A Lesson From My Hero

     Trell took a deep breath and checked his ticket one more time. The ticket read: “Admit One — Meet and Greet, Featuring: Loryche, Captain of the Team Tyrannia.” A small Kougra shifted on his feet next to Trell, glancing over his shoulder. “So you won the lottery too, eh?” the Kougra asked him.

     “I did. 9 months ago. And you?” Trell asked, looking at the Kougra. He was wearing a Team Tyrannia kit and Team Tyrannia Wrist Bands on each paw. He must be rich.

     The Kougra sighed, “Yup, sure did. Only took me 4 years to finally win.” Trell started entering the lottery to meet the Team Tyrannia captain in Year 15 when his favourite team won the Altador Cup. That was the first year the lottery opened. Before then, only the mega-rich Neopians stood a chance at meeting the famous Chomby.

     Trell looked back to the Kougra and replied shyly, “Congratulations. I can’t wait to finally meet her. I’ve been following Loryche and Tyrannian since I could walk.”

     “You play?” the Kougra asked, gesturing down to his paws like he was kicking a Yooyuball.

     Trell looked down at his own forelegs, shaking his head. “No, I just watch. I could never get the sling to work with my tail,” he said as he looked back at his clubbed tail. “Mini Golf is more my speed.”

     A lot of other fans assumed Trell followed Team Tyrannia because he was Tyrannian, but that was only one small reason for his loyalty to the Yooyuball team. Like most Chombies, Trell was rather slow at running, climbing, and well, pretty much everything. The only thing Trell did quickly was read.

     As a small Chomby, Trell’s grandfather used to read transcripts from Altador Cup matches and articles about Neopia’s largest annual sporting competition. Once Trell could read on his own, he poured over anything related to the Altador Cup that he could get his claws onto. In Year 8, Trell picked up a Yooyuball magazine with a Yellow Chomby on the cover. “From Careless to Captain,” the headline read. Trell flipped to the article and met Loryche, his idol, for the first time.

     Before becoming captain, Loryche was fairly unknown. Due to skipping practice and her slow speed, Loryche was usually benched during the Altador Cup and was at the bottom of the list during press conferences. That all changed in Year 8 when Team Tyrannia shocked the Yooyuball fandom by selecting her as their team captain. Almost overnight, Loryche transformed the offensive line into an unstoppable force.

     “You got me beat there,” the Kougra said, bringing Trell back to the present moment. “I never got the hang of Mini Golf. At least, not like Loryche did. She can really do it all. I couldn’t believe when she switched up the team to a one-three formation in Year 20 for the entire season after the disaster that 19 was. Really pulled the team out of that funk, you know?”

     Trell looked back at his watch. Only 2 more minutes. “Yeah, she’s pretty awesome. She’s the best captain on the field.” Trell smiled as it finally sunk in that he was about to meet his idol in just a few moments.

     Suddenly, a large Red Grarrl walked up and unlocked the gates. “Have your tickets ready, please.”

     Trell pulled his ticket out. This was it!

     The Tyrannian Chomby walked through the open gate and handed his ticket to the Grarrl, who quickly scanned the barcode and nodded for Trell to continue walking. An Aisha was gracefully motioning Trell and the other fans to walk past her to an open green door.

     Trell was nervous that he was semi-leading the pack of Team Tyrannia fans, worried that he would follow the Aisha’s motions incorrectly. As he went to pass the Aisha, she called out, “Welcome to this morning’s meet and greet with the one and only Loryche, Captain of Team Tyrannia. Please make your way through the green doors behind me and take a seat in our lobby.”

     More confident in his movements, Trell made his way into the lobby. The Kougra he spoke to in line was close behind him. “Wow, look at all this stuff,” he said as he motioned to the cabinets lining the walls. The cabinets were full of trophies and other Team Tyrannia memorabilia collected over the years. There was even an empty Team Tyrannia Slushie cup inside one of the cabinets.

     Trell sat down on a plush orange ottoman that could accommodate his tail. Slowly, the lobby began to fill with other Team Tyrannia fans who had either won the lottery like he did or purchased a ticket. No one in the crowd looked wealthy enough to be able to afford a ticket at face value, but Trell knew he couldn’t always judge others’ wealth from their physical appearance.

