26 April 2012 – Hilltop Road, Lancaster, Massachusetts

“AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!”

Sabrina Knox’s inarticulate scream echoed through the front entryway before her backpack sailed down the hall.

The bag slammed into the door frame leading to the living room ten feet away. The impact crushed the almost-full plastic water bottle riding in a side pouch. It blew the cap off and caused the bottle’s contents to spray into the living room. Sabrina paced back and forth in the front hall, still trying to calm down after kicking the front door closed.

The seat next to her on the crowded bus had remained unoccupied the entire trip home. Nobody wanted to poke the bear when they saw the storm clouds over her head. Not even her best friend Tommy Jones risked sitting next to her, though he tried talking to her – not that she noticed. Her angry stomping up the front steps to her house preceded her book bag taking flight.

“I have already taken a shower this day, daughter. Are you trying to tell me something, perhaps?” Sabrina heard in Japanese.

Sabrina looked up to see her mother staring back at her from the living room doorway. Keiko must have been meditating in front of Uncle Ken’s funeral portrait as she often did. Her mother now had water dripping off of her soaked clothes. Sabrina forgot her mother hadn’t gone to work this morning due to a training class she attended for school.

“Please clean up in here while I change, then put your gi on. After you complete those tasks, meet me in the gym,” Keiko ordered.

Embarrassment replaced anger while Sabrina removed her shoes before leaving the foyer. No shoes were allowed in the house past the front hall – that part of Japanese culture had long been enforced by her parents. She cleaned up the backpack mess then climbed the steps to her room to change into her karate gi.

Before Sabrina entered their gym at the back of the house, she knew she’d soon be a sweaty mess. She hadn’t received her customary greeting from her mother. There was no hug and no questions about her school day – just the summons to the gym. That didn’t bode well.

Sure enough, her mother stood on the sparring mat in her black gi, complete with the black belt denoting her sixth-dan status. Keiko nodded to her daughter and motioned to ready herself on the mat. Sabrina warmed up. Each bowed to the other before Keiko lunged at Sabrina.

Sabrina had studied karate since age five – she was no push-over. But her mother had also started at age five. Thirty-six years of study kept Keiko as fit as she had been at eighteen, even after three children – whipcord slim with phenomenal stamina and reed-like flexibility. Sabrina knew her father appreciated her mother’s trim appearance. Sabrina could see it in her father’s eyes when he looked at his bride. But, of course, that was whenever her mother wasn’t beating him up on the mat.

Keiko’s speed forced Sabrina to clear her head and focus. She chased her youngest child around the mat for fifteen minutes, pausing every so often to see if Sabrina would engage an opening. Finally, Keiko stepped back and gestured that they should stop.

“Heavy bag,” she said to her tired teen daughter.

Sabrina bowed. She put on her punching gloves and leg guards. By the time Sabrina stood in front of the bag, her anger had returned. She attacked. Her anger burned off with her punches and kicks. Eventually, she slowed and stopped. Keiko indicated that Sabrina should kneel on the mat, face her, and meditate after removing her gloves and guards. Keiko knelt with her.

After a time, Sabrina heard her mother ask, “Daughter, when you look at me, what do you see?”

“You?” Sabrina answered, uncertain. “My mother?”

“Yes, daughter, but is there anything else you see? Look deeper.”

Nothing came to mind until moments later.

“A reed in the wind,” Sabrina replied. “The eye of the storm.”

Keiko nodded with a slight smile.

“Explain your thoughts, Sabrina.”

“While the three of us,” meaning herself and her siblings, “whirl around you, there you are, seemingly without concern. Nothing disturbs you. You adapt to the situation. Dad does well at that, but he’s not in your league.”

Keiko nodded and chuckled.

“If only it were as simple as it appears. Your father accomplishes his control because of his Army training, and his paramedic training to a certain extent. A soldier must learn to be silent and watchful at times to better understand the situation and his surroundings. An Army medic, or a civilian EMT or paramedic is much the same. They must process information from their senses and intuition to correctly evaluate and treat a patient.

