A Hero in Training

By 18lzytwner

Chapter 1

August 15, 2022 at 7:00 pm

Samantha sat cross-legged on the soccer field. The slight breeze blew her long brown hair into her face and she pulled it behind her ears. Tomorrow was the big game between her LazyTown Leopards and the FunTown Falcons. It should have been a very exciting time. FunTown always won but her coach had the feeling that she and the other girls could defeat the reigning champs. Somehow, Samantha didn't care.

The sun still felt warm despite it getting lower in the sky. Sunset was at least an hour and a half away. Her parents probably wouldn't come looking for her for at least that long. Samantha's thoughts reverted back to almost two months ago when her parents finally explained everything. At first she was angry. Her family and friends had been hiding the truth from her.

How could they? She thought to herself. The feelings of resentment began to build again. Quickly, she shook those thoughts from her head. They were just trying to protect her.

Bullshit! They hurt you. The angry thought crossed her mind. Again she shook her head and tried to forget the feelings inside. Dwelling on the past wasn't going to help her. Slowly she arose from her seat at midfield and decided that a little run would help her.

From the center of the field she ran to the outside and then proceeded to run toward the end of the field. Rounding the first corner, Samantha sped up as she ran behind the soccer goal. She continued at the same speed around the entire field. Running allowed her to forget what was happening and only focus on what her body was doing. She could detach herself and only think about the next step.

Finally after ten laps she slowed down and walked another lap. Then Samantha walked over to the bench and grabbed her bottle of water. She opened the top and drank a quarter of the bottle. Closing the top and throwing back to the ground, the ten year old picked up her soccer ball and head for the closest net.

Once at the net, she jumped for the cross bar and smacked it with her finger tips. Jumping a few more times, she managed to get the palm of her hands to smack the top bar. Next she shuffled her feet back and forth along the goal line. Speed was of the most importance when she was in net. When she finished, Samantha grabbed her ball and began to practice her punting and throwing. These two would be important tomorrow. She was so wrapped up in her practicing she didn't realize that Stephanie was coming up behind her.

"You should really tape down your laces." She said. Samantha whirled around and saw her 'aunt' standing there. The girl gave Stephanie a look.

"What would you know about it?"

"I know your mother showed me that it can make a difference. It could mean hitting your fellow teammate or giving the ball away." Stephanie told her. Samantha remained quiet and turned her back to the woman.

"Listen, we need to talk."

"About what? You told him to lie to me. I heard you. Of all people, I hadn't expected you and your husband to do that." Samantha turned to her. Stephanie could see the anger rising in her face.

"The worst part was he listened after he promised me that he wouldn't keep anything from me. I hate you for it, I hate Sportacus for it, and I hate him for it." Samantha spat.

"Joshua did as we told him. The reason he didn't tell you anything was because we didn't tell him anything. His father and I knew that he'd tell you. Your parents and Sportacus and I didn't want you to have to deal with everything they were going through." Stephanie tried to explain.

"So hiding the truth from me made it better?" Samantha shot back.

"No, it wasn't the right way to go about it. I'm sorry. We're all sorry." Stephanie hoped to calm her down. Samantha took a deep breath. She didn't know what to say. Somehow 'sorry' didn't seem to be enough.

"I could've handled it. Everyone is always telling me how smart I am then why would you not trust me to understand?" She finally asked. Stephanie sighed; she had a point.

"Listen, I know that the way we handled the situation was not the best. I just want you to talk to Joshua. Right now, he's made the decision to go to Hero College and that would mean leaving in a few weeks. I don't want you guys to not be on speaking terms when he goes. You two were so close and these past months have been ripping him apart. He wants out of LazyTown and there is nothing we can do about it. I just hope that you and he can patch things up." She said.

"You really didn't tell him anything? He really wants out of LazyTown?" Samantha asked. Stephanie nodded and said,

"Just think about it is all I'm asking." She turned and left Samantha standing on the soccer field.

To Be Continued…