     The kind Kougra sat across from Trell on an orange armchair. “Hey, by the way, my name is Nyle, it’s nice to meet you.”

     “Nice to meet you, too Nyle. My name is Trellarwen, but you can call me Trell,” Trell replied as he reached out to shake Nyle’s paw. This was the most he had talked to a stranger in years. As a shy Chomby, Trell usually kept to himself, his books, and any Team Tyrannia content he could find.

     Nyle opened his mouth to say something just before the door in the centre of the lobby opened. The Kougra closed his mouth, and everyone in the lobby turned to look at the Chomby walking through the open doors. It was her.

     Loryche walked into the room slowly, an aura of confidence surrounding her. The Yellow Chomby was wearing a Team Tyrannian jumpsuit, likely the same outfit she and her teammates would change into after a cup match.

     She walked up to the edge of the circle of assorted chairs and sofas where Trell sat with the other fans. He looked up to his idol in awe. She was much taller than he expected, but she still wore the same casual smirk on her face that she donned whenever she or a teammate scored a goal.

     “Welcome, welcome!” Loryche began. “My name is Loryche and I am the captain of Team Tyrannian.”

     Trell laughed to himself. As if anyone in this room didn’t know who Loryche was. Her introduction proved that she was still the humble Yooyuball player who cared more about the game than the fame.

     The Aisha who guided them into the lobby earlier walked up to Loryche as she addressed the group. “Yes, welcome to you all, and thank you for joining us at today’s Meet and Greet. As you can see, Loryche is here and ready to meet you all! A few ground rules before we begin. First, please no flash photography. Our own photographer will be taking photos that you will all receive after the event concludes.” The Aisha gestured to a Blumaroo holding a camera. The Aisha then went on to explain that the fans would have time to meet Loryche in pairs. Each pair would have five minutes with the Chomby, which included time to snap a photo together.

     The Kougra waved at Trell to get his attention. “So, do you want to pair up?” Nyle asked.

     Trell nodded as a Gelert and Tonu were called up. They followed the Aisha and Loryche through a side door, which appeared to lead to a small conference room. The photographer took a few more photos of the fans waiting before following the small group into the conference room, closing the door gently behind him.

     An hour passed while Trell and Nyle waited for their turn. During their wait, the pair talked about their favourite Yooyuball plays and got into a rather heated discussion about Loryche’s acceptance of Harlis Neyhbol’s transfer to Moltara.

     Eventually, the Aisha returned to the lobby and called Trell and Nyle over. “Are you ready to meet Loryche?” she asked. Both nodded enthusiastically. The Aisha smiled and opened the door to the conference room.

     Loryche sat at a conference table with two chairs opposite her. She gestured for the pair of fans to take a seat. Trell balanced on the chair, not sitting quite comfortably due to his tail, which was always getting in the way. Loryche motioned to the Aisha, who quickly brought over an ottoman for Trell to sit on instead.

     “Thank you,” Trell said, slightly embarrassed.

     Loryche let out a small chuckle. “Don’t worry about it, kid. I know all too well how hard it is to sit in a normal chair. That’s why 6 years ago, I commissioned custom chairs for all our players so we could all sit comfortably on the sidelines during breaks.”

     “That’s so cool!” Trell exclaimed. Soon, the trio was locked into an animated discussion about past Altador Cup matches and decisions Loryche made as captain that changed the trajectory of the team. Once a collection of misfits, the ‘The Forsaken Five’ came together as a team after each member was dropped by their former team.

     Loryche looked at Trell and asked, “So kid, you play?”

     Trell felt embarrassed as he answered. “No, I don’t. I never got the hang of using the sling with my clubbed tail. I’m also not very fast.”

     Loryche let out another chuckle. “Listen kid, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’m sure you have other passions and it’s important that you honor those passions. And believe me kid, I learned that you don’t have to be the quickest to get where you need to go in life. So what do you like to do?”

     Trell couldn’t believe Loryche was so interested in his life. “I really like to read. I also like Minigolf.”

     “See, those are two cool passions kid! Keep it up! What about you?” Loryche asked, looking over to Nyle.

