(March 19,2013)
There were 6 seconds left on the clock. The gymnasium was filled with yells and screams of excitement as it would come down to the last shot. The shot that would win the middle school state tournament. It was Edolas middle school vs Phantom Lord Academy. The score was 99-99 and Edolas had the ball. They had a star player named Natsu Dragneel, he was 7th grader and was the point guard of the team being the shortest of 5'6 on the team. He made up for his height with his smooth ball handling and nice jumpshot. You can't leave him open otherwise once he catches on fire, he becomes a dragon that you don't want to face. He had 20 points in the game with 7 assists and if he could hit this last shot he could win his first states. The crowd loved him and had a nickname for him. Pink Salamander. It would have been just salamander but the color of his hair made everyone add it. It was salmon he claims but everyone else just says it's pink. Natsu could hear his coach talking to the team about the last play of the game. But Natsu wasn't listening, in fact he wasn't even looking at the coach. Instead he was paying attention to the crowd how a certain person wasn't there anymore. However he couldn't dwell on it anymore as the buzzer sounded that the timeout was over.
Natsu quickly asked the coach what the play was and the coach scolded him for not listening but quickly told him. The plan for Natsu was that he was going come three screen, pump fake then side step it for the win. He understood and was ready to hit this next shot. The referee signals that the ball is in play and immediately runs past the screens. The inbounder passed him the ball and Natsu turned around looking at where he was. He was at the top of the key and he knew that a side step dribble would be more effective than just a side step. So that's what he did with 5 seconds on the clock. The defender who recovered from the three screens was closing in on him. Natsu pump faked and the defender bit and jumped in the air allowing Natsu to dribble past him and get to the free throw line where another defender met him there. He kept dribbling then sidestepped to the left elbow and shot the off-balanced and contested shot as the defender was right in his face with 2 seconds remaining. The buzzer sounded and the ball had gone in. Natsu had won the game. Natsu could feel his teammates swarming him as they were celebrating the victory. But later that night after the win, Natsu had gotten a phone call that haunted him for life.
"Is this Natsu Dragneel?" A stern but soft voice said.
"Yes." Natsu happily said. He thought that maybe it was a college or a basketball coach calling to recruit him or ask if they could come watch. But he was wrong. He was so wrong.
"I'm very sorry to say this but your father, Igneel, has passed away." That was all Natsu needed to hear for him to drop the phone and pass out.
(I'm very excited to write this story as I am huge basketball fan. The NBA team I support is very trash and is the worst in the west currently so I support Curry as we suck. I am writing this while writing my other story Masked Man With Pink-Hair so I will try to update both weekly. I hope you have fun reading this story and please leave reviews and comments as it will help me as a writer.)
