Happy Holidays!
I hope everyone has had a great Christmas and is planning to have a wonderful New Year. I am happy to announce my latest release on smashwords. “The Trainer Season Two” continues the story of a womens college basketball team as they deal with the trials and tribulations of a long injury plagued season. I hope everyone enjoys and I look forward to getting feedback from everybody.
Happy Holidays,
Ann
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/392595
Below is an excerpt from an upcoming release, “The Trainer, Season 2” to be released in the next couple weeks. Visit smashwords to see other books already published, including “The Trainer”
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AnnKler
I hope everyone enjoys and as always I look forward to feedback.
Nicole and I prepared my house for everyone to come over on Christmas Eve. Nicole made a prime rib and the house was decorated for the occasion. I went out and got lots of inexpensive gifts and wrapped them up so all the girls would have a gift.
Nicole helped Jan get dressed for the party. She put on a pair of shorts as it was too much trouble to deal with long pants over the soft cast. She wore a nice linen blouse and had a comfortable sandal on her good foot. We helped her out to the sofa and had her shattered foot properly elevated on pillows.
Monica arrived first. She wore a pair of white denim jeans and a flannel shirt. She had dressy boots on under the jeans. She had a hinged brace on her injured knee. She was off the crutches at this point but still walked with a limp.
Elke was next to arrive. She wore jeans and a red turtle neck. She had a leather docksider on her good foot and her injured ankle was wrapped in the ace bandage. I helped her down onto the love seat adjacent to where Jan was on the couch. I helped her get her ankle properly elevated on pillows.
After I fixed drinks for everyone Gabriela arrived. She wore a cute dress and had a ballet style flat on her good foot. I helped her down onto a dining room chair adjacent to the living room. I helped her put her injured ankle up onto a second chair.
When dinner was ready Jan insisted that she could make it to the dining room table to enjoy dinner with everyone. Jan was a real trooper despite being in a lot of pain. While she did her best to smile I could see fear in her eyes, not only for the surgery she would go through day after tomorrow, but for the months she was going to spend on crutches and in casts.
The girls all enjoyed dinner. Afterwards we helped Jan and Elke back to the couch and the love seat. Gabriela again sat at the table with her foot elevated. Nicole, Monica and I poured more wine and distributed it to the rest of the girl. Monica limped with a stiff leg as she took a glad to Gabriela.
We passed around gifts that I had gotten for everyone and Nicole and I had wrapped up. Everyone opened there gifts while we enjoyed our wine. The girls all grew kind of quiet and looked at each other smiling.
“Ok, what’s up?” I asked looking at the girls with a smile. “Well, all of the gifts haven’t been given out yet….” Elke said from her place on the loveseat. “No, I think that is it…” I say looking towards the bedroom where we had the gifts hidden. “Maybe one got overlooked” Gabriela said as Monica moved into the kitchen.
Monica emerged with a box 6”x6” with a ribbon on it. “What is this?” I ask looking at the package. “Well we talked to the rest of the team, we talked to coach and we even tracked down coach Swan at his new job, and we even had a donation jar in the athletic department…..” I sat wondering where all this was going. “This is for everything you do, to keep us put together, to keep us motivated or for doing the right thing and saying we can’t play” Elke says from her spot on the love seat.
Monica hands me the package and sits on the love seat next to Elke. “We asked Nicole what would be a good gift….” Jan says as I unwrapped the package. As I open the box and look in I see a piece of paper. “She said you were planning to go to Europe next summer….” Elke said. I looked at the paper with a confused look on my face.
“It’s a travel voucher….” I said examining the paper. “For $1,000…” I said taken aback. “Yes, it’s the least we could do…” Elke said watching me struggle to keep my emotions under control. “Oh my, I don’t know what to say…..” I said astonished by the gesture. “Don’t say anything, just enjoy the trip” Elke said in her German accent.
Nicole hugged me as I struggled to keep my composure. “I can’t thank all of you enough” I say first hugging Monica. I then hug Elke, and then Jan and finally Gabriela where she sits at the dining room table. “It’s from all the girls plus the others who donated, so we can’t take all the credit” Elke says.
We enjoyed the rest of the evening together. By about 10PM I could see Jan was in a lot of pain so I suggest we wind the party down so we could get her to bed and get her foot properly elevated. All the girls hugged Nicole and me as they left. They thanked us for giving them a place to celebrate Christmas, and everything else we do for them.
Ann Kler 