     “I play occasionally in a recreational league, but my real passion is collecting memorabilia. Just last week I found a rare signed photograph of Evrem Guilako that’s worth over 3 million!” Trell glanced over to Loryche, who didn’t look too pleased with Nyle’s hobby of collecting — and reselling, from the sound of it — her team’s memorabilia, but the captain didn’t make a comment.

     Soon, the Aisha hustled over to the trio. “It looks like your time is almost up, so sorry. If you have anything with you that you would like to have autographed, please do so now. Then, we will take a minute to get a photograph together.”

     Trell reached into his satchel and pulled out his most prized possession: the magazine with Loryche on the cover announcing the news that she had taken over as team captain. He hoped she didn’t mind the caption that read, From Careless to Captain.

     “I was wondering if you would please sign this, Loryche?” Trell couldn’t believe he was addressing his idol by name.

     “Sure thing kid!” Loryche pulled the magazine closer. “Wow, I haven’t seen this cover in ages. You know this is super rare, kid? I remember this photoshoot like it was yesterday. I had to wake up at 3 am to get to the studio. I was NOT happy about it.” The Chomby signed her name above her photo and chuckled to herself before sliding the magazine back to Trell.

     Trell was beaming. As he looked over to Nyle, he noticed the Kougra was staring, eyes wide, at the magazine. “Wow,” Nyle said. “That must be worth a fortune now.”

     “Oh, I’m not going to sell it,” Trell said. “I’m going to keep this forever! Thank you so much Loryche!”

     Loryche smiled at Trell and then looked over to Nyle who was still staring at Trell’s magazine. “What about you, cat? Anything you want me to sign so you can sell later?”

     “Yes, please, ma’am. If you wouldn’t mind signing these Wrist Bands. Paid a lot of money to get my paws on these.” Nyle slid off his Wrist Bands and passed them to Loryche. She signed them with no emotion in her eyes and slid them back over to the Kougra.

     Soon, the trio was posing for a photograph. Trell proudly held his autographed magazine out in front of him for the photo. When the photographer went to snap the photo, Nyle brushed closer to Trell. Then, it all happened so fast. The camera flashed, blinding Trell for a moment. He felt Nyle push against him and before he knew it, the Kougra was sprinting out of the room, Trell’s autographed magazine clutched tightly in his paws.

     “No!” Trell exclaimed as he ran after the Kougra. The Aisha held Loryche back, telling the captain not to risk an injury.

     Trell followed after Nyle as quickly as he could, the two sprinting through the Bazaar. The Kougra was so much faster than Trell and was putting more and more distance between the two with each second that passed.

     Trell was panicking, knowing he would never catch up to Nyle, especially since he was already out of breath. Suddenly, Trell remembered what Loryche told him. “You don’t have to be the quickest to get where you need to go,” he repeated to himself. Trell thought quickly. He spotted his favourite Book Shop on his left as Nyle raced forward, taking a sharp left at the General Store. If he timed it just right, he could cut through the secret back exit of the Book Shop and cut Nyle off.

     Trell veered left into the Book Shop. He pushed past a Gnorbu he saw at the shop often, racing forward with his eyes focused on the back exit. Just a little bit further. Trell’s lungs burned.

     Trell zoomed out of the back exit and glanced right just as Nyle slammed into him. The Chomby used his tail to balance himself as he wrapped his forelimbs around Nyle. The Kougra reacted quickly and managed to escape Trell’s grasp, taking off down the street. Trell looked down dejectedly, thinking he missed his chance to catch Nyle. That’s when he saw his magazine lying on the ground. He picked it up, shocked that his plan had worked!

     He looked down the street, watching as Nyle ran off in the distance. Trell finally opened up and got to know a stranger today who ended up betraying him. Maybe Trell was better off keeping to himself and reading his books. However, Trell also met another stranger today who showed him kindness and support.

     Even though Trell was a shy Chomby, maybe getting to know new people wouldn’t be such a bad thing to do. He remembered the Gnorbu he rushed past in the Book Shop, who he saw frequently perusing books. Well, it’s now or never, Trell thought to himself.

     Feeling more confident than ever before, Trell reentered the Book Shop, holding his autographed magazine tightly. He saw the Gnorbu in the fiction section and walked up to him. Trell said with a big smile on his face, “Hey there, I’m Trell. Read anything good lately?”

     The End.