The Longest Badminton Shot

By H.Yashnashree

Chapter 1: Introduction

"Yashna! How long are you taking?" said Mom from the kitchen. "Mom, I won’t take so long", Yashna groaned. Yashna had gone to get a pair of socks for her badminton class. As soon as she got it, she scampered down the stairs and placed it in her bag. Mom shouted," I am outside starting the vehicle, come fast". Yashna sighed, heaved the bags, and dashed through the garden in which her pets, Sunshine and Meadow, the roosters, bounded after her, playfully nudging both of them in the side of their tails. As soon as she reached the gate, the roosters skidded themselves to a halt and put on a goodbye expression on their faces. Mom closed the gate and hopped on the scooter, with Yashna also perched behind her. Then they speeded through the roads to their destination, Yashna’s badminton class. "Bye!", Yashna and Mom said together as they left Yashna at the gate of the badminton center. Yashna vaulted in joy. She ran near the center and stopped at the building with yellow and red bricks. Yashna absent-mindedly chewed her nail as thousands of thoughts buzzed around her like a honeybee. It was about, would Brithi, Shestra, Adhifa, and Sahastra come. It was her friends who never came for the holidays. It was troubling her that her friends might have left the center, or maybe even still on holiday.

Yashna took a deep breath, stepped into the center, and ran up the stairs. She was on the last and topmost floor, which had her badminton class. Yashna stared into the empty corridor of her badminton class and saw the only shadow looming across the wooden steps. Yashna saw it. It was a girl with a dark bob standing near the bench. As the lights were off, she couldn’t see who it was. Suddenly, it appeared in her mind that it was Brithi, and she had never seen her standing in the darkness before. "Brithi?", Yashna called out. "Huh!", Brithi replied. Yashna reached out and turned on the switches of the light. Finally, she could see everything with the lights on. She could also see Brithi standing near the wooden steps, vaguely distracted by twirling hair. Her gaze fell upon Yashna worriedly, and she ran towards Yashna with arms wide open. Yashna asked Brithi," What happened?". Brithi said, "You might not have known this, but Shestra, Adhifa, and Sahastra, you and I are partners, but since Shestra and Adhifa haven’t yet started their classes because of the holidays. So Sahastra, you and I will be partners".

Yashna tried to lighten up Brithi’s mood and asked," What’s the problem with that?". Brithi uneasily hesitated for a moment and replied," Sahastra and I have enrolled you in the longest badminton shot of the year contest because I can’t do it as I sprained my legs, and Sahastra can’t do it," and she added," Some man was walking with a clipboard in his hand, walking towards each of the partners, and was made to enroll at least one for the contest". Yashna’s face became pale, and their jaws opened. "So you have enrolled me in the competition", said Yashna in disbelief. Brithi fidgeted and groaned,"Ya" and she added," I have booked these two courts for us today for practising". Suddenly Sahastra zipped up and said," Hello guys "and her leer fell on Yashna, and she too became gray. “Ya, I know, I know", moaned Yashna," You think I am cross at you".

Sahastra nodded shyly at Yashna. Yashna saw Sahastra was holding a primrose-coloured bag labeled for Yashna. Brithi nodded towards the bag and joked," I wonder what she stored in it for you today". Sahastra pulled out a lavender pair of sneakers, white lace socks, and a box of shuttles. There was a small, awkward silence. Brithi broke it and drooled, "Hope there is no fancy parade coming yet". Soon, they finished their exercises to be fit, and Yashna practised her best to smash it to the back box of the court. Indeed, it didn’t go any further. Yashna was disappointed, took her gifts, and went home. Her friends followed behind her and left for their homes.

Chapter 2 :The Greatest Advice

Yashna was busy drooling about her thoughts on the longest shot of badminton of the year. As her teacher started writing on the chalkboard. Yashna had gone to school the next day after the shocking badminton episode was over. Her best friend, Manya, gave a goofy smile and tapped Yashna on the back. "Yashna", Manya whispered. "What are you dreaming?", said Manya. Yashna spoke in a low-pitched voice," I have no idea". "I don’t feel interested in hearing about the subject", said Yashna. Manya replied," Actually, you must be attached to listening to a particular subject because doing what you love makes you feel inspired, and you will never find it again". "Yes, you are right", Yashna bellowed. Meanwhile, she walked to badminton, thinking about Manya’s advice. Suddenly, she felt inspired and had an urge to do something immediately. When she reached the badminton court, her friends greeted her as Yashna told them the plan. She whispered," Brithi, buy a four-length rope, and Sahastra get a huge rock from downstairs. I will do my stretching work".

