Emily's Catch

Emily was becoming more and more nervous as she came closer to the fields where the softball tryouts were going to be held. She took a deep breath, and looked up towards her mother for that reassuring smile that her mother gives her every time she goes to the Doctor. Except this time she didn't smile back. Emily's Mother seemed as every bit as nervous as she was. This was very unsettling to Emily.

Emily had never played any kind of sports at all. Even though she was 12 years old, she had never wanted to play a sport until her best friend Annie pleaded with her to play with her. Annie told her that it was fun and that she would help her any way she could. Annie had played softball for 3years and Emily had watched her play several times. Annie was very good at the game and also played soccer in which she was equally as good. Emily knew that Annie was a good athlete and would teach her all she knew, but Emily just didn't have the confidence in her ability that Annie had. She was also troubled by the glove her big brother Mike had let her use: it was big, heavy and awkward. Not to mention the fear she felt when her brother said, " If you lose it, your going to die."

Emily slowly walked onto the field with her Mother and met a large and very round man her mom called, "Coach". He seemed very nice and shook Emily's hand. Emily couldn't get over how big his hand was. Frightened at first, she saw her hand disappear in his. She thought her hand would never be seen again. But to her relief her hand reappeared. The coach told Emily to get in the line with the other girls and they would be catching some fly balls. Panic began to set in as Emily thought to her self, fly balls, I didn't practice fly balls with Annie. She never said I would have to catch fly balls. At this moment she felt betrayed by her best friend. Annie had only thrown her ground balls when they practiced together. Why didn't she practice fly balls with me? Now she was angry. Was she trying to make me look bad? Confused and disappointed, she took a deep breath and got in line.

As Emily watched the girls in the front of the line try to catch the ball, she could tell that this was not going to be a very easy task. She was trying to think back when she and her Dad used to bounce the tennis ball off of the garage door. No, that wasn't really catching fly balls. Her mind was racing now. Yes, Yes now I remember. My brother Mike used to throw my tennis ball on to the roof and I would catch it. But wait. Panic began to descend again over Emily's face as she remembered that she never did catch any of those balls falling off the roof. Her brother had said how terrible she was. In fact his exact words were, "You catch like a girl." Now she became truly terrified. What would Annie think of me if I didn't make the team? Would my Mother and Dad be disappointed? Last but not least, she could imagine what her brother would say, "I told you so, you catch like a girl".

Now the time had come; it was Emily's turn. Emily looked out to the coach who had the ball in his hand. He threw it up and hit a huge blast to where Emily was standing. The ball began to go left and then the wind caught it and started to go to the right. Emily did not lose sight of it. She raced to her right and closed her eyes and the ball bounced once and finally settled into the web of her glove. She opened her eyes and she could hear Annie yelling, "Great catch Emily!" Emily could hardly believe she caught the ball. Annie had told her, "Keep your feet moving and you will always keep the ball in front of you". All the anger and disappointment she felt towards Annie was gone now that she had caught the ball. She threw the ball back and it sailed over the coach's head. Soon there was another one its way. She caught that one and five more. She didn't drop one.

At the end of tryouts she and Annie ran over to the coach to get congratulations and to find out when the first practice was going to be. Annie kept telling Emily how great she had been at tryouts. She looked over at her Mother and could see her jumping up and down with a big smile on her face. Emily walked over to her Mother who was standing on the edge of the field. She gave Emily a big hug and said, "You did a great job! I thought you where terrific"!

Emily felt really good about what she had accomplished. She turned back to her mother and said, "I need to buy my own glove and I guess I need to work on my throw". Annie said, "I'll help you".


by
Dan Griffiths