Sad Faces

Chapter 41: Squash

Chapter 41: Squash

Thomas was in his room listening to music on his headphones and drawing on some paper on his bed. Without noticing, Stripe walked into his room, approached him and put an hand on his shoulder, startling him. "Uncle Stripe?" Thomas said, taking off his headphones. "Hey mate! Sorry if I startled you, I knocked but you didn't answer, what are you doing?" Stripe asked with a smile. "Just drawing, I don't have much to do, but what are you doing here?" Thomas asked, putting his drawing to the side. "Trixie has all the girls, taking them to ride some horses, they had been nagging us to take them there, and, since I'm all alone at home, I thought it would be a good opportunity for us to spend some time together," Stripe said as he sat down on his nephew's bed. Thomas smiled at that. "Okay, is my dad okay with it?" Thomas asked. "Oh yeah, he's totally fine with it," Stripe said with a smile.

"I'm not fine with it!" Bandit said while picking up the toys in the back yard. "Bandit, your brother just wants to spend time with his nephew, what's the harm on that?" Chilli said, helping her husband with the toys. "Maybe I wanted a day with my son," Bandit said, putting more toys away. "Come on, Bandit, you get to see Thomas every day, and Stripe has been very busy with work and the girls, he deserves some quality time with Thomas, he is his only nephew after all," Chilli said. Bandit knew she was right, but even so he couldn't help but feeling a little unease. "Look at it this way, all the kids will be gone from the house, that means we can have some time alone," Chilli said with a smile before giving her husband a kiss on his muzzle. Bandit blushed before kissing his wife back. "I guess you have a point there," Bandit said with a smile.

"Hey dad," Thomas said coming out to the backyard. "Yes mate?" Bandit said with a smile as his son walked out to him. "Is it fine with you if I go with uncle Stripe today?" Thomas asked. "Well..." Bandit started to say, hesitating to what to say, until Chilli gave him a nudge. "Yes mate, I'm fine with it," Bandit said with a smile. "Okay, thanks, I'll be back later," Thomas said before going back into the house. "Now we can have our alone time," Chilli said, while cuddling up to her husband. "Well... I guess that having all the kids out of the house does have its advantages" Bandit replied, while holding Chilli and giving her a kiss. "Why don't we let the chores for later?" Bandit asked. "Are you trying to be romantic or dodge the chores?" Chilli asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow. "That depends... on what you want, milady," Bandit replied. "Well... I guess I could take a break," Chilli said, chuckling.

Thomas met his uncle in his car and then buckled up. "So what are we going to do today?" Thomas asked as Stripe started the car. "Well Mate, I thought we go play some squash," Stripe said as he pulled out of the driveway. "Squash?" Thomas asked. "Yeah, has your dad taken you yet to play mate?" Stripe asked as he drove. "No, how do you play?" Thomas asked. "Well you play like this..." Stripe said as he started to explain the game. Now walking to the squash court Stripe finished explaining the game. "So there's nothing really to it mate," Stripe said as they walked into the squash room. "Sounds easy enough," Thomas said picking up a racket. "I'll go easy on you," Stripe said, after putting his wristbands and headband and getting the ball ready. "Don't underestimate me, uncle Stripe, I used to play tennis on my P.E. classes and I was fairly good," Thomas replied. "Ah, dear nephew, you'll see that tennis cannot be compared to squash," Stripe replied.

And so Stripe serviced the ball and uncle and nephew started their game, with each one taking turns to hit the ball against the wall. As they went on, Stripe got impressed by how good his nephew was handle it. It was then that Thomas hit the ball with some strength that, when it came back after bouncing on the wall, Stripe was not able to reach it, leading to Thomas to make a point. "Not bad, mate," Stripe said. "Thanks, uncle Stripe," Thomas said. "I hope you have enjoyed that beginner's luck, because it won't happen again," Stripe said. They continued the game and Thomas' beginner's luck didn't run out as Stripe had predicted. In fact, Thomas continued to make a very good game, scoring very high. Despite Stripe was able to recover quickly, he was still shocked by his nephew's ability to really make him do a great effort to the game. To Stripe's surprise, Thomas was able to win the first game. "Wow, that was a nice game, uncle Stripe," Thomas said, happily. "Yeah... nice game... really gnarly..." Stripe said, while trying to catch his breath.