“I use what you have heard me describe as ‘being still’ to do the same. I calmly process the various inputs from situations before I act. I have more practice with karate than your father in this, though I am still learning. I also have the benefit of taking my time to make my decisions.

“You have passion – fire – Sabrina, which is good, but you must temper it, to harness it, lest it consumes you. Now, do you believe you can calmly tell me what made you so angry today?”

Sabrina’s anger welled up again, but she stomped it down before it showed.

“I met with my ‘guidance counselor’ at the middle school today. He recommended I enroll in secretarial school in the future.”

Keiko closed her eyes. ‘Glen Oglethorpe’, Keiko mentally sighed as she closed her eyes in an effort to keep herself calm. ‘How he retains his position, I shall never know …’

Opening her eyes and smiling at Sabrina, Keiko asked, “Did he also recommend you take Home Economics in place of your planned science courses?”

“No,” Sabrina snorted with a giggle.

“Obviously, I suggest you ignore his advice. Do not speak to your father of this before I have an opportunity to, please. I fear he will march down to the middle school and drag Mr. Oglethorpe behind the woodshed.” That drew another snort from Sabrina. “Go wash up and begin your homework. I will leave for the high school soon to pick up your brothers from baseball practice.”

Mother and daughter stood, and bowed respectfully to each other before Sabrina bounded away.

A soft knock drew Sabrina’s attention. “Come in!”

Alex stuck his head around her door. “Got a minute?” He still wore his baseball practice uniform.

“Of course, Alex.” She turned away from her homework to give him her full attention. “What’s up?”

“Are you okay? I heard your mood was so dark at school and on the bus that you were a walking black hole!”

“I am now, Alex. When I got home, Mom had me meet her on the mat.”

“Yeah, that’ll do it,”Alex chuckled. Their mother’s method of attitude adjustment was legendary. Not even their father was immune. “What happened?”

“Mr. Oglethorpe said I should pursue secretarial school.”

“The Ogre said that?” Alex asked, using the common nickname for the counselor. “What an idiot!”

“Mom asked me if he recommended Home Ec classes, as well.”

“Oh, Mom’s pissed…”

“Ya think?”

Their mother held no love for Glen Oglethorpe. When Keiko began teaching high school English in the same district, their first meeting had not gone well. He asked – ordered – her to get him a cup of coffee at a staff mixer. She told him to get off his fat ass and get it himself. The siblings shared a laugh at the man.

“The real reason I’m here is Tommy left me a voicemail on my cell wanting me to ask you if he pissed you off somehow,” Alex said.

“Huh? No, why?”

“He said he tried to talk to you on the bus and that you blew him off pretty hard.”

“I did? I don’t even remember him talking to me…”

“As I said, I heard you were pretty oblivious this afternoon. You should call Tommy when you get the chance.”

Sabrina sat on her bed an hour later, leaning against the headboard while gazing at the enlarged STS-135 launch photo on the far wall. Alex’s image, taken seconds into the mission, was his Christmas present to her last year. It showed Atlantis streaking into the sky atop a golden plume of fire. That morning in Florida brought her future into sharp focus and gave her a goal to reach for. She’d already taken steps to bring that goal closer to reality.

While she struggled to reconcile her thoughts from the upheaval during her school day, another knock shifted her attention to the door. Her father peeked in, still wearing his work uniform.

“Hey, Princess. Can I come in?”

“Of course, Daddy!” she replied with a smile.

“How ya doin’? Your mom said you were pretty pissed when you got home.”

“You could say that.”

“She told me what happened. I’d offer to kick Glen Oglethorpe’s butt for you, but I wouldn’t want to deprive you or your mother of the opportunity.”

“Come on, Dad. You know violence doesn’t solve anything.”

