Benched
Chapter 1. Benched Ben was a young boy who loved football. He was always out playing with his friends, kicking the ball around and dreaming of one day making it onto the school team. One day, Ben's dream seemed to be coming true.
The school had announced that they were having try-outs for the football team and Ben was determined to make it. He practiced every day, dribbling around cones and shooting at goal from all angles. When the try-out finally came, Ben was ready.
He ran faster than ever before and kicked harder than ever before. But when the coach announced the names of who made it onto the team, Ben's name wasn't on it. He felt so disappointed that he just wanted to go home and hide in his room.
As he was walking away from the field he heard someone call out his name - it was the coach! He said that although Ben didn't make it onto the team, he still had noticed how hard he had worked and so he wanted to give him a special award - something just for him! He handed Ben a small trophy with his name engraved on it and told him that he admired his hard work and determination, even though he hadn't made it onto the team this time round.
Ben smiled - this award meant more to him than any place on a football team ever could have! From then on, whenever things got tough or Ben felt like giving up, all he had to do was look at his trophy and remember why he started playing in the first place: because of his love for football!
The END
