeeded, stood there with a lolling tongue and something of pride emanating from him, which made Lucas chuckle and go again. They played 'catch' like this until the team started to arrive. Seeing as this game was then replaced by a lot of petting from the players, Thor didn't seem bothered at all.

"You gotta stay out here now, okay, big guy?" Lucas crouched by the dog as the last of their team came along and they were about to start practice. Thor gave him a look, almost as though considering his options, and finally he turned tail and ran off. He'd chosen to carry on in his daily treks. "Right, that's fair," Lucas told himself with a smile as he stood back up.

This was not one of those practices where they'd all have their kids hanging around, even though those tended to be the most amusing ones. With this and then the game later, it just made more sense to focus on the practice and wait until the actual game to bring their miniature cheering section. If he was honest though, Lucas would say that he would have still loved to have Marianne around for this. Basketball had always been their thing… well, that and the animals, too, but this was different, and he missed his buddy. That wouldn't prevent him from giving everything he had with his teammates, no. If anything, he would play as though she was there, all the better to get to tell her all about it when he got home. He knew very well the way she would sit or stand there and listen to him as though he was telling one of the most fascinating tales in the world.

"Now what happened to you?" Lucas had to ask when Trace came along, sporting a bruise on his face and a couple of splintered fingers on one hand.

"An encounter with a very 'active' passenger," Trace explained, his voice showing he'd just been expecting the question.

The paramedic briefly recounted the incident, which inevitably brought his teammates to momentarily forget what they were there to do. They were all of them medically inclined, in one way or another, and several of them wanted to have a look at Trace's hand. It was just comical, especially if you pulled back and looked at all of them there. Still, what they all had to wonder was the same: should he still be playing?

"If I'm honest, I'm not sure," Trace admitted. He sounded like he wished he didn't have to say it, didn't want to have to sit out the day. He looked at his hand, and they watched him, and the fact was just there. It would do him no good to play that day, especially if he intended not to make it worse and end up having to step away from his day job.

It wasn't such a bad trade off. As great of a player as he was, Trace was also a very competent coach, and he was that for them a lot of the time, just as he was on this day, sidelined by his injury. The team was both very aware of and very grateful for everything he brought them with his presence, which in turn made it so that Trace wasn't nearly so bummed out for not getting to play.

Lucas didn't know what it was, maybe that they were practicing out at the ranch today, in the middle of this other great part of his world, but he really just felt glad today. He felt glad to be part of this team, to have been granted this opportunity thanks to Trace who had recruited him and to the other players who had welcomed him as they had done. Every once in a while, it would just hit him, and he would reflect on how happy he was that he still got this chance to play. It had never been his plan to go off and play in any sort of professional way, not that he would have had it in him to go all the way like that, and this was not even what this was, but it was as close as he'd ever get or need to get. He got to play, whole games, and on top of that he got to be part of this great group, with his fellow players and their families…

That group had recently seen a shift in its roster. One of their players, one of the oldest among them, had respectfully decided to 'retire.' He was still working, but he just couldn't play anymore, not the way the rest of them did. They understood his choice, and they had thrown him a party in honor of the time he'd spent among them. He wouldn't be completely gone, of course, he was always welcome at any gathering of theirs, just as his family was. On the other side, now that he was gone, they'd had to go and find someone to replace him, and they had found their new recruit much the way Lucas had been found, through a friend already on the team… sort of. It so happened that their retiree was her father.

Sydney Carter was an ER nurse, so she had definitely been one of those who'd checked on Trace's hand when he arrived. Widowed two years prior, she was a single mom to three boys and a girl, ranging in age from fourteen to six, and as soon as the others had met her, they had understood how much she both needed and deserved this spot. Some of them half suspected that Mitchell Carter had 'realized this was his time' out of a desire to give his daughter something she needed. She'd been so focused on her kids and her job since her husband had passed, and no one would blame her for that, but at the same time… They could see she needed to have something, to give her back a bit of the life she'd locked away for the past two years.

She was still finding her footing, hadn't played actively since high school and a bit in college, but on the whole, she was integrating very well into the team. Where he was concerned, Lucas was already aware that Sydney's eldest would be starting high school in the fall, and that the girl might just find herself in Maya's class. Having met her a few times in the past, mostly when she'd come to see her grandfather play and now her mother, he had a good feeling that she'd end up somewhere on the girls' team. He also guessed that her younger brothers would eventually end up under Coach Orlando's guiding hand when their time would arrive. Until then, they would get to sit in the stands with the rest of them and cheer their mother on, no doubt joined by their grandfather.

With the practice done, the team split off to wherever they were going to be until they reunited once more for their game. In his case, Lucas made a quick last tour of the ranch before he'd go ahead and head home until it was time to…

"Oh, what…" Lucas blinked. He came to a stop, too startled at what he saw.

The ground inside the fenced up area, the former location of the stable that had burned down and claimed his grandfather's life, never changed. It followed the call of nature and was tended to when it needed to be, but that never seemed to count as change, just time. But that day, when Lucas walked by, it caught his eye at once… how could it not?

He didn't even have a moment where he felt compelled to hesitate. He just leapt the fence and stepped across the land until he reached the growing hole in the ground, there to find… the big guy. Thor was digging away, only stopped when his name was called and then he looked up. He actually looked like he was wondering whether he was in trouble or not. It wasn't as though he could understand what this space was about, and they were not unfamiliar with his rare but occasional tendency to hunt for treasures or bury them, so they just had to keep that in mind, right?

"Bud, come here," Lucas kindly called for him, not wanting him to think he was upset. The dog came to him, covered in dirt. "Yeah, okay, you need to get cleaned up…" Lucas sighed. It was hard not to smile, even after what Thor had done. Lucas looked back to the hole that would definitely need to be filled up again… He frowned. There was something in the ground, sticking out of the disturbed earth but still halfway buried. Lucas looked from the tip of the object and back to the dog. "Alright, guess it's my turn to dig now, huh?"

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners