The Home Run

Benny's Dream.

Benny's POV

It had been two days and three failed attempts later, but we still didn't have the ball. Today's invention consisted of rope, pulleys, old bike pedals, and the chest protector. Since Yeah- Yeah was the lightest out of all of us he was volunteered to go over.
"It's clear." Squints said.
"Take me up." Yeah- Yeah said, confidently.
Ham nodded and started pedaling so that Yeah- Yeah was lifted up and over the fence while Kenny, Bertram and I let go of some rope for Yeah- Yeah.
"Let me down slow." Yeah- Yeah said as we continued doing our job, "A little slower."
"Go slow." Squits said
"Go." Yeah- Yeah said, "Yeah, yeah, let me down. Almost there."
"He's almost there." Squints said as The Beast growled
"Let me down right over it." Yeah- Yeah said as he disappeared behind the fence.
"Let him down right over it." Squints told Ham and The Beast continued growling
The only things we could hear was Yeah- Yeah's panting and the growling of The Beast
"Okay, I got it." Yeah- Yeah said, "Get me outta here."
"Pull him up." Squints said.
"I- I- I-" Yeah- Yeah stuttered
"What's going on?" Izzy asked
"Hey, pull him up!" Squints yelled.
Ham began pedaling but the rope snapped causing mass panic among everyone. We all began screaming as The Beast growled and barked at Yeah- Yeah. Kenny, Ham, and Izzy all grabbed the rope and pulled Yeah- Yeah up as quickly as they could. Once Yeah- Yeah was up he was hysterical. We all were screaming, but he was worse. Fourth failed attempt.

*~*

This was our last chance. It was now or never. Smalls gathered every piece of his erector set and it became, as he said, 'science against nature'. It was a long ramp that went down into Mr. Mertel's yard. Our four-wheeled contraption had a catapult that would open and close around the ball to launch it back to us. It was foolproof.
"Okay, go with me on the launch," Timmy said from the tree house with Ham and Smalls. The rest of us were standing in the yard, gloves ready, waiting for the ball.
"Come on, Squints," Ham said.
"Prepare to launch," Timmy said
"Prepare to launch," Ham repeated to Smalls.
"Prepare to launch. Launching." Smalls said
"Launch," Ham said.
"Okay, you're on the ground." Squints said.
"Moving forward," Smalls said as The Beast growled.
"You went too far. Go back." Squints said.
"Reverse. It's too far." Timmy said.
"Reverse," Smalls said.
"Stop." Squints said as it got passed to Smalls, "Drop catapult."
"The catapult is dropped," Smalls said. We all were beyond anxious waiting for the ball.
"Open catapult." Squints said.
"We're gonna get it. I know it." Bertram said.
"Opening," Smalls said.
"God, please let us get it," Izzy said, not taking her eyes off the fence
"Forward." Squints said as The Beast continued growling, "Close catapult."
"Catapult's closed," Smalls said
"We're gonna get it. Come on." I said, anxious. Suddenly The Beast began barking.
Squints screamed standing up, "Fire, fire, fire!" he yelled, running away from the fence.
We all got up from our bent over stance and watched in awe as we saw the ball flying towards us. More specifically toward me.
"I got it! I got it! I got it!" I yelled. Suddenly The Beast jumped up and grabbed the ball in its large mouth. Everyone began screaming as The Beast shook the ramp and tossed up our contraption. We had been defeated.

*~*

"We were this close." Izzy said, pinching her fingers together, "This close!"
"I know," I said, watching her pacing my room.
"I didn't mean to bother." she said, walking to the window, "I just couldn't sleep and needed to talk to someone."
"You can stay. We'll just wake up extra early so you can go back to your house." I said, walking up next to her.
"Are you sure?" she asked, scrunching her nose.
"Yeah." I said, "I'll set my alarm clock for 5:00. That'll be plenty of time for you to get back to your house and sleep a little more if you want."
"Thanks, Benny," she said, hugging me.