“Right,” he chuckled. “As Heinlein pointed out in Starship Troopers, why don’t you ask the Carthage city leadership about that one? Still, beating up the heavy bag is a better choice in this case. It’ll keep you out of jail.”

“That’s always a good plan.”

“Your mom clean your clock for you?”

“I think she took it easy on me,” Sabrina replied, rolling her eyes. “You know she does that to get us to focus on what made us angry, not the anger itself, so we can talk about it.” She shrugged. “It worked, again.”

“And what made you angry about what the Ogre said?” Her father caught her surprised look. “What? Don’t you think we hear what you guys call your teachers? I can’t wait to hear what you guys will say about your mother if any of you have her for English.”

“Wait till I tell her whatever we say was your idea.” Sabrina laughed at the look of mock horror on her father’s face. “Seriously, Dad, I doubt the Ogre even looked at my file before he offered his ‘career advice.’ He certainly hasn’t talked to me. He doesn’t know me or my goals.”

“So, what are you going to do about it?”

“Shove it in his face when I reach them.”

“That’s my girl!” Jeff said with a smile. “Now, what are you going to do about those goals? I know you told us last summer that you were going to fly in space one day, but what are you doing to make that happen?”

Sabrina nodded. She had expected this question for some time.

“I’ve emailed both Aunt Allison out in Hawaii and Aunt Heather to ask them how they reached their goals. They both told me I need to push hard on my classes in school, to look into learning to fly, and to start thinking about what schools would help me reach those goals after high school.”

“You’ve been emailing Ally and Heather?” he asked, surprised. “I haven’t heard anything about that…”

“I asked them not to say anything to you or Mom just yet because I wanted to tell you first. I only started asking them a month ago. I’m also going to call Grandma Jane and ask her about becoming a pilot.”

Heather Pelley wasn’t Sabrina’s aunt, nor was her mother Jane Donnelly Sabrina’s grandmother. Regardless, Sabrina and her brothers considered them as such.

“Do you want to go to a different camp this summer instead of the one we signed you up for? Some other place that might help with those goals?”

“No. This camp will help with another goal, and that’s to make the high school hockey team next year.”

“I’m gonna caution you again: You know there’s no girls’ team, and boys play the body even more than in the leagues you’ve been in up until now. You’re built more like your mom than your brothers or me, and this is the age group when most boys start growing bigger than you. I don’t want to sound dismissive like the Ogre, but I also don’t want you to get hurt.”

“They can’t hit what’s not there, Dad,” Sabrina replied with an evil grin, hopping off the bed and dancing back and forth. “I’m gonna keep living up to that ‘slippery little shit!’ nickname I hear I’ve been given.”

Jeff rubbed at the pain behind his eye before turning his gaze back to Sabrina.

“Just save that language for when you and I are talking amongst ourselves, okay? Your mom will castrate me if she even thinks I’m teaching you to talk like that.”

Sabrina hugged her father.

“Of course! Gotta keep my dad safe!”

“Sabrina?”

Sabrina closed her locker and turned around.

“Hi, Tommy!”

Tommy Jones smiled in relief at seeing her smile.

“Thanks for calling last night. I was petrified I did something to piss you off until you explained what happened.”

“C’mon, TJ, we’ve been friends since you moved in next door! Like a dozen years!”

“Yeah, but you’ve always said we’re an aberration, that it’s not natural for boys and girls to stay friends this long, especially as they grow up. Anyway, you were pretty upset yesterday. I can’t believe The Ogre said that to you!”

“He’s a bigger doofus than Ryan.”

“I’m not sure doofus covers what he is.”

“Covers who, The Ogre or Ryan?”

“Yes,” Tommy replied, drawing laughter from the both of them.

“All right, good point. There’s the bell, so we’ve got to get to Social Studies.”

“World History from 500 to 1600 CE… thrilling stuff…”

“You’ve heard what my dad, the history major says about repeating history if you don’t learn from it. But I know what you mean. I learned more Medieval Japanese history in a week with my grandfather’s family in Hiroshima than in the whole month they allow for in a middle school Social Studies class.”

