Opal and the Handshake
Opal’s team lost, and Opal feels like stomping. But there’s a surprise at the end.
Opal wanted to win more than anything. She practised every day. She even slept with the football beside her pillow. Today the Green Giants were playing the Teal Turtles.
The game was tough. Opal ran and ran, and Tariq did too. But the Teal Turtles were just a little bit better. When the whistle blew, the score was 4-2. The Green Giants had lost.
Opal’s face went hot and red. She threw down her gloves and stomped across the grass. ‘It’s not FAIR!’ she said. Stomp, stomp, stomp.
Then she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Ravi from the Teal Turtles. Ravi held out a hand. ‘Good game,’ he said. ‘You ran so fast. I could hardly keep up.’
Opal looked at the hand. Her cross feeling started to fizzle like a bubble. She took a breath and shook it. ‘Good game,’ Opal said quietly. ‘You played really well.’
Afterwards, both teams sat together on the grass eating a cold glass of lemonade. Tariq told a silly joke about a football that wanted to be a pumpkin. Everyone laughed.
That night, Opal was still a bit sad. But she also felt proud. She had done her best and been kind. And tomorrow, she would get a new chance to play.
The little lesson
Losing is part of playing, and kind words make any game a good one.
Let’s talk about it
- How do you feel when you lose a game?
- What kind thing could you say to someone who won?
Finish stories to collect Opal as a sticker in your Sticker Book.
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