The Incredible Journey of the Wellington Tennis Twins (fiction), sample page:
“C’mon Lara, we’re wasting time. We can still get a couple of hours of tennis in before Mom wants us home for dinner, let’s go!”
“One second, Josh, I have to finish washing the dishes. Are you done with your chores?”
“Yeah, sure…well, most of them,” Josh answered hesitantly. From experience, he knew what would happen next.
“C’mon, finish up or otherwise Mom will take away some TV or video game time. You know the rules, you have to…”
“Okay, okay,” Josh said with a sigh. “No nagging, I’ll do it.” Lara giggled, “I’m not nagging. You should consider yourself lucky to have an older sister watching out for you.”
“Older sister?” Josh replied with a raised eyebrow. “C’mon, Lara, being born two minutes before me hardly gives you the right to call yourself my older sister.”
They both laughed loudly. Lara and Josh Wellington were non-identical, or “fraternal” twins. That means kids who are born at the same time but don’t necessarily look alike. Twelve-year-old Lara had long, light-colored hair and a freckled face, while twelve-year-old Josh had shortly-cropped brown hair and a smooth, slightly darker complexion. One thing they did have in common was their height. They were both tall for their age, Lara almost five-feet-six inches, and Josh only a couple of inches shorter.
From the time that Lara and Josh were little, their parents taught them that twins share a very special bond. This certainly seemed to be true in their case. It helped that they had common interests: Lara was a real athlete, so her fascination with sports made her very cool as far as Josh was concerned. She was good, too, never hesitating to play with all the boys. Whether it was soccer, tackle football, or anything else, she was always right there in the middle of it.
For active kids like Lara and Josh, it was awesome growing up in West Hills, a wonderful multi-ethnic city just thirty miles from the heart of downtown Chicago. Not one day of their childhood passed without a neighborhood basketball game, or some other fun activity with all their friends. Mr. and Mrs. Wellington were very involved parents, spending time with their children on homework, art projects, and of course, sports. They took Lara and Josh to many sporting events. They went to the United Center to watch the Chicago Bulls play basketball, and to historic Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs. Mr. and Mrs. Wellington also exposed their kids to a wide variety of other exciting sports. They took them to see girls’ volleyball at the local high school, college wrestling, Olympic swimming trials, and pretty much everything else under the sun.
Two summers earlier, everything had changed in a very big way. After Lara and Josh attended a WTT match between the Sacramento Capitals and the New York Buzz, it was over. Hockey sticks and football cleats were quickly stored away in the closet. Karate lessons were cancelled. A flyer advertising dance lessons at the park was thrown away. The twins were only ten years old at the time, but they had discovered their true passion. They were drawn to tennis because they were seeing the sport in a whole new way.