“Do you think knowing how to speak and read Japanese helped you learn it easier?”

“Maybe,” Sabrina acknowledged. “It was easier being able to read the historical markers there myself than having my cousins translate them for me. Maybe that helped me absorb it better? Plus, they gloss over so much at our age.”

When Tommy and Sabrina stepped into the hallway following class, an unwelcome voice called out to her.

“Miss Knox?”

Sabrina bit the inside of her cheek, trying to keep the expression of distaste off her face while she turned.

“Yes, Mr. Oglethorpe?”

“I’ve taken the liberty of writing out a draft educational plan for you for your high school years,” he said with a smile.

‘He probably thinks that’s a friendly face,’ Sabrina thought while she took the piece of paper he extended to her. She bit her cheek harder when she read the ‘plan’ for her future.

“Mr. Oglethorpe, I don’t see any Advanced Placement classes anywhere on this, nor many science classes. And I’m already taking Algebra I this year. Am I supposed to stop taking math classes at some point in the next four years?”

“Well, you won’t need those…”

“And why not?” Sabrina asked, cutting the older man off.

“Well, we discussed your options when we met the other day.”

“NO!” she barked. “You TOLD me what YOUR vision of MY future is. That condescending, sexist 1950s crap you tried to sell me yesterday is BULLSHIT!”

“Miss Knox!” Oglethorpe gasped.

“Shut up, you dried-up old fart, I’m talking!” Tommy blinked while Oglethorpe’s mouth dropped. Other students nearby started to gather. “I’m taking a bunch of AP classes before I graduate from Devens Regional like my parents did at their schools! Then I’m going to a school that will help me reach my goal of working in the space program! Maybe I’ll get a master’s, or even a doctorate! And I’m gonna learn how to fly because my actual goal isn’t just to be an astronaut; it’s to FLY the damn spacecraft I’ll be riding in! You might be able to pigeonhole other students, but you aren’t doing it to me!”

The middle schoolers nearby cheered at Sabrina’s angry outburst, but none louder than Tommy. Oglethorpe closed his mouth after a second or two. A deep, red flush crept up his face like mercury rising inside a thermometer. He grabbed Sabrina by the collar, scratching her neck in the process.

‘Smooth move, Ex-Lax,’ Tommy thought, using an expression his father often did while Sabrina blurred into motion.

Before the other students processed her movement, Sabrina held Glen Oglethorpe’s hand in a pronating wrist lock. The hold caused the older man to lean forward and down while trying to reduce the pressure on his twisted arm’s joints.

“Listen up, old man,” Sabrina whispered in his ear. “What you just did is considered assault and battery on a minor under fourteen. I might be able to have you labeled a pedophile if I push hard enough! You’d be a Level III sex offender, unable to live within a thousand feet of a school, all that stuff. Don’t ever touch me again, nor any other student. in fact, don’t ever speak to me again. If you continue to bother me, I’ll let my father deal with you. I’d count myself lucky in that case if I were you, because my mother might not be able to restrain herself if I send her instead.” Sabrina increased the pressure on Glen Oglethorpe’s wrist before releasing him and walking away.

“Have I told you how much of a badass you are lately?” Tommy muttered to her as they walked to Algebra.

Sabrina glanced at her friend before her face broke into a wry smile.

“No, but a girl likes to hear it, at least this girl. So you may continue to butter me up until we get to Ms. Franklin’s room.”

“Not that I’m all that knowledgeable about martial arts, but that didn’t look like karate.”

“It wasn’t,” Sabrina said. “You know my dad’s doing tactical EMS these days in addition to working at DMD, right? He brought me to a training class a year ago – defensive tactics – and I wanted to learn some of what the instructor taught that day. What he taught is found in Aikido, which is more about joint locks and throws than karate. You know those old Steven Seagal movies? He’s like a sixth- or seventh-level Aikido master, and he tossed people all over the place in them. Anyway, the instructor commented on how good a learner I was and how I could probably take anyone else there.

