Practice Leads To Success

• William Zheng, Grade 6, Banyule Primary School
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Horizon of Dreams 2018' competition

As Allen Iverson passes another defender he dribbled swiftly towards the ring and...BBAAAMMM, he dunks it with a fancy spin move. Eddie cheered delightfully as he closed his computer.
"Mum, I'm going out for basketball!" He asserted across the room. His mum gave him a nod as he rushed outside. Lately, Eddie has taken basketball out of his daily routine. The school holiday hasn't been exactly fun, although he didn't really mind at all. By the time that he had reached the court, he was surprised to see someone already there. Normally, most people are going to different parts of the world for the summer holiday. Curious to see who they were, Eddie walked towards the fence. But he knew perfectly well who the two guys were before he even reached the fence. No one in his school has those skills except for Julian Nolan, while the other guy can only be his faithful sidekick, Max. It would certainly be nice to have him as a friend.
Trying to be as calm as he could, he jogged excitedly onto the court. Julian took no notice that Eddie had come onto the court, or he was even there at all.
"Can I play?" He asked politely. "I've got a ball as well." I waited for a few seconds until Julian grabbed their ball and gave Max a look, as they rambled towards me.
"What did you say, kiddo?" Teased Julian with a little chuckle. "You wanted to challenge me to a one v one game, do you?"
"No, I asked if..." But Julian completely ignored him as he began to blather out the rules with a meaningful look.
"First to 3 and take up to 3-point line. You can start, whoever you are."
"Eddie." he stated. However, this went insanely ridiculous. First, Eddie was blocked, nevertheless, Julian then took the ball and scored 3 times in a row.
"Go home, trashtalker. Nobody wants you here. You're not worth my time anyway. This court is for prodigies like me only." Smirked Julian as he walked away, leaving a trail of laughter.
For the next few days, Eddie was both angry and frustrated although his mother did not know why. He completed all sorts of drills and training in his driveway. He kept on using his angriness as energy. After about a week, he and Julian had met on that particular court again.
"Come back to lose again, Mr trashtalker?" Joked Julian, then bursting out with laughter. "No," he spat with disgust. "I'm here to prove that I am not a trashtalker! Same rules. Let's play!" Clearly, Eddie has improved a lot ever since those nasty words were said from Julian. It's two all, which means game point for both of them. As Eddie tries to take the shot everything seems to be in slow motion. The ball bounces off the ring, making it perfect for Julian to take the game winning shot.
No one is perfect.