Winston looked at the core notification—the update didn't really bring him joy. He exactly knew that the core would try to push him more. Winston's second experience was worse than the first. While in the dugout, he felt his chest would burst and his head spun, almost causing him to vomit. The energy syrup juices provided by the medic team helped him calm down, but he then experienced a sleepy body numbness. So the rest of the game was a blur for him, even when the team celebrated in the changing room. Winston stood up from the shower, he walked out of the shower disoriented, he sat on the bench with his boxers on.
Just as he leaned on his knees, the numbness in his legs went away. An unbearable heat replaced it. Winston panicked and rushed toward the bucket full of ice. He dunked the cold water over his body, the water he poured over his body created a steam that clouded the changing room. Winston hurried to the showers, almost stumbling, and cranked the water on as high as it would go. He sat there for a couple of minutes until he heard a double door swung opening Two medical staff walked toward Winston and examined him. His body temperature was now normal and his head stopped aching. The medic looked at him and said, "You seem fine, I think you overexert yourself and the body was shocked. Next time take it slow, we will tell coach that you are now fine. So please finish up and we will wait for you outside," the medical staff packed their stuff that was scattered around the shower bench.
A few minutes later, Winston and the medical staff came out of the building. In private, the head coach spoke with the medical staff. As Winston ascended the bus stairs and entered the hallway, cheers and applause broke out inside the bus. Some patted his back and some high five him; when Winston was in the dugout and changing room, he was surrounded by medical staff who were intently examining him. The entire team only truly celebrated once Winston was confirmed to be fine; Winston sat in his seat, though his strength hadn't fully returned and some parts of his body still ached. He didn't flop into the seat; rather, he settled onto it delicately. Oswin, who was asleep, woke up and turned to Winston, "Yo, Wis," he continued in a concerning voice, "How are you feeling, I think you need to stop. You have scored more goals right now,"
Winston slightly smiled and turned to Oswin and replied, "I am good, I am nearly at the end of my plan. So I need to hold on a little more. By the way, what number am I at right now? And did the players above me score goals in their match?,"
Oswin, shaking his head, and tapped on his phone and said, "Oh, lucky for you, Benjamin Kiliko didn't play. So now you are placed second, and Sebastian is still number one with two goals he had scored in today's match. Which means you have 13 goals and 18 goals."
"Damn, so I have to score 6 goals,"
"Yeah, but I doubt he will let you catch up, Sebastian scores in every match,"
"To bad we won't be playing against him,"
"Yeah, that's probably for the best. I'm not ready to play with that team just yet."
"Why? What happened?"
Oswin went quiet for a while and looked out of the bus window, then replied, "I will tell you next time, for now, I want to focus all my energy on the last game,"
"Oh, take your time, bro," This is the first time Winston noticed Oswin this down, so Winston decided to let him be and slouch back to his seat. The medical staff came and gave him a drink with a fizzy pill at the bottom of the glass. Winston gulped the water, and after a few minutes, he noticed his body and eyes growing heavy. He fought so hard to open his eyes, but in the end, he lost and drifted off.
It was an afternoon-like scene when Winston woke up in a windy field. When he sat up, And scanned the field—the field stretched out like a sea. As the golden grass swayed back and forth in the wind, Winston walked straight through the treeless field. Winston walked for hours on hours without stopping, after hundred steps, the wind would pick up. With each hundred steps the wind became stronger, Winston started using the grass for support—he pushed himself until he came across an enormous mountain foot. On either side, there were two mountains. The base of the massive mountains was arid, and the wind grew fierce, sounding like a whistle. Winston, utterly spent, discovered a boulder to hide behind and catch his breath, staying put for many hours.
Time was nonexistent here, so the sun stayed visible; however, Winston overlooked the wind's change in direction, which was now heading straight for him. With each wave of the wind, it rejuvenated his energy violently—the waves became aggressive to the point Winston found it hard to breathe. Struggling to breathe, he tried to run and hide on the other boulder. Like a predator, the wind chased Winston this time. It started being aggressive to a point Winston used his hand as a fan. And just as he felt his lungs pressing, he woke up panicking. He scanned the bus, and he calmed when he noticed he was still on the bus. He exhaled slowly, pondering the dream he'd just experienced. And it meaning, this is the first time he had such a vivid dream that when the wind attacked him, he felt it through his bones.
As the sun rose, Winston didn't sleep, he quietly sat, running the dream he just had in his mind. When everyone finally woke up, the medical team examined Winston, seeing that he was now a hundred percent better. They gave the head coach a nod, and he let out a breath of relief, "How are you feeling now?" Oswin said, stretching himself in his seat.
"Never better, maybe what I needed was a long sleep,"
"So what's the plan for this match, still want to score those six goals,"
"Yep, it's better to try than quit. Who knows? Maybe a senior club will spot my hard work and scout me."
"Too bad we won't have a proper game plan—we're arriving only an hour or two before kickoff. The coach will probably just run us through some warm-up drills when we get there."
"Which club are we playing against today again?"
"Oh, it's Hartford United, the last team on the season and the bottom team on the league table,"
"The irony"
"Haha, right. That's exactly what I was going to say."
"Playing games back to back is too exhausting, I hope when I play for a senior team. This crunch actually gets better, I miss being with a woman,"
Rolling his eyes, Winston couldn't help himself but chuckle, "Endure, and keep thy courage strong. Romeo"
"Haha, I will endeavor, though my heart, O brother mine, doth fade toward death."
Both Winston and Oswin burst out laughing, they laughed until they gasped for air. This went on for a while, it even caught the attention of their teammates. "I didn't know you knew Duvet Blouque"
"I can recite his most famous poem word for word, you forget women love these kinda cheesy stuff, especially the older ones," Oswin said expressively.
"Right, I forgot you are a ladies' man,"
"That's right and spread the word," Oswin said with a cheerful expression with his thumbs up.
Just as the two continued their conversation, the bus came to a stop and the head coach stood in the bus hallway. And said, "Since this is our last match of the season, let's make it our best one. Give it everything you've got out there, but don't injure yourselves or your opponents. Since we're using the formation, you're most comfortable with, I won't change it. Now let's go out there and secure those three points."
[DAILY USER CHALLENGES]
[Goals: 00/01]