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Table of Contents
Dedication
For Jackie, Valerie and David, the loves of my life. And for Sister Marie, my angel.
Twenty seconds left in the basketball game... David had the ball. He wanted to pass it so badly. He looked to the left, and then to the right. No one was clear...
“It’s all up to me,” he murmered. “I have to try.” He threw the basketball at the hoop as hard as he could. “Oh please go in, please, please,” he said softly.
He could feel his heart pounding. The next few seconds felt like hours. As the buzzer sounded, the ball bounced off the rim, missing the net entirely. David’s team lost the game.
His teammates groaned loudly. The other team cheered wildly. David felt terrible. Some of the kids shook their heads disgustedly at him. Some just didn’t look at him at all.
His friend John said, “Tough luck, David.”
In the locker room, after the game, Coach Smith said, “You all played very well. I am proud of all of you. The next game will be for the championship. I know we can win.” On the way out, the coach patted David on the back. He smiled at him and said, “Good try, Dave.”
David looked down at his feet and sighed, “We lost because of me.”
“David,” the coach replied, “It’s not if you win or lose. The important thing is how you play the game.”
“You are just being nice,” David said.
As David changed clothes he felt worse and worse. Putting his sneakers in his gym bag, he spied a small furry creature resting on top of his towel.
“What is that?” David said to himself. “It must be one of my sister’s stuffed animals.” The creature widened his eyes and shook its head. Feeling afraid, David quickly zipped his gym bag closed and left.
David wanted to go home as fast as he could.
At dinner, David’s mom and dad each gave him a hug.
“You played a great game. Don’t worry about missing that basket,” his mom said.
David couldn’t stop worrying. He had disappointed his whole team.
“I really messed up. The whole team was counting on me,” he said. “I let them down. I don’t want to play anymore...”
David’s parents tried to comfort him. Their kind words didn’t make David feel any better, though.
Later, in his room, David lay in bed, unable to sleep. Suddenly, his gym bag fell off his desk. David jumped up and ran over to it. As he picked it up, he noticed the seams were bulging! Bits of fur popped through the zipper!
David opened the bag.
Out came the furry creature, at least twenty times larger than before.
“I’m your Worry Beast. I’m here so you will worry more and more,” the creature said in a scary voice.
“You can’t stay here,” said David. “You’ll have to get in the closet.”
The Worry Beast slinked away to the closet. When David finally fell asleep, he had horrible dreams. He kept seeing the Worry Beast growing larger and larger.
David’s alarm clock rang early the next morning. He pulled on his clothes and went to breakfast. His mom had brought him his favorite cereal, Frosty Crunch, and even made him hot cocoa. David wasn’t hungry.
David sat quietly and stared out the window as his mom drove him to school. He just wanted to forget about the stupid basketball game. Finally he said, “Do I have to play basketball? I don’t really want to be on the team anymore, Mom.”
“You have always loved basketball, David. Why don’t we talk about it later?” answered his mom.
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