जयारामन कोसाराजु

“Hot Spaghetti!” I shouted as I dashed to the closest base on the left. Laughter and shouts erupted as I ran, but I didn’t stop. When I was within a few steps of the base, I took a flying leap and landed on it. The first baseman on the other team laughed. I smiled … until I saw the red ball thrown across the field to a different base. My teammates continued to shout, but all the voices and laughter smashed together into a jumble of sounds. With his foot on the base, Caden caught the red ball. “Out,” he shouted with a big grin. “Charlie, you’re out,” Mr. Wells said. He motioned to me, so I jogged to where he stood behind home plate. “You ran to the wrong base. That is third base, not first.” I scratched my head. “That means we run in a counterclockwise direction for this game,” I said. Mr. Wells raised his eyebrows. “I suppose so,” he said. “I thought clockwise was the standard circular direction here.” “Go wait in line with the rest of your team,” Mr. Wells said.”
― Kristen Otte, Alien Kid