*~*

I woke up to my room shaking, lights flickering, and the cheering of a crowd. I got up carefully and quickly trying not to wake up Izzy.
"Who's there?" I questioned as my closet door opened on its own. I blinked, confused.
"Don't go pee in your pants." a man said, walking out and puffing a cigar. It was Babe Ruth. "I'm just here to give you a hand."
"B-But you're..." I was stunned.
"Dead? Legends never die, kid," he said, putting his bat against my bed frame.
"But you're really him." I looked back at the picture of him on my wall, "You're The Babe. The Sultan of Swat. The King of-"
"Of Crash and a hundred other dopey names." he said, "Forget about that stuff, kid. We ain't got much time. I'm here 'cause you're in some kind of a pickle, right?"
"Yeah," I said.
"A baseball with my John Hancock on it went over a fence and you can't get it back, right?" he questioned.
"Yeah, right."
"Then just hop over there and get it," he said, turning around.
"Wait, wait!" I moved closer to him, "I can't."
"Can't what?" he asked.
"I can't go into that backyard," I said, bluntly.
"Why not?" he asked, confused.
"There's a beast back there."
"What kind?"
"A giant gorilla-dog thing that ate one kid already," I said, seriously.
"Is that a fact?" he asked, I nodded "Sit down, kid. Sit down." he moved me to my bed.
I sat down carefully because Izzy was still asleep. He moved a chair to sit on and he took a picture off my wall.
"Let me tell you something, kid. Everybody gets one chance to do something great. Most people never take the chance, either 'cause they're too scared or they don't recognize it when it spits on their shoes. This is your big chance, and you shouldn't let it go by. Remember when you busted the guts out of the ball the other day? Someone's telling you something, kid. If I was you, I'd listen."
"Yeah. But what?" I asked.
"You're the one with the rubber legs. Figure it out." he looked at Izzy, "She's your girl?"
"Yeah." I smiled, looking at her sleeping figure.
"She fast?" he asked.
"The fastest."
"Remember that, kid. She's a keeper," he said, standing up and walking back to my closet.
"I know," I said, looking back at Babe Ruth.
"Henry Aaron?" he picked up my baseball card, "I don't know why, but can I have this?"
"Sure, yeah." I nodded as he put it in his back pocket, grabbing his bat and walking back to my closet
"Thanks," he said, getting ready to leave.
"Wait." I stopped him. I stood up as he opened the closet door, "You're saying I should hop over that fence and pickle The Beast?"
"Think about that, kid." he said and winked, "I'll see you later." he closed the closet door. Then I heard a crowd cheering again, "Remember, kid, there's heroes and there's legends." I sat down and looked at his picture, "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. Follow your heart, kid, and you'll never go wrong."
I turned off the lights in my room and laid back down next to Izzy.

*~*

I woke up confused and determined. I looked next to me for Izzy, but she wasn't there. I sat up quickly and saw a note on my dresser where my Henry Aaron baseball card was. I picked it up and read it

Rodriguez,
I was gonna wake you up and tell
you I went home, but you were sound
asleep. I'll see you tomorrow morning.
~ Izzy <3
P.S. I took your Henry Aaron card.
I just had to finish my collection.

I smiled and looked at my clock. It was 10:00. I quickly got ready for the day then walked to my closet. I looked down at a box I was saving. I picked it up and ran to Izzy's house. I knocked on the door and she answered it.
"Hey, doll." she smiled at me, "What's up?"
"I had a crazy dream. You ready to go?" I asked.
"Uh, give me a sec. I just gotta put my shoes on," she said, putting a loose strand of hair from her two French braids behind her ear.
"I'm gonna go over to Smalls'. Meet me back out here." I said in a hurry.
"Okay," she said, confused.
I quickly ran to Smalls' house and knocked on his window.
"What?" he asked.
"I had a dream. Get dressed. We're going to the Sandlot." I said and started to run off.
"Okay. Wait. I'll get my stuff." Smalls called after me.