Young Writers Society

I hugged and hugged Mousse when I came home. He smelled beautiful and his fur was tangled like it usually was.

"Oh, I missed you." I told him softly. Mousse made a sound between a whimper and grunt in reply, and I smiled and squeezed him.

"Thanks, Mrs. Greene," I heard Mother say. I was somewhere in the living room, and I'm guessing they were in the hall or kitchen.

I ignored the last bit of what they were saying, then called Mousse to follow me as I made my way up to my room.

•••

The rest of summer went faster than I thought. Usually it goes by much more quickly, but maybe I was having more fun than previous years? After all, time flies when you're having fun.

Just a week before school started, Jason said at dinner, "At the sports camp I went to—" he swallowed, "—they showed me this game."

I rolled my eyes and was ready to tune out, until I heard him say, "You would love it Ember."

"It's called Goal Ball or something of that sort. And guess what? It's a sport only for blind people!" He chuckled at that part. I frowned.

"Well, at camp we got to actually try it. It's pretty cool. They blind folded us. On each team there are three people, two guards of your goal and a front person. Basically, there's this big, heavy ball with a bell in it. You just try and keep the ball away from your goal."

I thought it was a pretty bad explanation. "Yeah, so, how do you get around?"

"Oh, I forgot that part." He said, while I scooped more mushrooms and greens into my mouth.

"So, there is the thick piece of tape that is in a straight line, from wall the wall, horizontal if you're facing the other person's goal. You can feel that tape and follow it. There's like a wire or something in the tape."

"Wow." It actually sounded amazing. A game, just for people who are blind? I might try that sometime.

Mother and Father hadn't said anything, nor had Sheila. I sat there uncomfortably. I wonder if Jason just made that whole thing up.

•••

That week of summer didn't go quickly. I didn't want school to come. But eventually it did. Well, the day before school started came, and I was completely anxious.

*Goal Ball is something real. You can look it up on YouTube if you want.*