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.