“One of Dad’s group was fairly new to the team at the time and snorted about how he’d break me in half. Dad, the instructor, and I shared a look before they let me take the new guy apart. I think I had him in that same hold I used on the Ogre and put him on his back in two seconds, then I did it again when he thought the first time was a fluke. He wasn’t laughing by the time I finished with him.”

No one from the administration called Sabrina to the office following her confrontation with Mr. Oglethorpe, nor did she hear any rumors of them planning to. No one saw the counselor at Burbank Middle School after that day, nor was he seen at any other school in the district again that year. Reports were that he retired immediately instead of facing possible repercussions from the school district related to grabbing and scratching Sabrina. Content to simply finish middle school in two months and move up to high school the following year, Sabrina urged her parents to let the incident go. Keiko and Jeff were less willing to do so but finally agreed with her wishes.

The day after the confrontation Sabrina and Tommy were sitting together at lunch. They almost always did. While considered relatively popular, they hadn’t connected with the rest of their class, and they were happy just to hang out together. They lived next to each other, were the youngest in their families, and shared a similar sense of humor. As they laughed at something, a newer class member approached their table.

“Sabrina?”

“Hey, Naomi,” she replied to the Goth girl. Naomi Taggert came to the school after the Christmas break. Her mother had transferred to Fort Devens around that time. “What’s up?”

“Would you mind if I sat with you?”

“Not at all. Grab a chair.” Naomi sat next to Sabrina while casting a wary look at Tommy. “You know that Tommy’s my neighbor, right?” Sabrina explained. “We’ve been buds since we were two or three. He’s cool.”

Tommy caught Naomi’s look. “I’ll catch you later, okay, Sabrina?” He rose from the table. “I need to ask Mr. Jeffers a question about the stuff we went over in history today. I’ll see you on the bus. Bye, Naomi.”

Sabrina tried to keep a frown off her face when she turned back to her new table partner.

“Sorry,” Naomi offered in a meek voice. “Boys kinda make me nervous.”

“I don’t know what kind of boys you’re used to, but Tommy isn’t like that. He’s my friend – best friend, actually – and it’s not because he knows I can kick his ass if he steps out of line.”

“I saw what you did to Mr. Oglethorpe yesterday. Where did you learn how to do that?”

“That move? A SWAT defensive tactics class.” Naomi looked at her in surprise. “Dad’s a paramedic and runs the EMS service providing towns around here with medics when they need them. He’s also a tactical medic with the regional SWAT team. One of their training sessions was in defensive tactics about a year ago.

“My brothers had a baseball tournament that day, and there wasn’t anyone else available to watch me with Mom gone. So I went with Dad, so he wouldn’t miss the training. Dad mentioned to the instructor that he would like to have me learn some of the holds – you know, for when I start dating. Probably because some of them would be easier to do in a car than the karate I’ve been taking.”

“How long have you been taking karate?”

“Seven or eight years,” Sabrina shrugged. “It feels more like fifteen with how often Mom and I practice at home.” Another look. “Mom’s a sixth-level black belt, and an instructor at the dojo we belong to. I work out with her often, and even more so when it’s hockey season and I can’t get to the dojo regularly.”

“What are you going to do next year at high school? I’ve heard there’s no girls’ hockey team.”

“Join the team,” Sabrina shrugged. She explained when she saw Naomi’s skeptical look. “Title IX is a wonderful thing, Naomi.” Sabrina quoted:

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

“The Army partially supports the district’s budget in addition to other federal funding the district receives, so they have to at least let me try out. I wouldn’t be the first girl they’ve ever had on the team, even though there aren’t any at the moment.”

“What are you going to do about the people who don’t want you on the team?”

