Chapter 3
“Up where?” Bobby asked.
“Up to bat, of course. Where’s your bat? And where’s your helmet?” the man asked.
“I haven’t got a bat and helmet. Do I need them?” Bobby asked.
“Of course you need some if you’re going to play baseball!” the man shouted.
Play baseball?
He was going to play baseball?
How exciting!
Bobby held out his empty hands and said, “Can I play baseball without them?”
The man sighed. “You can borrow mine but I want them back.”
He handed over a helmet and a long thin bat.
“Thank you,” Bobby said.
The man gave him a little shove. “Go on then. Everyone’s waiting.”
Bobby stood up. He looked at the man and said, “How do I play baseball?”
The man shouted very loudly at him. Bobby quickly ran away.
Someone was waving to him from the centre of the field. Bobby jogged towards them. The crowd cheered. Bobby waved to them.
He heard someone say, “He’s quite hairy, isn’t he?”
A man in a red shirt pointed to something on the ground.
Bobby went over to him and looked down at the ground. “What are you looking at?”
“I’m not looking at anything. I’m waiting for you to stand here,” the man replied.
“Why?” Bobby asked.
“So we can start the game! Hurry up!” the man yelled.
People did shout a lot on this field.
Bobby stood in front of the man.
“Put your helmet on!” the man ordered.
Bobby did so. It was a bit small and it squashed his ears.
There was a sudden silence.
Something whizzed past Bobby’s head.
“Strike!” the man behind him yelled.
“Pardon?” Bobby turned around to look at him.
“Strike. You missed the ball,” the man said with a small grin.
“What ball?” Bobby asked.
Nobody answered.
There was silence again and something else shot past him.
“Strike 2!”
What was going on? Were these balls invisible?
Bobby looked around for help. Nobody looked friendly. He looked into the crowd.
Nathan! He could see Nathan!
Bobby waved. Nathan didn’t wave back.
I’ll use my bat to get his attention.
There was another silence. Bobby didn’t notice it as he raised his bat and started to swing it backwards and forwards.
THWACK!
What was that?
“You hit it! Don’t just stand there. Run!” the man behind him cried out.
Run where?
Bobby didn’t know what to do.
“Run! Run!” the crowd began to shout. “RUN! RUN!”
They were so loud!
Bobby dropped his bat and pulled off the helmet. He covered his ears up with his hands.
Why was everyone shouting at him?
He was scared. He wanted to go home.
Chapter 4
Somehow, above the roar of the crowd, Bobby heard his name being called.
He looked up and saw Nathan waving madly at him. Nathan then pointed to Bobby’s side.
Bobby looked down and saw a white line painted on the grass.
Do I run on the line?
He looked at Nathan. The little boy nodded and made running movements with his arms.
Bobby took his hands away from his ears and began to run along the white line.
The crowd stopped shouting and began to cheer.
They were cheering for him!
Bobby ran all the way round the line. It was in a diamond shape. He got back to where he started from - and decided to run round again.
People laughed and cheered more loudly.
Bobby laughed too. Everyone looked so friendly now.
When he got back to the batting area the man in the red shirt said, “You only have to run round once. Are you ready to bat again?”
“Again? Why do I have to do that?” Bobby asked.
“That’s what baseball is. You keep playing until you’re out. Haven’t you played before?”
Bobby smiled. “No, I haven’t. I’ve had enough now, thank you. I don’t want to play anymore.”
The man in the red shirt stared at Bobby as he picked up his bat and helmet and walked back to the bench.
Bobby gave the bat and helmet back to the man on the bench. He was keeping the shirt, he liked it.
He looked over at the crowd and waved.
There was a sound like thunder as everyone clapped their hands.
Bobby felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
He gave a final wave to Nathan. He walked away from the field and out into the street.
The man in the ticket booth called out, “Did you enjoy the game?”
Bobby called back. “I did. Very much.”
“You should try basketball. You’d love it,” the man said.
Basketball?
Bobby didn’t know what that was but it sounded like fun.
And Bobby loved having fun!
A note from the author
When I’m trying to come up with ideas for stories I sometimes look at images and see if I can make up a story for the character. As soon as I saw an image for a furry pink monster I knew I had to write stories about him! And I knew straight away that his name was Bobby and that he would love trying new things, even if he’d never heard of them before. He’s far more adventurous than I am.
You can see all my books on my website. You can also sign up to my newsletter there so that I can keep you informed of special offers and free books :
www.gillianrogerson.net
Best wishes
Gillian
BOBBY MONSTER PLAYS BASEBALL!
By
GILLIAN ROGERSON
www.gillianrogerson.net
Front cover image by Vectorstock.com
Copyright 2014 by Gillian Rogerson
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, electronically or mechanically without permission from the author.
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