At dusk, the last rays of warm sunlight slanted down from the horizon onto the earth.
After the school bus dropped her off, Anya came home alone with her little schoolbag on her back.
"Papa, Mama, Richie! Anya's home!" Anya was clearly very excited.
Yor's gentle voice rang out. "Welcome home, Anya. Richie really missed you. Go see him! He's been lying in bed all day, bored out of his mind!"
"Wait a little, Richie! Anya has something big to announce, then she'll come keep you company!" Anya shouted toward Richie's room at the top of her lungs.
Richie had certainly heard her from his room. Ever since Anya opened the door, he had been wishing his ribs would heal instantly so he could run to the door to greet her.
Twilight was chopping onions at the time. Anya hurried excitedly over to him, not even taking the time to put down her little schoolbag:
"Papa, Anya heard some earth-shattering news."
Twilight looked up at Anya. "What news?"
Anya smiled sweetly. "Papa, they say you can get a Stella in next week's dodgeball match."
Twilight muttered inwardly, They say? Sounds like the information isn't all that reliable!
Hearing Twilight's doubts, Anya hurried to add, "Becky told me!"
Before Twilight could answer, Yor came over and told Anya, "Anya, it looks like we'll need some special training."
Anya looked determined. "Special training!"
Yor bent down to meet Anya's eyes. "So, what sport will you be competing in?"
"Dodgeball."
"Dodgeball?" Yor straightened up and rested a hand against her chin in thought. "If I remember correctly, dodgeball is the sport where you throw balls at each other and eliminate the other side, right?"
A faint smile tugged at Twilight's lips. Eliminate?
Eliminate? Twilight felt that was something he was rather good at.