“Prove them wrong,” Sabrina said with another shrug. “There should be plenty of freshmen boys trying out next year that I’ve played with and against over the years. When we were younger, they didn’t care that I was a girl. They don’t care now, and they won’t care next fall. Anyway, why the question about the wrist lock I put the Ogre in yesterday?”

“I started ‘developing’ early. That attracted the older boys back where Mom was stationed before. So many high school-aged boys used to hang around the entrances to my old base housing building. Once I started developing, I began to dress like this so I wouldn’t attract their attention. But the all-black and baggy clothes shtick only attracted their attention even more. So I’ve been a target for years.”

“Has it been a problem here?”

“No. Mom and I are living off-post this time. We rent a small house. I can walk there from here if I need to. But I’m a little worried about next year. This,” she waved at her wardrobe, “isn’t really me, and I’m tired of not being me. I wanna wear things I’m more comfortable in, but I’m afraid of what’ll happen when others notice my figure.”

“I’m sure Mom would be willing to show you a couple of things that could be helpful. She worked with the same instructor to adapt the moves to be easier for civilians to understand. Her dojo now uses those same moves in their basic self-defense classes. I shouldn’t try teaching you anything since I’m not an instructor. Do you want to come over after school and meet Mom?”

“Can I come over tomorrow? My mom expects me home right after school today.”

“Sure.”

Naomi joined Sabrina and Tommy for lunch again the next day. She gave Tommy an apologetic smile.

“Sorry about yesterday, Tommy. I’ve gotten grief from others – mostly older boys – wherever I’ve lived, so I’m still not real comfortable around them.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Tommy replied with a casual wave of his hand. “My brothers treat me the same way, so I’m used to it. And unless you were born after September 1998, you’re older than I am. Where you from?”

“Leavenworth, Kansas,” Naomi replied, her shyness now gone, or at least on hold. “Mom had me while she was stationed there, then she raised me herself. There were plenty of daycare options for her when I was little, thankfully, so she was able to stay in the Army. Anyway, I don’t have a dad in my life, and other kids kinda picked on me because of it. We lived in two other Army towns before she transferred here last Christmas. And changing schools has always made it hard to make friends.”

“I can’t imagine,” Sabrina said with a shiver. “We’ve lived here all our lives, and Tommy and I’ve been friends and classmates since preschool.”

“So you guys aren’t from military families, then?”

“Well, my family isn’t a military family,” Tommy admitted, “but Sabrina’s dad was in the Army twice.”

“Twice?”

“Dad joined the Army in 1987, after high school. That’s where he met Mom. My Uncle Ken was Dad’s roommate in the 82nd Airborne. Dad got out of the Army in ’91 after Uncle Ken died in the Persian Gulf War. Dad reenlisted after the attacks in 2001, and the rest of us stayed here instead of following him to his duty station. Like I said yesterday, he’s a paramedic now.”

“And your mom? You didn’t say yesterday.”

“English teacher at the high school. What about your mom? What does she do in the Army?”

“Finance,” Naomi shrugged. “Nothing too important, not like being a paratrooper.”

Tommy cut Sabrina off before she could answer.

“It’s very important, Naomi. The Army’s gotta pay their soldiers and pay for the beans and bullets, or they wouldn’t have an army for long. There’s a tiny percentage of the military doing the actual fighting, and they need lots of people supporting them. They’re all essential. Everyone’s part of the team, of the same machine.”

“You’ve been listening to my dad too much, Tommy,” Sabrina chuckled.

“Sabrina, the more I think about my future, the more I think of going into the financial world – forensic accounting, specifically. Of course, things still might get done without people checking the books, but I doubt it.”

“And what are you going to do, Sabrina?” Naomi asked.

“Pfft,” Tommy cut in. “Boring stuff. Little Miss Badass over there’s gonna be an astronaut.”

Naomi looked at the friends, taking in the byplay.

“How did you guys do this, anyway?”

