Friends have a Bad Night

Taylor, Bryson, and Harper were having a bad night. Taylor had lost her game that day. Bryson’s newest time travel pod wasn’t working. Harper’s play just wasn’t turning out how she wanted. 

That’s how they ended up at the lake, laying on the grass side by side, watching the night sky in silence. All their minds were turning and tumbling, not letting go of their grievances. 

Taylor spoke first from the right side, under her breath. “I don’t know how I didn’t make that last touchdown.” Bryson sighed from the middle, sharing his own gripes.

“I just can’t get anything to work.” Harper turned to her side to face her friends.

“Something is amiss with the play,” she said, “but I just can’t figure out what it is!” 

“I can,” Taylor said. “It doesn’t make any sense.” At first, it took Harper aback to hear this- but then she remembered how confused Taylor looked seeing the rehearsal the other day.

“What? Really?” Harper wondered.

“Yes,” Bryson said. “I don’t know how to feel when I watch it.” Harper ran the play through her head, but this time with her friends’ added perspective in mind. She started to nod.

“I don’t think the actors are sure how to see the story either. Each actor says their line with such different emotion!” She laid back down triumphantly. She would walk it through with them as a team the next day and get everyone on the same page. They were great actors sharing a great story- she had to be a great leader to keep up. 

“Mine, however,” Taylor began, “is impossible. One second, I was running to make a game-winning touchdown, and the next I was on the ground.”

“You were tackled,” Bryson offered. 

“Sadly, I did get that part,” Taylor groaned, covering her eyes with her paws.

“You were swerving from someone on your left,” Harper said. “You had an amazing dodge, but you were surrounded.” Harper often watched Taylor’s gameplay as if it were choreography in her musicals, loving how every player and move impacted one another.

Taylor sits up quickly, tilting her head to the side. “Oh, right. I was looking to the left, because that was our weak side for that play.” She smiles, already planning to let her coach know about potential weaknesses in that same play the next day. She had been so frustrated at herself once she was tackled that she couldn’t make sense of it. Next game, it’ll be better. 

“My time travel pod isn’t working. I get in and nothing happens.” Bryson took his glasses off, rubbing his eyes.

“No offense,” Taylor said, “but none of your inventions work at first.” 

“That’s true,” Harper added. “You aren’t the best inventor in Staufferville because you get it all right on the first try.” Bryson remembered all the gadgets that were epic failures before they were successes. He hadn’t slept well the night before; perhaps this was why he took the failure so hard today. He was sure he’d wake up tomorrow elated to do what he loved and try again. 

The three settled comfortably in the grass, feeling as if there was anything they could not fix. 

“I feel much better now,” Bryson said. We always feel better when we are together, they all thought. Harper almost said this aloud but stopped herself when she heard Taylor’s snoring start up.

It was alright. She didn’t have to say it. They all knew.