This is an original story. All similarities between the characters in the story and real-life are completely unintentional and is simply a coincidence. Feedback is appreciated.
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The baseball park in the town of Bellevue was filled with excitement and anticipation from the throngs of children running around the grounds. Opening Day always brought out these feelings from the kids; finally they were able to get back outside after the winter's snow was all melted away. For the start of baseball season, it has always been customary for the town to have a celebration to begin the season. All the players from the different teams and age groups would gather at the town's baseball park and every player would get a chance to be introduced in front of the many parents, grandparents, siblings and the rest of the relatives that showed up in support.
It was also a great day for the parents to catch up with each other after the long winter. One could see the different groups of men and women standing around in circles of various sizes; the women bragging about the latest escapades or accomplishments of their children, each doting mother trying to outdo the others' stories. The men would be there too but their conversations tended to be along the lines of how the local football team performed the previous year or how the baseball team would do this year.
The entire scene had a festival-like atmosphere; the concession stand was busy grilling burgers and hot dogs, there was a dunk tank set up on top of home plate on one of the Little League fields trying to raise money for charity and everyone was admiring the brand new scoreboard that was donated for the park by one of the local storeowners in town.
For Rachel Niles, the event was a little overwhelming. This was her first experience as a parent dealing with an event like Opening Day and she was a little apprehensive about it. Rachel and her seven-year-old son Marcus had only moved to Bellevue in January, which was thankfully just in time to sign Marcus up for his favorite sport. This was an absolute necessity in Rachel's eyes. Moving her and her son halfway across the country happened extremely quickly; it was quite an ordeal for the two of them so Rachel knew she needed to normalize her son's life after what they had been through.
Marcus, on the other hand, was simply amazed with the atmosphere. He gazed around with wonderment at all the sights and sounds that were around the park. He had never seen anything like this before. Marcus was wearing his new baseball uniform, complete with small plastic cleats, kid-size baseball glove and a red baseball cap that came down over his ears. Excitedly, he was trying to drag Rachel faster toward the festivities. After walking around the park for a few minutes and asking for help, they finally arrived at the makeshift check-in area that was used to organize all of the players and ensure that everyone was there. The man at the desk and looked up and smiled at Rachel and Marcus.
"Good morning, Miss! What is your child's name and team?"
"My name is Marcus and I'm a Cub," Marcus exclaimed proudly as he took of his hat and showed it to the man behind the table.
"Yes, you are," said the man smiling at Marcus. "And how old are you, Marcus?"
"I'm seven-years-old."
"Wow! Seven already!" exclaimed the man with a huge smile, which remained in place as he spoke to Rachel. "What a cute kid you have there."
"Thank you," Rachel replied to the man with a more hesitant smile. "Could you tell us where we are supposed to go? This place is a bit of a zoo and I can't figure out where we are supposed to be."
"Of course. He is in a league with the other seven and eight-year-olds. They are gathering along the outfield fence by the small field behind me. The rest of the team should be there as well. My name is Justin, by the way. If you have any more questions, don't be afraid to find me and ask. I will be around the field all day."
"Thank you for your help," Rachel responded curtly. She couldn't place it but she felt that something was off about this man on the other side of the table.
"No problem. It was my pleasure," the man told Rachel with a slimy grin on his face and a wink to go along with it. Rachel, disgusted at the obvious come-on, quickly put her arm around Marcus and took him to find their designated place along the fence in the direction the man had pointed out .
After leading Marcus to his team and introducing herself to the coach, Rachel found a seat on the metal bleachers along the field for the ceremonies. She took of her hat to shake out her shoulder-length blonde hair and then redid it into a ponytail, putting the hat back on. From what she could gather by overhearing the conversations all around her, what was to happen coming up was every player from each team would have their name announced over the field's PA system. The child would get the thrill of jogging out to their team and having all in attendance cheer them as if they were a professional player for a few small but very important seconds.
There were a few minutes before the ceremony began so Rachel closed her eyes momentarily to reset her thoughts. The last four months had been a complete whirlwind and she finally had a chance to breathe. The bright, sunny day and the cool breeze that floated through the park made it easier for Rachel to relax, even in these strange surroundings. However, as was almost always the case when she had time to think, her thoughts immediately turned to the cause of the drastic shakeup of her life. Thoughts that no matter what she did to avoid would never leave her mind.
While deep in thought about those saddening circumstances, Rachel felt a slight tap on her right shoulder, causing her to jump and gasp out loud. She looked over and saw a beautiful woman in her mid-fourties with brown hair that went down to just below her shoulders standing next to her wearing a worried expression on her face.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to startle you like that. Are you ok?" asked the woman.
"Sorry. Yes, I'm fine, thanks. I guess I was just a bit startled," replied Rachel as she tried to regain her breath.
"Ok, good. I am glad to hear that," said the woman. "I was just wondering if your husband was sitting here. I arrived a little bit late and I can't seem to find a seat."
"No. I don't have anyone sitting there," Rachel responded, although with a catch in her breath and a pain in her eyes that did not go unnoticed by the woman.
Ignoring the pain of the last question was a challenge for Rachel. All it did was bring back a flood of bad memories that she had been trying to forget. It seemed like no matter what she did or how long she went trying to forget, something would happen that would release those painful memories into her consciousness. A lone tear escaped her eye as those dormant thoughts were remembered.
The woman next to her grabbed a tissue from her purse and gave it to Rachel. Rachel took it and dabbed her eye. "Oh, no. I've made it even worse. I don't know how you could ever forgive me."
"No, it's not your fault," Rachel sniffled. "I have had a lot of stuff going on and for some reason I got a little emotional. Thank you for your concern." She tried not to let on what was bothering her; after all, it was not this woman's problem
"Are you sure you're ok?" the woman asked.