“What? Rag on each other? You’ll find it’s really easy to rag on Tommy,” Sabrina joked. “If you’re gonna be hanging around with us, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

“No, how did you get me to open up?” Naomi clarified. “I’ve been here almost six months, and this is the longest conversation I’ve had with anyone in this school!”

“It’s your fault,” Tommy mumbled around a mouthful of sandwich. “You’re the one who let us in. You asked questions, and we answered them. Simple.”

“Is that why you’ve looked so miserable all this time, Naomi? Because you’ve felt so isolated here?” Sabrina asked.

“I guess,” Naomi shrugged, uncomfortable again now that the spotlight was back on her.

“Miss Taggert is a very nice young lady,” Keiko remarked to Sabrina after dropping Naomi off at her house that afternoon. “She will be another good friend to you, especially next year. There are a lot of changes coming for you, Sabrina. Those changes will be easier to negotiate with friends.”

“I figured Tommy and I would make more friends next year, anyway. I like her, Mom. She says her mother will get out of the Army when her current enlistment is up, and they’ll likely stay in the area unless something changes. So Naomi should be with us all four years of high school.”

“Your friendship will likely be of more benefit to her than anything I teach her. An existence such as she led up until now can be very lonely for a young person.”

“Mom?” Sabrina looked over in surprise at her mother’s statement and the tone of voice she used.

“Sabrina, my own school experience was somewhat bleak. If you have not noticed, other young ladies can be rather cruel. In addition, my manner of speech isolated me, and I did little to change that on my own. Had it not been for my brother’s encouragement to ignore others and pursue my own goals, I may have asked your grandparents to enroll me at an all-girls school. My thinking at the time was that environment would be better for me, but I know now that it would have been even more isolating.”

“But you’re so confident, so self-assured.”

“It is something I cultivated as I grew up, Sabrina, something that required a lot of time for me. Meeting your father at Fort Bragg gave me the final, firm push I needed, and my collegiate experience was much more pleasant for me, for the most part. Even though I knew your father would be my future, it finally allowed me to relax around others outside my family and enjoy life more. That gave me more confidence.” Keiko smiled over at her daughter. “Thankfully, I do not believe you suffer from such a lack.”

Keiko sat on the couch next to her daughter and presented her with a slim book a week after Sabrina’s Eighth Grade graduation in June.

“What’s this, Mom? Pooh? I haven’t read Pooh stories for a few years now.”

“I am aware of this, Sabrina, but this book is not one of Milne’s Pooh books. Instead, your father and I wish you kids will recognize the value of balance in your lives. You are very driven, Sabrina, and we believe this book will help you in that regard.”

“A children’s book?”

“Again, it is not but rather uses Pooh and other characters from those stories to introduce the concepts of Taoism.”

“Which is what?”

“It is a belief system that encourages contemplation. It encourages simplicity and letting things take their natural course, which is not an unimportant lesson. Still, it may conflict with your goals or feel like it does. You will encounter situations you cannot control in your life, Sabrina, and you must learn how not to allow them to affect you. You must also learn to hear other philosophies and ideas, evaluate them for yourself, and decide if they fit your beliefs and goals. I chose to give you this book because of how Taoism is presented. The author uses the familiar characters as examples of how different people embody different ways of being.” Sabrina thanked her mother, promised to read the book, and headed upstairs.

“Whatcha got there?” Alex asked as she passed him in the hall. She showed him the book. “Ah. Your turn.”

“My turn?”

“Yeah, Ryan and I both got the same book from Mom last year. But, of course, the difference is I read mine. I doubt Ryan even opened his.”

“Thanks for picking me up, Herm,” Sabrina said to the recently-graduated high school senior. “When we get to your place, I have to thank your folks again for letting me stay with your family.”

Herman Schultheis looked over at the daughter of the man his brother DJ served with in the Army.

“Of course, Sabrina. Traffic doesn’t look too bad, so we’ll be at my house in less than half an hour. How was your flight?”

