Narrative+Story

Sean Freitas Mrs. Dabrush 5/21/12 Section 3

__**Narrative Story**__ It was a Sunday afternoon in the summer of 1891 and 14 year old, Stephen Williams was moving to Springfield, Massachusetts with his 17 year old brother, Sam and his dad. The Williams were moving to Springfield so that Stephen could attend the YMCA school located there. They were also trying to get away from Philadelphia.

They were driving in their Subaru when Stephen asked, “Dad, I know you want me to attend the YMCA school but why else are we moving to Springfield?” Stephen's dad, Mark then stared at Stephen and gave him a look that let Stephen know they were moving for another reason.

His dad replied, “Well, your mom has had problems with alcohol in the past, but I think it has been becoming an even bigger problem for her recently. I don't think it is good for you guys to be around her much anymore because she is beginning to become more abusive and who knows, the problem may elevate and you could get hurt. I just can't risk that with you guys because I love you so much and I would die if something happened to you.” Silence filled the car for a little while until they entered the state of Massachusetts.

“We'll be there in about 30 minutes kids!”, said Mark. Then Sam and Stephen began to get a little bit anxious to see their new house. They were starving and hoped that the previous owners of the house had left something for them to eat.

When they finally arrived at the house, Stephen and Sam got out of the car an down the brick path leading to the door. The house was white with black shutters and it was the biggest house that the boys had ever seen before. The house had a two gar garage, where the boys would be able to store all of their sports equipment. The moving trucks pulled up behind Mark's car and he said, “Hey boys, I'm going to help the movers move all of the furniture into the house so why don't you go check out the back yard. As the boys entered the backyard, they were speechless. They were struck by surprise as they saw a big twelve feet deep in ground swimming pool sitting in the middle of what was now their very own back yard. The pool was surrounded by a white fence and there were lounge chairs placed around the pool. Just next to the pool was a hot tub.

Then Stephen finally said, “Wow! Look at this place. It's amazing. I can't wait to see the inside.” However, Stephen hadn't seen it all yet. Suddenly he turned his head to the left and saw a giant wooden tree house that was painted white and had black shutters, just like the house. After seeing this, Stephen exclaimed, “Let's go check it out!” Stephen made is way up the ladder first, followed shortly afterwards by Sam. Inside the tree house there was a mini fridge, a desk, and a few comfortable chairs for guests to sit in.

When both boys had made their way inside of the tree house Sam said, “This place is awesome and there is food in the fridge too!” Then the boys both made a break for the fridge because they were starving. After eating, Sam said, “Let's go inside now.”

Then Stephen replied, “Good idea! I can't wait to check out my new room!” When the boys walked inside the house, things got even better. There was a huge family room that was painted a neutral brown color and it was connected to an open kitchen that was painted ocean blue. The kitchen contained all top of the line appliances and a traditional New England wooden table. Stephen had never seen a house that was so nice in all of his life time. Next, Stephen and Sam walked down the hall to see their rooms.

When Stephen walked into his room he was yet again amazed at what he saw. His room was practically bigger than the entire first floor of his house in Philadelphia. There was all kinds of room for playing around, storing clothes and possessions, doing homework, and of course sleeping. There was less than a week left before Stephen had to go to school, and in that time he had to gather his school supplies and prepare himself for school. Stephen was nervous about going to a new school and having to meet new friends. He didn't know if he would fit it with the other kids here and this made him scared.

The summer was finally over and Stephen attended the YMCA school in Springfield for the first time. On his first day at school, Stephen met a boy named Chris Pitman. From that point on, Chris and Stephen were best friends. Stephen became quite popular pretty quickly in his school. Many of the kids at the YMCA school liked Stephen because he was kind, funny, friendly, caring, and athletic. In the fall Stephen and Chris both played soccer in the fall and they had already signed up for track in the spring but they were unsure of what they were going to in order to occupy them during the winter season.

One day after school Stephen and Chris were swimming in Stephen's pool and Stephen said, “School is so fun don't you think?”

Chris responded, “Well, I guess so, but the curriculum for every class is very complicated. And it gets kind of boring sometimes.”

“Yeah, your right but the sports here in Springfield are so much fun to participate in! I mean, I'm really having fun in football this season. Aren't you?”asked Stephen.

