Tetherball Tussle

The handball court was a blur of flying balls, shouts of victory, and the occasional thud as someone missed. Maya, Sam, and I were on our game, our usual fierce but friendly competition, but our eyes kept darting towards the far end of the playground, near the towering tetherball pole. That’s where we’d seen them. The kids from the other side of the tracks, the ones who always seemed to be lurking, the ones we suspected had made off with our beloved Carroms.

"See anything, Leo?" Maya whispered, her voice tight with anticipation. She’d just slammed a perfect underhand serve, the ball whizzing past my outstretched hand.

I squinted, trying to make out the figures clustered around the pole. The sun was a little too bright, making the details fuzzy. "Yeah," I breathed, excitement bubbling in my chest. "It's them. The whole crew."