“It was good,” she replied with a shrug. “Better’n flying commercial, that’s for sure. Not a lot of flights from Boston to Denver make a stop in Fayetteville, North Carolina, so flying charter was a better choice for us anyway.”

“Why’d you stop there again?”

“Dad’s been out of the Army since 2005, but he still volunteers to run around the woods scaring the ROTC cadets at the base back home. He does that as part of the aggressor force on their training weekends. Then there’s their preparatory exercise before their major evaluation after their junior year. So for the last couple of years, he’s also been going to that major evaluation as an aggressor. They hold it at Fort Bragg in North Carolina for cadets from schools east of the Mississippi.”

“Well, having you stay with us is the least we can do since your dad helped get me on the staff at the hockey clinic. And he since he saved my brother’s life all those years ago.”

“I’m looking forward to both the clinic and meeting the rest of your family.”

“I don’t know why, but Mom is looking forward to having a teenaged girl in the house again.” Sabrina stuck her tongue out at Herm. “At least you’re a hockey player, unlike my sisters,” he grinned.

They walked into the hockey clinic’s rink the following day before any other participants arrived. Herm needed to be there early since he was on staff. He would help the other staff finish setting up for the week-long camp. Sabrina wasted no time getting changed and heading out to the ice. Several well-known instructors warmed up by firing shots at one of the goalies when she exited the tunnel into the bench area. Sabrina swung herself up onto the boards, placed her helmet next to her, and let her legs dangle over the ice. She watched the small crowd pepper the goalie with shots for a few moments before cupping her hands into a makeshift megaphone.

“HEY! MICKLICZ!” The NHLers stopped shooting and turned toward the bench as a group. “Glad to see your shooting’s improved since the Dallas series! God, you were brutal! Dad says he’ll fly out here and give you some pointers since you seem to have forgotten what he taught you!”

“You call your dad and tell him he can kiss my… um… backside!” Chris Micklicz yelled back. “I can’t forget what he didn’t teach me in the first place!”

Sabrina smiled and hopped off the boards before skating over to her father’s former high school teammate and hugging him.

“Hi, Uncle Chris!”

“Hiya, short stuff! How are your mom and that dirtbag she married?”

Sabrina giggled. “They’re good. Of course, if you ever called them, you’d know this.”

Chris rolled his eyes. “So, you’re gonna try out for the hockey team when you start high school next year, huh?”

“No, I’m gonna make the hockey team, Uncle Chris!”

“Tell your folks to help you with your confidence problem when you get home,” he chuckled. Sabrina poked him in the gut. “So you’re staying with one of your dad’s Army buddies this time instead of at the hotel?”

“Well, his family. Mr. DJ and his wife have three little kids at home. One of them’s only a few weeks old, so he suggested staying at his parents’ place. I’m staying in what used to be an in-law apartment, so it’s like having a hotel suite all to myself! With Herm working here, getting to the clinic every day won’t be a problem.”

“Hey, Micklicz, stop hitting on the campers. You could go to prison for that!” one of the retired pros called.

“Bite me, Jean!” he yelled back. To Sabrina, Chris posed the question, “So, what happened to me being your brother’s favorite hockey player? I have to tell you I’m feeling a little put out here.”

“You’re still his favorite hockey player, but that’s because he doesn’t like hockey much anymore. He’s focused on baseball now.”

“I thought Alex was the big baseball star?”

“They both are. Ryan’s a pretty good second baseman, not that I’d say that to his face. Alex is a fire-balling pitcher who is developing some filthy breaking stuff. As freshmen, both got a little playing time with the varsity baseball team this year.”

“Why the sudden change, though?”

“Honestly, Uncle Chris, I think it all started after Ryan and I came out here two years ago.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I blew his doors off that year,” Sabrina snorted. “Don’t you remember? I faked him out and broke his ankles three different times back then! Then I dared to get more playing time than he did that season. He hasn’t played since then.”

“So, he’s a sore loser?”

“I’d just say loser, but Mom and Dad yell at me when I say stuff like that.”