“I guess football is pretty fun and you'll love track in the Spring because it's even better. Especially for you because you are super fast, so you will win most of the events.” Chris said.

“What sports are available during the winter season?” asked Stephen.

“Well, they don't typically offer any sports in the winter here. We usually just play games in gym class and focus on our studies.” answered Chris.

“I guess it's a good idea to have at least one semester in the year where we strictly focus on our school work. But it would be good to be able to play a sport during the winter, when there isn't much going on.” stated Stephen.

“Yeah, I agree. We should ask Mr. Kylie about it tomorrow during gym class.” Chris replied.

The next day in gym class Stephen and Chris approached Mr. Kylie and Chris said, “Hey Mr. Kylie, we've been thinking and we are wondering if maybe we could find a sport that we can play during the winter?”

“I'll certainly look in to that boys because I have wanted to come up with a sport that can be played in the winter for awhile. However, it is more challenging than you would think because the game has to be able to be played indoors and it can't be too similar to another sport that is already in existence.” Mr. Kylie responded.

The boys were pretty excited about the possibility that they might be able to play a sport during the winter. Although Mr. Kylie had told the boys that he was going to do his best to come up with a sport for the students to play during the winter, this idea was still on Stephen's mind all night. He wondered if Mr. Kylie would actually follow up what he said or just leave the idea alone.

At school the following day, Mr. Kylie saw Stephen and Chris in the hall way and told them, “Hey guys, I met with the physical education department yesterday afternoon and we discussed coming up with a sport for you guys to play during the winter, and after a long discussion we assigned Dr. Naismith the job of creating this new game.”

Dr. Naismith had been sitting in his office all day trying to come up with the new game and the boys went to visit him at lunch time. Chris knocked on the door and Dr. Naismith quietly said, “Come in.” Stephen opened the door and the boys entered his office. When they got in there Dr. James Naismith stated, “Hey guys, How are you?” and before they could respond he said, “So, what's on your mind?”

“We were just wondering how the creation of the new game was coming along.” replied Stephen.

“Well, I haven't really made much progress so far, but come to me on Friday morning and I will have the game for you guys. Ok?” Dr. Naismith said.

“Ok. Well we wish you good luck Dr. Naismith. Have a good day.” Chris responded.

“Thanks for stopping by boys.” Dr. Naismith stated.

The boys went back to school on Friday morning and immediately rushed up to Dr. Naismith's office only to see him fast asleep on his desk. Stephen tapped Naismith on the back and woke him up from his deep sleep. When Dr. Naismith woke up he told the boys about the new game that he created, “Hey boys. I'm so glad your here. I finally came up with the idea for the game new game! I don't do what we will call the game yet, but there will be two peach baskets hung across from each other on the ten feet tall balcony in the gym. There will be two teams with nine players on each team. At the start of the game the referee will throw the ball up in the air in the center circle. When he does so, the tallest person from each team will stand in the center circle and jump in order to gain possession of the ball. This game will be played in the gymnasium with a soccer ball. The referee's job will be to make sure that the game doesn't get too physical and that nobody breaks the rules. The objective of the game is to shoot the ball into the peach basket on the opposite side of the court. After each made basket, there will be another tip-off in the center of the court. So, that is the basis for this new game. How does it sound?”

“Wow! That sounds super fun!” exclaimed Stephen.

“Yeah, I can't wait to play it!” Chris added.

“Well, I'm still trying to come up with a name for the game. I don't want to call it 'Naismith Ball' because that would be selfish of me and I don't want to be viewed as a selfish person. But I'm sure that will come to me soon.” Dr. Naismith said.

“Alright cool, We'll catch up with you later Dr. Naismith.” Stephen said.

Then Dr. Naismith answered, “Here is a list of the thirteen original rules that I created last night. Just incase you didn't understand all of what I said about the game. And here is the sign up sheet for the first game of basketball. You guys will be the first ones to sign up! The game will be played on Monday at exactly 3:00.

“Thanks so much Dr. Naismith!” Chris replied.

