Revenge's Reign

II

 "Stop." Maeve commanded. "You have to throw the ball, not chuck it." She put her hand up to her forehead as she squinted

as the sun glared down on to her small lawn. The green grass she stood on glimmered in the light, especially the small patches of yellow, dead weeds.

"I am throwing it!" Grumbled one of the boys in front of her. He crossed his arms in frustration and glowered at the worn baseball that was clenched in his long, tan, lanky fingers. His stormy blue eyes tightened from his everlasting scowl as he grumbled incoherent profanities at his incompetence.

"Then throw it again and let me watch." The girl said softly, trying to keep the annoyance from creeping into her voice.

The boy she had been speaking to lifted the ball up above his head and threw the sphere as hard as he could, his arm still swinging from the force as the projectile sailed far and fast, right past the second boy's head.

The second boy- who looked identical to the first boy except for the small birthmark on his cheek- gaped at him. "Y-you could've hit me!" He stuttered, incredulously.

The thrower just shrugged angrily. "You could've caught it."

"Boys..." Maeve warned, "Can we not play Sprint in peace? Enough of the fighting!" She grumbled tiredly.

"Whatever. We can't even play for long anyway." The first boy said, his lips pressed into a thin line.

She look over at him, her expression softening slightly. "Caleb..."

"What?!" Caleb snapped, his stringy, brown hair falling in front of his eyes as he turned his head towards the older girl, angrily. "There's nothing wrong!"

Maeve rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. "You're going to give me a headache." She groaned, "How about Chase first throws now? You can catch."

"Okay!" The second boy, Chase, perked up, happy to finally be included in the conversation. "I can throw it easy if you want."

"Nuh-uh!" Caleb shouted, his eyes widening. "I can catch it normal! I'm a really good catcher!"

"Yes, you are," The older girl agreed, silently wishing for the shouting to stop. "So prove it to me. Give the ball to your brother and let's play."

"Fine." He grumbled as he shoved the off-white toy into his twin's open, outstretched hands.

Chase grinned and walked a few steps backwards, creating a larger distance between the two. "Don't drop it!" He warned as he tossed the ball.

Caleb's large hands reached out and scooped the ball up with practiced ease. "Got it!" He smiled, his previous tension leaving his body.

"Good job, little brother. Now throw it back to him," Maeve concluded, absentmindedly. "Underhand."

As the sphere left his hand, Caleb's grin faltered slightly, the throw not being as perfect as he'd hoped.

"I got it! I got it!" Shouted his brother, interrupting Caleb's sulking.

Chase's fingers slid past the flying object, missing it by inches as it bounced back a couple yards behind him. "Aw man!"

"You know what that means," Maeve interrupted as she watched the game with a small smile. "Ready, set, Sprint!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Chase turned around an sprinted in the opposite direction of his brother as he chased him, turning a big U-Turn to get back to the toy.

Meanwhile, Caleb dropped the baseball and ran at the other boy, arms open wide as he tried to tackle the kid.

Chase cried out in surprise as he felt Caleb's arms circle his waist and pull him to the ground. The twins fell down together and Chase groaned in defeat. "I was so close too!" He looked wistfully at the ball which was a few meters away from the two's position on the ground.