Sahastra walked to Kittur Rani Chennamma Stadium and saw a huge boulder towering before her. She tried to carry it, but it didn’t work. She ran back to Yashna and asked her for help. Yashna told her to get a medium-sized rock. Finally, Sahastra got one and kept it before Yashna. Yashna uttered," Thank you". Brithi walked in with a huge cardboard box and blurted," The shopkeeper in which I had bought this rope gave me a free Trampoline, which is too small and on which only babies can fit". Yashna remarked," Wonderful and useful. You guys all watch me". Yashna tied half of the rope to the boulder and the other half to her hips. She commanded Brithi and Sahastra to keep the trampoline near the boulder. Yashna leaped on the trampoline, did a somersault, a cartwheel, and a little twirl in the air, and landed perfectly on her feet. Yashna said," I am going to be practising like this for the longest badminton shot. I will get the moves correctly".Typically, Brithi and Sahastra rolled their eyes.

Chapter -3 : Surprise party for the cheerleading

While Yashna was practising, Sahastra and Brithi sat in the stalls and talked about something important: HOW TO ENCOURAGE YASHNA AND CHEER LEAD IN HER HONOUR. Sahastra voiced out, "Maybe we can design cheerleading outfits and accessories. I think we can shop for some equipment". Brithi nodded," Yup! I remember we discussed this last night. I have got the pocket money". Sahastra volted up and lied to Yashna," Our mother told us to buy grocery stuff from the market. We will come back soon". Yashna oddly kicked up "Yes ",in the air. The two girls scampered outside the block to a shop called Cheerleading Unique. Both of them went inside.

Inside, each aisle was filled with cheerleading stuff. Sahastra hurtled in delight to a corner nook of the shop where the aisles were filled in with red-coloured bracelets with medium-sized diamonds crusted on them. Brithi rolled up a trolley to where Sahastra was standing. Sahastra dropped two of the red-coloured bracelets with diamonds on them inside the trolley. Brithi beamed with happiness. "OMG! I have been dreaming of buying that stuff". It was 'just a girl who loves cheerleading pouch’. I painted the person in rainbow and prime rose colours as a vase. They dropped two of them in. Brithi and Sahastra scooted with the trolley to the pom-pom section. They took one pink-coloured pair of pom-poms and gold, blue, and white mixed pom-poms. They took one pair of metallic brush pom-poms, a blue colour cheerleading bow holder, a pink colour cheerleading bottle, door flexibility, a stretching leg strap, two pairs of outfits, colourful bows, thick bam-bams, and a cheer charm bracelet.

Brithi finally paid and flung their shopping bags around happily. Sahastra said loudly," I think we must see YouTube for the cheerleading session". The shopkeeper of the cheerleading shop, Mrs. Rani, asked kindly to Sahastra and Brithi," Would you like to have a cheerleading session here from 5 to 6 p.m.?". "Sure", the girls excitedly replied. They registered themselves for the batch and joyfully ran off to the stadium. Yashna greeted them and said," I have practised how to do the gymnastics for jumping and hitting, and very well, it's going well." Tomorrow is the match, and I am ready. I will have one more practise from 6 to 7 p.m. in the badminton court". Yashna left the court, flexing her fingers excitedly for the big day. Sahastra and Brithi called Mrs. Rani for the session. Yashna wondered what was going on between them because they were silent. After Yashna left, Mrs. Rani emerged from the shadows who was listening keenly to the conversation.

Chapter–4 : The racking session

Mrs. Rani twinkled as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. She was wearing a hot pink cheerleading outfit with golden buckles and a small badge pinned to her saying that she won first prize in gymnastics. A pink ribbon with twirls dangled on each side from Mrs. Rani’s brunette, beige ponytail, which reached almost to her legs. She looked like Rapunzel in a fantasy tale. Mrs. Rani did the hook-tail dance and the tango dance. Suddenly, Sahastra stopped at one dance and asked again the question that annoyed Mrs. Rani: " When are we going to learn the twirl dance". Mrs. Rani picked up the spectacles, wiped the dark-rimmed glass, and wore them. "Ahh", her voice cracked," You girls must learn it if you want to". The girls finally learned how to somersault, cartwheel, twirl in the air, and do the tippy-top dance. The girls were also spectacular in how Mrs. Rani transformed them into real-life cheerleaders. Soon, the moon came out and showed its silvery, raspy light. The girls sat on the bleachers and chugged water into their parched mouths. They huffed and puffed home.

