Emily Reed Community Field
Chapter 18 - Emily Reed Community Field
The city planned to demolish the abandoned stadium where Adrian and Lucas found the time capsule.
Adrian bought it.
Months later, the gates reopened beneath a new sign:
EMILY REED COMMUNITY FIELD.
No child would have to pay to play.
Equipment, training, and transportation were provided for families who could not afford them.
Adrian could have named it after himself.
He chose Emily.
Lucas wore number eleven on the first team.
After a victory, he handed Adrian the old signed soccer ball.
“It’s falling apart.”
Together, they placed it inside a glass case near the entrance.
Beneath it, Lucas wrote:
THE BALL THAT FOUND ITS WAY HOME.
That evening, father and son sat alone at midfield.
Lucas casually said one word.
“Dad?”
Adrian stopped breathing.
Lucas looked at him.
“What?”
Adrian smiled through tears.
May you like
“Nothing.”
It was the first time Lucas had called him Dad.