“You know boys, I created this game by asking myself a series of questions. First I thought to myself, 'Well they all like to play football'. Then I thought 'Why can't we play it indoors---Because it is too rough'. Next, 'Why do we tackle?---Because we run with the ball'. Then, 'If we didn't run with the ball, there would be no necessity for tackling'. Lastly, 'We need a game to play indoors'. Right then, I came up with his new game, just by asking myself, why? After that I was stumped for awhile because I didn't know how the teams were going to score. I quickly overcame this problem by thinking about goals like in lacrosse and soccer, which was when I came up with the idea for the peach baskets. As I was creating the game, I began to jot down some of my ideas and that is how I came up with the thirteen original rules that you are holding right now.”

“It's pretty amazing that you created a sport just by asking yourself 'why'. Stephen claimed.

“It seems that way, but it turns out to be much easier than you would think. Well, have a good weekend boys.” Dr. Naismith responded.

“Bye.” said Chris. When the boys left Dr. Naismith's office they were so excited about this new game and they couldn't sit still in any of their classes.

After English class Chris and Stephen met at the lockers and Stephen asked, “Hey, Do you want to go get some ice cream down town tonight in order to celebrate this new game?”

Chris replied, “Sure, that sounds like a lot of fun. I'll meet you there at 7:00. Don't you think it's cool that Dr. Naismith created this new game all by himself?” At the end of school, Chris and Stephen both went back to their houses to eat dinner and get ready for getting their ice cream. Before Stephen left his house, his dad said, “Have fun Stephen. And be careful!” Then Stephen grabbed his money and left the house. When Stephen got there he didn't see Chris so he just sat down and waited fro him to arrive. Ten minutes later Chris showed up and they were ready to order their ice cream. Stephen got vanilla ice cream in a cone and Chris got chocolate ice cream in a cup. When the boys sat down outside Chris said, “This ice cream is delicious!”

“I completely agree!” replied Stephen. They quickly finished their ice cream and then they took a walk in the park so that they wouldn't feel full from the ice cream anymore. After the walk, Chris walked across the street towards his house and Stephen walked the opposite direction back towards his house.

On the way home, Stephen was walking on the side walk when a black van with tinted windows and a big dent on the front pulled up next to him. The driver rolled down the window and asked him if he needed a ride and he yelled, “No way You Freak! Get away from me! Then Stephen began to run away from the van. As soon as he did, two men jumped out of the car and began to chase after him. The men had black suits on with guns and their pockets. They were also wearing goggles and had ammo for the guns in their belts. When Stephen was running he screamed, “HELP! HELP! CHRIS HELP ME!” As soon as Chris heard this he immediately turned and began to run towards Stephen.

“STEPHEN!” Chris yelled. The men were gaining on Stephen every second and he pretty much had no chance of escaping. Chris was his only help and he was still really far away. Finally the men had caught up to Stephen and one of the men grabbed him by the arm and threw him to the ground in the middle of the street. Chris was getting closer to Stephen and he could now see Stephen lying in the street and he began to run faster. Chris had finally made his way on to the side walk when one of the men picked up Stephen and began to drag him away while Stephen was struggling. Then Chris bolted across the street and tried to grab Stephen's hand, but the other man blocked him from doing so and knocked Chris over then both men picked up Stephen and began to run back to the van. However, Chris would not give up he continued to chase the men down the street. When the men got to the van they threw Stephen in the back seat then jumped in the car and drove away. Chris was too late! Stephen had officially been kidnapped.

Stephen was shaken up a little bit because the men had threw him down in the street and thrown him into the van, but he still attempted to escape the van. He opened the door and tried to jump out but one of the men blocked him and pushed him back into the car. The the man in the passenger seat hopped into the back seat and blind folded Stephen so that Stephen wouldn't know what the man looked like. Then the man tied Stephen's hands behind his back with rope so that Stephen wouldn't be able to open the door of the van and possibly escape. When the van finally arrived at their destination, the man took the blind fold off of Stephen, but wore a mask so that Stephen wouldn't be able to see his face. Stephen took a look out the window and saw a big brick warehouse with three other black vans just like the one that he was in, in the parking lot. Right then, Stephen found the courage to say, “Why do you guys want me so badly?”

The man that was driving then answered, “You're about to find out.” and he started to chuckle a little bit. Next the men got out of the car and they told Stephen to get out behind them. When Stephen got out of the car, one man stood behind him and one man stood in front of him as they led him inside of the warehouse. Stephen saw a lot of money in the warehouse, but he didn't know what the men were going to use it for. He also saw six other men standing in the warehouse dressed in the same uniforms as the men who had kidnapped him, but Stephen was too tired to recognize their faces. The men led him to the back of the warehouse and locked him in a small room. Stephen was very tired and he went to sleep on the cold floor right away.