Chapter 5: The Fantastic Match Winner Is …

The next day’s dawn broke out, shining its happy light all over the town. Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti To Ti La So Fa Mi Re Do. The VIP’s guest room has been blasted with dame Aadarshini, a talented lady in Piano and famous for her classical music. She was sitting in the badminton VIP room, having heat waves all over her face and sweating because of her fur coat. She had an ancient golden gramophone. She was using her grand black slick piano, in turn, to compose a song for the winner. Panchajanya Court had a VIP room, especially down below the earth. It was a secret compartment that nobody knew about, so the VIPs could hide safely without being pounded for autographs until the competition was on hold. Yashna was about to enter the court when she realised it was closed due to preparation. So she called her father through her smartwatch. It was like her own miniphone.

Her father had requested his playmate's badminton court for Yashna to play with him. Her father was passionate about playing badminton and was full of beans to hear that she had taken part in the longest badminton shot. Suddenly, a voice screamed in the mike," Hi Yashna". Of course! It was her cousin. They didn’t have their smartphones yet. So they were using their dad’s phone to communicate with her. She cut the call. Yashna’s father asked her if she could show him her precious smash moves. Yashna blabbered," Sorry Dad, you can watch me perform at the show. If that is the case." He sighed," Okay". After a few hours of private practise in her bedroom, Yashna got ready and rushed to the badminton court with her parents and relatives. They all got seated on the bleachers. Yashna couldn’t help but she was proud and filled with pride. After all, the court was made up of green, blue, grey, brown, and black. But now they have decorated from down to up with colourful ribbons, bows, streamers, confetti, and sprinkles. She could not find Brithi or Sahastra, but only their families.

Suddenly, her coach was in a slick black outfit with oiled hair and a mustache, in a white vest with a red bow. He shrugged at his audience. " First, let’s have H. Yashnashree on the court to do a smash on her opponent chosen by other badminton classes, and who hits the shuttle to the backcourt or anywhere from two courts miles away will win. They will be selected for the final round, and the winner will get the trophy." Yashnashree came with her racquet, nervously fidgeting from side to side. Her coach remarked, "Yashna will play from team A; Bindhu from team B; Zahora from team C; Diya from team D; Yuthika from team E; Vardhini from team F; Advith from team G; Akshara from team H...." After Panchajanya's coach had finished talking about the teams, He yelled," 4 p.m, 5 p.m, 6 p.m , batches of Panchajanya have been present as well. Well, we may begin the competition."

Teams A and B are going to show their smash skills. Yashna and Bindhu walked up to the court with their parents, who looked very concerned about the match. Bindhu served the shuttle, and Yashna twirled, somersaulted, and hit a perfect smash. It went overhead as Bindhu crossed the other two courts and landed in the exercise box. Everyone gasped in agast. Zahora and Diya played, and Diya won. Likewise, Yuthika and Akshara won their respective matches. Soon, Yashna has to play with Diya. Yashna hit her famous smash, and Diya lost. Yuthika and Akshara played, and Akshara won the match. It was the final match for the Smash.

Yashna and Akshara were ready to play. Yashna used her rigorous smash, and suddenly, Akshara gave her double the challenging smash. Instantly, Brithi and Sahastra popped out of their secret location with the cheerleading outfits and accessories. Yashna lost her footing and almost fell. Immediately, she held her racket high and kept her hand on the ground, giving her a challenging smash. The winner was Yashna. She held the trophy splendidly. Meanwhile, Brithi and Sahastra shyly used their equipment. Swiftly to see Brithi and Sahastra wearing one ponytail for the first time. The two girls did hippy dance movements backward. Brithi flung Sahastra on her shoulder, and they did the twirl dance. The day ended happily as the two girls entertained everybody with cheerleading techniques.

The End

By H.Yashnashree