The Gryphon's Goal: Chapter 1, Part 1
#1 of The Gryphon's Goal
Here's part one of THE GRYPHON'S GOAL. Our hero, so to speak, is a gryphon named Larry who just so happens to be a high school soccer player. So there's going to be the occasional soccer game.
This is a world where mythological creatures grew up with humanity. So having a bipedal gryphon in high school isn't considered weird, but a gay one just might be, so you know.
I'll be posting this five days a week, and I hope you enjoy it!
Larry crouched as the striker closed in on him. He wanted to flex his wings out of nervous habit, but the clips that pinned them to his back wouldn't budge. Rules were rules.
Suddenly the striker kicked the ball towards the goal, and Larry lunged to the side, arms outstretched, to intercept it. His hands stung, and when he opened his eyes (another nervous habit--he would have to work on that) the soccer ball was in his taloned paws.
The roar of the crowd filled his ears, and as he laid on his back, the ball held up high over his chest, he let loose a whoop of delight. His team had won the match! Victory was literally in his grasp!
His beak parted in a grin as he got up, suddenly surrounded by his teammates. A mix of gryphons like himself, humans, and one lone minotaur hoisted him on their shoulders and carried him to the locker room, where the coach, his father, grinned before he clacked his beak together.
"Alright, settle down!" the coach said. "You kids did good--no, you kids did damned good, if you'll pardon my French. We keep this up, we'll be going to the state finals." His beak opened again, his eyes darting around the players. "But we don't care about that right now, do we?"
"SIR! NO SIR!" the team roared. What Larry and the others wanted was the dinner celebration if they could beat their high school rivals, which was exactly what was done.
"Then my poor bank account's gonna suffer. Pirate's Pizza it is! Clean up and let's go!"
It was five in the afternoon that Saturday when Larry got in the car with his friend Harvey, who went by the nickname of Sampson solely because of his long, golden locks of curly blond hair. He was still wearing his soccer jersey. It was an odd tradition for Larry's friend, as he claimed it helped keep the victory energies stable until he could get home to store it in a special hermetically sealed case.
His friend, Larry had decided long ago, was nuts, but adorably nuts.
"Why didn't you just fly to the pizza place, Larry?" Sampson asked as Larry folded his wings in front of him; otherwise, it would have been uncomfortable for his back.
"I'm still wiped out from the game," Larry replied after a moment's consideration. It wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't the complete truth either. He was tired from the soccer match, but he wanted to ride with Sampson because the gryphon thought he was the most handsome guy on the soccer team or in high school.
Larry wasn't sure exactly why or how he had fallen for Sampson, but it happened. It made him feel delightfully awkward to see his human friend in school--whether it was to pass by him in the hallway or to sit in the row next to him in class. Soccer practice was probably the only time he didn't think of Sampson, but they were on the same team and several people commented on how his and Sampson's teamwork was some of the best they'd ever seen.