Wilhelm was really looking forward to his day of soccer with friends at the community
stadium. All week he had practiced, and now he was ready to show what he could
really do. As he was getting his jacket on to leave, his mother, Inger,
reminded him to keep himself safe and not to travel long distances.
"Don't worry,Mom" Wilhelm says with a smile.
"We'll only be crossing the village stadium, which isn't even that far."
Inger nodded,still a little doubtful but sort of forced faith in her son's ability to
choose correct courses.Wilhelm and his friends Göran, Lars, Felix and Jonathan
walked their bicycles toward the stadium.
They were cycling when Wilhelm suddenly got an idea. "Listen, guys, I've got a
good one. The first of us to reach the stadium gets to be team captain in
soccer."
And that very moment, the four friends launched themselves in the challenge and
started paddling furiously. Wilhelm was ahead, but Göran chased him, trying to
overtake him.
"Come on, Göran, you can do it!" Wilhelm shouted, urging on his friend.
Whereas Lars and Felix were both well ahead, with Jonathan far back, they were both
having a good time, jostling and joking all the way to the stadium.
At the approaches, Wilhelm was in the front, with Göran inches behind, but Göran
again gained from his finishing sprint and crossed the finish line first.
"Yes! I did it!" Göran exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air.
Wilhelm grinned, happy for his friend. "Good job, Göran. You earned it."
The group came into the stadium, dead tired but very ready to play soccer with
their friends. For the remainder of the day, they played, laughed, and had
really great times.
"That was a lot of fun," Lars said beaming from ear to ear.
"Yeah,we really should do that again sometime," Felix added.
The friends all nodded, already anticipating their next adventure together.