"No, no! You need to hit the ball with the center of the bat, all right? To get maximum force, you have to connect with the sweet spot." Harry squinted in the Sunday sun, and touched the brim of his cap with a smile. "Right, here's another one."

Julie spat in determination. With a flash, she swung-and the small white sphere bounced past second base.

Harry watched it go with a frown. "Go and get that, please, Mike. Now, that time you hit with the top of the bat. You need the center! Hit the ball with the center!"

"Balls ain't all this bat is going to be hitt'en," Julie called out.

"Haha. I want less form those silly lips, and more from those noodle arms."

"Sure is a sunny day," Mike called out before things could escalate further.

Remarkably, they were able to keep on track. The hours passed, with Julie clipping, snagging, missing, and bunting ball after ball. They stopped for lunch, laughed through a round of sandwiches, and dipped into an abrupt war of douse-the-other-person-in-lemonade. Then training continued.

But… it wasn't working. Mike could definitely see improvement; Julie could now hit most of Harry's pitches, something she'd never managed in their tournament game. But her hits never reached far beyond the baseline. As the sun fell, Mike realized with resignation that Julie simply didn't have the arm strength.

Finally, Harry's pitch blew right past Julie, while her bat hung motionless. She stood there panting, sweat rolling of her forehead. Groaning, she slumped against the batting fence. "Guys… I think I need to stop."

Harry started to walk toward her, shaking his head franticly. "What, no way! Come on, you can't quit now."

She sighed. "I don't think I'll be hitting a homerun anytime soon. I mean, that fence over there has to be 20 feet tall. It isn't happening."

Mike and Harry glanced at each other helplessly. Finally, Mike cleared his throat. "If…. If that's what you've want. You're really gotten better at baseball, though. Is there, well, anything else you really dreamed of doing?"

She nodded firmly, carefully removing her helmet. "Yes, indeed," she replied seriously. "I still need to become married."

Harry choked. "Wait-what? What did you just-"

Julie blushed. "Calm down, I know it's weird. It was just a big deal to me, back when, you know. In my country, marriage was a really big deal. Girls were expected to marry. It's tradition. And those who didn't were considered a drag on their family. I didn't want to bring shame to my mom, but… there was never really any chance."

She appraised their dazed faces. "I guess none of that would make sense to you guys. I'm guessing you lived someplace pretty different. Where I grew up, things weren't always very… shiny. Not that I was involved in that."

Julie took a breath.

₪ "When I was 9, I was in a car crash. Kinda like you Harry, except I wasn't high, I just wasn't watching where I was going. Went skipping right out in the middle, and WHAM!

"But… I didn't die. I was paralyzed instead. I couldn't move my neck, all the way down. I couldn't walk, I couldn't stand. I couldn't use a wheelchair, so moving me was next to impossible. So… I spent all my time in my room, just lying in my bed. I still remember every inch of that bed. There was a stain on the headboard in the shape of Brazil.

"I could barely even feel my arms, let alone lift them. Books and computer were out of the picture. At first, I thought I would die, but from boredom. Believe it or not, I was a very hyperactive child; it took me years to find my current level of self control.

"However, I wasn't unhappy. The reason was most certainly my mother. She would read to me, or just spend hours with me, telling me stories about her day. I could still talk, but in those days, I never had much to say. But whenever I did, she'd listen totally, as if the words of this bed-anchored shell-of-a-child were precious secrets."

Julie kicked the dirt. "While she was at work, all I could really do was lie there and watch TV. That's how I learned about everything that was going on without me. I saw people playing baseball, running races, dancing; wrestling was my favorite, I loved everything they could get their bodies to do. All the other teens were going to the movies, running to class, hanging out.… It all seemed so cool.

"That's why I love this world so much. It may be some kind of trap from God, but to me… It's an opportunity. I can run, I can fight, and I can dance. I have friends. I can do everything I never had the chance to do."

Mike had never seen Julie like this before. She was smiling, but her face was fixed with a seriousness he'd never known she possessed. Beside him, he saw Harry's knuckles whiten.

"My mother had to do everything for me. Every day, she'd wash me, change my clothes, and feed me. I was like a big, stupid baby. But in all the years that I hung on to life, she never said anything about it. My mother someone managed to do that every day willingly. I've never understood it, how someone could love another so much that they'd care for them totally, without any kind of return. I wanted to pay her back, but she was stuck with me. No one would ever have married someone like me, of course.

" It still doesn't make sense to me. That she would love me so totally. I've always wanted to understand."

Julie blinked. "Whoa, I've been yakking about myself an awful lot, haven't I? That's pretty rude." She shuffled from foot to foot. "Look, Harry… Mike. I appreciate everything you've done for me. Finally being able to do what I'd dreamed about was amazing. Honestly though, what I really loved was that you guys gave so much time to me, it doesn't make…" She sniffed. "You're both weird. I'm going to go eat."

And she skipped off. Mike watched her go, mouth hanging open. He turned to his friend in time to see a strange expression cross Harry's face. The expression widened his eyes, tightened his brow, and then vanished as soon as it had appeared.

I wonder what all that was about, Mike thought.

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH-HA-HAHAHAHA! HAHA! SMILES EVILY, THROWS DOWN SMOKE BOMB, AND DISAPPEARS INTO THE SHADOWS.