Henri and the Magical Tennis Ball

On a beautiful spring afternoon, Henri walked along the beach after his tennis training session. He was upset about his tennis skills, thinking that he didn’t have what it takes to beat the most skilled tennis players out there. He practiced and practiced every day on his swing, but he didn’t believe he was progressing as much as he hoped. Suddenly, something caught his eye on the sandy dunes that made him curious. He saw the top of a tennis ball sticking out from the sand, but it didn’t seem ordinary. As he got closer, he noticed a green hue highlighting the ball, almost like it was from another planet. He reached out and carefully picked it up. The glow was around the whole ball like it was energized and ready to be played with. Feeling intrigued, he stored it in his tennis bag to take home.

Once he got home, he took the ball out and started bouncing it. Each bounce went perfectly back up to himself. He wasn’t sure what to make of it, so he just dropped it onto the ground, thinking it would just bounce up a little and then stop. Not with this ball. The ball came bouncing back up to his chest area, over and over again. Henri was astonished, and a little freaked too. This ball can bounce on his own, without me even bouncing it, he thought. He took it to a local tennis court and practiced with it. His first serve with the ball went over the net, bounced in play, then bounced to the metal fence of the court, only to bounce back to him. He couldn’t believe what he saw. This magic tennis ball can bounce on its own like it has a mind of its own. He realized that if he could use this ball to play against other competitors, there was no way he could lose!

Henri called up his chums Emma, Stefan, and Ken. He challenged them each to a 1v1 game of tennis, claiming that he has improved significantly and can beat the best. Once they showed up, he took on Emma first. With the tennis ball lit with a green hue, he served to Emma, and she couldn’t hit it. Over and over, the ball found a way to swerve past Emma’s racket, making it impossible for Emma to score. He faced Stefan and Ken, and they couldn’t hit the ball either. They were all very impressed with Henri’s improvement, telling him he should enter the local tennis championship tournament. He thought that’s a great idea too, as his ball will help him win the big trophy.

The next day, the local tennis championship tournament began. Henri had some fierce competition to get through if he wanted to earn the tennis trophy. But he knew with the help of his ball, no one could match him. One competitor after another, Henri and his special tennis ball had players fooled. It twisted them in knots, sped past them, and made them look silly trying to attempt to rally. With the help of his ball, Henri made it to the championship match. His opponent, Max Rally, was strong, fast, and wise. He looked like a real match for Henri. If he didn’t have his magic tennis ball, Henri would stand no chance! But, as Henri started his serve, he knew Max was the only thing standing in the way of that amazing trophy.

This was the hardest match for Henri so far. Even with the magic of the tennis ball, Max was able to swing the racket fast enough to hit the ball. Henri knew if he could tire Max, he had a good shot at winning. However, as he went to serve the ball, he noticed the green hue around it disappeared. When he bounced it, it didn’t have the same bounce as before. It didn’t feel lively, and he had a suspicion he was in trouble. With the green hue gone, he served the ball to Max, who smashed it right back to him in the blink of an eye. Henri had his terrible thought confirmed; the magic from his tennis ball was gone. With his confidence now shaky, he mustered up enough to think, I’ve made it this far, I can beat this guy and claim the trophy! Unfortunately, the rest of the game wasn’t pretty for him. Missing the ball, whiffing his racket, and fatigue led Henri to a blowout loss, missing his chance to win the tennis tournament trophy.

Henri was upset that after beating almost everyone, he had nothing to prove that he was the best. He looked down at his tennis ball, now looking like an ordinary ball. Mulling over his defeat, he realized just how much he unfairly used the ball to win against his friends and other opponents. It wasn’t his skill that made him defeat everyone, it was the power of the ball that made him ultimately win. On the way back to his house, he felt ashamed that he cheated his way through and almost won. With his racket and ball sitting in the passenger seat of his car, he saw a trash can coming up on the side of the road. He slowed down, parked his car, and grabbed thetennis ball. He threw it out, never wanting anything to do with that ball again. He felt relieved afterward, knowing he could now focus on playing fairly and training to become the best player he could be. He made a reminder to himself to wake up early the next day to start training. No matter how long it takes, you can’t become great overnight, he thought. It takes lots of practice to become the best there is.

‍