When Stephen woke up the next morning it was Saturday and he had forgotten where he was and what had happened the night before, but shortly after he woke up he remembered. Stephen was looking around the room that he was in and he noticed that the ceilings were very high and not only that, but the walls did not go all the way up to the ceiling.

In about an hour from when he woke up, Stephen was given a glass of water and two milk cartons full of packaged snacks for him to choose from by one of the men. All Stephen could think about was Chris and his dad. Was Chris ok? What would his dad think? Was he scared?

At noon, the men let Stephen leave the room for five minutes, just so he could have a little change of scenery. While Stephen was looking around the warehouse, he saw a machine that was making money. It had just occurred to him that the men were creating counter-fit money. That night, Stephen couldn't sleep, so he was ease-dropping on the mens' conversation. They had said that they had finally reached one million dollars in counter-fit money and that before they bought anything big with it they were going to make Stephen buy a candy bar with it at the convenient store. They wanted Stephen to buy a candy bar in order to make sure that the store clerk would accept the money.

The next morning when Stephen woke up, he didn't here any voices. He thought that this was very strange, but the men might have just been still sleeping. Stephen was really scared because he didn't want to commit a crime by buying a candy bar with the fake money. Thankfully for Stephen, the men did not make him do it that day, but they planned on doing it the next one. It was Sunday night and the only thing on Stephen's mind was that he would miss the first game of Dr. Naismith's new sport. However, he had a plan to escape. The next morning, Stephen woke up extremely early and he stacked the milk cartons that he had been given on top of each other. Then he step on top of the milk cartons. From there, he jumped up on to the top of the wall, and since the wall was not touching the ceiling he was able to climb over the wall and jump down safely on the other side.

When Stephen had made it safely over the wall, he made a break for the door. Stephen opened the door and then shut it quietly behind him so that none of the men would wake up. As soon as Stephen had left the building, he looked at the address, 136 Fern Street. Then he bolted down the street as fast as he could to the police station, where he told them the entire story. After Stephen had told the story, the police man said, “Well, I'm just glad that you're ok now son. But don't you worry, we will take care of this. These men will be in jail for a long time! After the police men had taken care of the men it was 2:30 and the game started at 3:00. The police man then drove Stephen back to the YMCA school and they made it just in time for the game.

As Stephen walked into the gymnasium, he was rewarded with a standing ovation from the one hundred plus fans that were in attendance to watch the game.

When Stephen walked in, he saw Chris, ran right over to him, and gave him a hug. Then Chris said, “Are you all right Stephen? What happened?”

Stephen replied, “Yeah, I'm fine, but it's kind of a long story.”

“Well, I'm just glad your ok!” Chris claimed. The boys then walked on to the court and the game began. Both teams played a great first half, but neither one scored. At the beginning of the second half, Chris came running down the court and he passed the ball to Stephen who ran in and laid the ball into the basket. Stephen Williams had scored the first ever basket in this new game. The crowd was on their feet and they were cheering loudly for Stephen.

Then Stephen yelled, “I can't believe I actually got the ball in the basket!” Right then Stephen had come up with a name for this game, “Basketball”. Stephen suggested this to Dr. Naismith and he loved it. The game then continued and soon afterwards the other team scored a basket in order to tie the game 1-1. There was 20 seconds left in the game and Stephen passed it to Chris, who made the basket. The first basketball game had been won 2-1 by their team. Stephen had made history. From that point on everybody would remember that in October, 1891 in the YMCA school in Springfield, Massachusetts the first game of basketball was played and Stephen Williams had scored the first basket.

After the game, Stephen's dad walked up to him gave him a high five and a big hug. Then he said, “I am so proud of you son!”

Then Stephen responded with, “Thanks dad! I love you so much!”

“I missed you so much while those terrible men kidnapped you!” his dad stated.

“Well, all that matters is that we're together now and that I'm ok.” replied Stephen.

“You're right. Now we should go home so that you can get some rest!” Stephen's dad said.

__**THE END**__