Freddy the Football

Freddy was a football who lived on a shelf in a sports store, but wanted to belong to someone who would love him. He had seen many of the other footballs, torn, patched and almost flat, brought back by boys looking for replacements. He was so happy when they came to buy baseballs and basketballs, instead of another football. One day Freddy was sold with other footballs to some men who took him to a football stadium, where he was placed on a tee and became part of the game. After much pain and rough handling by the monsters in uniform, he sailed through the air for a touchdown. The monster who caught him then slammed him to the ground so hard he thought his laces had broken. When placed in position for the field goal he was terrified of hitting the cross bar, but sailed through the uprights and into the arms of a little boy named Andy. Freddy finally found happiness in the arms of someone who loved him. He was now part of a family. Freddy the Football is one of several stories that Jim had composed, while his four children were young. Jim always claimed that by reading his stories to them, it seemed to have a calming effect on the 'Fearsome Foursome' before bedtime. Long forgotten in a file cabinet, he has recently resurrected them to read to his Grandchildren, hoping to have the same effect. Since the family has always enjoyed the stories, he decided to publish them as a means of preserving them for future generations of the family. Jim intends to publish his other books which include The Tale of a Toe, Rufus Tweed the Father of Greed and The Krankel Family, a book for each of his beloved foursome.