Quillby’s Number Seven Trick — Every day after lunch, Quillby trotted to the far soccer field and tapped the cracked white stripe on his number 7 jersey before practice. Read the full story →
Every day after lunch, Quillby trotted to the far soccer field and tapped the cracked white stripe on his number 7 jersey before practice. The jersey was too big, smelled faintly of grass stains and lemon soap, and had belonged to the first foal who ever invited him into a game. Quillby wanted one clean goal in it, just once, while the nets hummed in the wind.
Until one day, the Windmice under the bleachers stole the shiny corner flag and tied it to his tail. Because of that, Quillby zigzagged after them, the flag snapping fwip-fwip behind him, and the whole team chased the flag instead of the ball. Because of THAT, the rival goalie laughed so hard she sat down in the goal mouth.
Quillby felt the old 7 tug against his shoulder like a friendly nudge. “Follow the flag!” he shouted. He swished his tail left, darted right, and flicked the ball between everyone’s hooves into the net. The Windmice cheered from a cleat. Next time you spot his grin by the goal, see if the number 7 still looks ready to play one more trick.
