It is 8:00 a.m. on a warm, sunny, April Sunday morning, church starts at 10 A.M.  77℉, clouds slowly moving across the blue sky.  All I can hear is a basketball dribbling on the basketball court by the river.  I have been up since 6:30 a.m. working on my left hand, with dribbling and shots.  I have been doing everything with my left hand ever since my coach told me it would help.  I’ve been brushing my teeth with my left hand.  I’ve been brushing my hair with my left hand.  I’ve been writing with my left hand.  I’ve been texting with my left hand.  I’ve been eating with my left hand.  Everything with my left hand. 
Every Sunday morning, I wake up at 6:30 a.m. and walk down to the basketball court.  I stay at the court until 8:30.  I get home around 8:45 so I can shower and put on my good dress.  I also have to wake my mother and my 11 year-old twin siblings up for church.  If I didn’t wake them up, they would never get out of bed and I would be going to church alone.  My mother is reluctant to getting up, but she knows how much church means to me.  So she will help me get my brother and sister up.  My brother, Nathan is getting to the stage where he doesn’t care about anything really.  He doesn’t understand the importance of grades or attendance in school, or in church.  He believes in God, but he doesn’t understand why we have to go to church every Sunday.  My sister, Cassy, on the other hand, cares a little too much about everything.  She’s getting very sassy, and has to get her way on everything.  She will argue with me for hours about a stupid subject, but she knows she will never win if she asks not to go to church.  She may not like it, but I make her go every Sunday.  I attend a little white church, in the center of our small town.  Everyday at 12 O’clock P.M. the bells will ring throughout the whole town.
I’m just now getting home from the basketball court, to shower and wake up the rest of the family.  I shower first so I can get the hot water, then I wake up my mother.  When I walked into my mother's’ room, I accidentally scared her when I touched her shoulder and told her to wake up. 
“Maddie, what are you doing?!?” Mother exclaimed, “What time is it?”
“Mom, it’s 8:47,” as I say trying to calm her down, “we have church.”
I then walk into Nathan, and Cassy’s room to get them up. “Guys get up, we have church.”
All I can hear from them are moans of hatred.  So I went over to their beds and pulled the covers off of them.  They both looked at me and started yelling at me. 
“Stop that! Right now!” they yelled in unison “I was warm and asleep, why did you have to wake us up?”
“Because,” I explained, “we have to go to church.”
“Well why can’t we just sleep a little longer?”
“No, you have to get up and get dressed.  Come on let’s go.”
They finally got up, and got dressed.  We all got into our little, old, white car, to get to church.  Mother drove, I sat shotgun, Nathan and Cassy sat in the back, complaining the whole time.  We finally got to church and they stopped complaining. 
It felt like Monday morning came faster than normal.  I have a basketball game today.  It is a home game and we normally have pretty big crowds on home games, and a college coach is coming to watch me, so I need to play extraordinarily well tonight.  I don’t have time to play mediocre.  I will only be able to afford college, if I get a basketball scholarship.  We don’t have much money at home.
I woke up at 5 A.M. like I usually do.  It was raining and storming when I woke up so I didn’t take the 15 minutes to walk to the basketball court.  I just stayed home and worked on bell handling skills in the basement.  When I wanted to work on dribbling, I had to go outside to the garage, so I wouldn’t wake anybody up.  In the basement I put tape down on the floor for how a ladder would look.  I did this so I could get my feet moving faster.  6:30 came fast.  I had to go back upstairs so I could shower, wake Cassy and Nathan up, eat breakfast, and pack my lunch. 
“Guys, get up.”
“What time is it?” Cassy mumbled, still groggy from sleeping.
“Ummm it’s 6:45” I told Cassy.
“Can I sleep another 10 minutes?” Cassy requested
“No.”
“Okay fine I’m getting up.” Cassy sounded angry and tired
“Nathan, are you up?” I asked
“Mhhhmmm” He mumbled, not sounding too convincing.
“Get up!”
“I’M GETTING UP” Nathan yelled at me.
“Calm down.” I exclaimed, “I’m older than you, you do not yell at me.”
“Sorry…” Nathan said quietly.
“Get dressed.”
They got dressed, and came out to the kitchen.  For breakfast I made eggs and toast.
It is raining, and mother isn’t up yet.  We don’t want to walk to school in the rain, so we woke her up for her to drive us.  She isn’t very happy that she had to wake her up.  She would do anything for us.  She feels bad that we don’t have much at home, but I tell her it’s okay, because we have each other.  She is a waitress at the local diner.  She normally doesn’t work mornings, so she gets to sleep in a little.  She goes into work at 9:00 a.m., but we woke her up at 7:00. 
She brought us all to school.  She dropped Cassy, and Nathan off first, because they are at the Middle school.  Then she dropped me off at the high school.  As I am getting out of the car she grabs my hand looks at me and says “Good luck today, only a few more points, are you ready?”
“Thank you!  I hope I get it..  It’s a little stressful knowing that.  I just need to stay concentrated and not think about it, and I will be fine.” 
“You will do fantastic honey, good luck.  I love you!”
“Thank you, I love you too!”
I sat in school all day, not really paying any attention, because I have been thinking about the game tonight.  I didn’t get any homework today so I don’t have to worry about that tonight, the only thing I have to worry about is the game. 
It’s almost game time.  We are warming up.  One minute left in the warm up.  We huddle up to figure out what defense we are starting with.  We then line up across the three-point line holding hands as the national anthem is played.  When that is over, the starters sit down on the bench and wait for our names to be called. 
My name is the first to be called, “Junior, number 34, Maddison King.”  The crowd goes crazy.  Everybody’s screaming and clapping.  I jump up give my coaches a high five.  Run over, shake the other team’s coaches hand, and tell them good luck.  Run by the refs as I knuckle touch all of them, saying “thank you” as they tell me good luck.  The whistle blows and I’m up in the air trying to tip the ball.  We win the tip, I run far ahead my teammate passes me the ball.  I shoot a lay up and I score.  I got the first two points of the game.   The crowd goes crazy again.  The game is tied 32-32 at halftime. I have 12 points.  I got 7 more points in the third quarter.  We are winning 64-53, I have 23 points with 17 seconds left.  I need three more points to get 1,000 points.  My teammate threw the ball down court to me.  I dribble to the basket.  There are three girls on me.  I take the shot.  I got pushed.  The ball went through the hoop.  The crowd goes wild.  One more point and I get my 1,000 points.  This foul shot could be the last point.  My mind is racing.  It’s silent.  I can’t focus.  I shoot the ball.  It’s straight on.  I think I might go in.  NOO!  It bounced in then out.  I didn’t make it.  I’m stuck at 999 points right now.  6 seconds left.  We put a press on them.  I’m in the middle.  They pass the ball in.  I get a steal.  Take in for a lay up.  3 seconds left.  I shoot.  I score.  I scream. My eyes get watery.  The crowd goes crazy.  I just got my 1,000 points!!! I am so excited.  I hug my coach then I go hug my mom.  My team surrounds me.  They are so proud of me.  I start to cry, soon tears are streaming down my face.  I can’t believe this just happened to me.  I have been dreaming of this day since I was four.