Zara’s Old Boots in the Attic
In the attic, Zara finds a pair of dusty old boots with a name inside.
On a rainy afternoon, Zara climbed the creaky ladder up to the attic. It smelled of dust and old books. Behind a wooden chest, she found a pair of boots, hard and brown and scuffed.
Inside one boot, a name was scribbled in faded ink: ‘Jack’. ‘Coach Jack!’ gasped Zara. Zara knew Jack the owl was the coach of the Lime Leopards, but she didn’t know Jack had ever played.
The very next day, Zara took the boots to training. Jack went quiet when he saw them. Then a smile spread across Jack’s face. ‘Come, sit,’ said Jack. ‘I’ll tell you a story.’
‘When I was your age,’ said Jack, ‘we had no pitch. We played on a street with no cars. We had a ball made of old newspaper. We played until the stars came out. These boots were the first I ever owned.’
Zara listened with wide eyes. She thought about how the boots had run and jumped, scored goals and missed goals. And now they were sitting in a cold dusty attic.
‘Would you like to try them?’ asked Jack. Zara slipped them on. They were far too big, but Zara laced them up twice. Together, they walked out to the pitch.
Zara kicked the ball in the old boots. It flew in a perfect curve. Jack laughed so hard he nearly fell over. ‘Just like the old days!’ he said, and jumped up to join in.
From that day, the old boots stayed on the shelf in the clubhouse, not the attic. And on cold, rainy afternoons, when the team came in, Jack would tell them yet another story.
The little lesson
Old things carry stories, and listening to them is a gift to both of you.
Let’s talk about it
- Do you have something old that has a story?
- What did Zara learn from Coach Jack?
Finish stories to collect Zara as a sticker in your Sticker Book.
More Football stories
Sia’s Woodland Football Match
The forest animals hold a football cup, but nobody can agree on the rules!
Flo’s First Big Match
Flo is going to a real stadium for the very first time!
The Day Ollie Kicked the Ball
Ollie the rabbit has never kicked a ball before. Today is the big day!
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