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eBook Category: Young Adult
eBook Description: Gerry Larkin aspires to be a soccer star. His only problem: he stinks. His co-ordination is zero--he can't dribble, can't shoot--in short he can't play. He's the kid that's always chosen last when teams are picked after school. And the team that gets Gerry always considers him a handicap because Gerry invariably loses the game for them. But his best friend Fran Clifford has other ideas. Working with Gerry, she helps him to form a team of hillarious losers, Larkin's Lot. There's Big Jimmy, a sloshing ton of lard who can steam-roll over anyone on the field; the Bright Brothers--Almost and Not Quite--twins who are definitely not the brightest of sparks; Harold Smyth, small and cowardly, who hates any kind of confrontation; and Tommy Reynolds, whose coke-bottle thick glasses spell disaster when he loses them. This inept group of individuals plays against anyone who will take them on. But the results are always horrendous. That is until Lucky Lucy (Beelzebub disguised as a talent scout) visits them. Lucky insists that with just a little special coaching Larkin's Lot will become the most successful team in soccer history. The cost: a lot of sweat and work, of course. And one more item: the souls of each of the team players. Despite protests from Gerry the team signs Lucky's Eternal Contract. Little do they know that the end result will be an Eternity of low-paid coal carrying in a hot little place directly below them. Having been granted incredible soccer powers Larkin's Lot takes on the world, finally playing in the International World Cup. But Gerry realises that the price that they have paid is too high. Unless he can break the contract with Lucky Lucy his friends will be turned into burned toast forever. Fortunately, Gerry has an unknown Angelic Friend who will come to their rescue and help them beat Lucky Lucy at his own Devilish game. With time running out, the kids must choose between their friendship or mis-begotten fame. Hotfoot is a unique sports story about the difficult choices that kids have to make in today's world, and is set in what is the most popular sport of all--soccer.

eBook Publisher: Fictionwise.com, Published: 1995
Fictionwise Release Date: October 2004

2 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [574 KB], eReader (PDB) [111 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [103 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [92 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [130 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [153 KB], hiebook (KML) [235 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [124 KB], iSilo (PDB) [86 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [107 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [134 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [142 KB]
Words: 32252
Reading time: 92-129 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED

Earth has over 5 billion people bouncing around like lemmings all over its surface. Five billion of them! All of them wanting things. All of them hoping, wishing, praying--even stealing! (and we heartily disapprove of that, by the way)--all of the stuff that they dream about.

Of those 5 billion souls, almost one thousand, two hundred and fifty million of them are thirteen years old and younger. These people wish for things too, of course. And in my job, that's a lot of wishes. And the things that they wish for! Bikes top the list. Followed by CD players, concert tickets, televisions, and ghetto blasters. All of these wishes get shot into space--great blue bolts of wishes zooming way up beyond the stratosphere. Once they get up here, a gang of angels--new recruits, you know, just out of their skins and serving their apprenticeship--they catch all these wishes in giant wish containers, sort them into different categories by age, sex and variety, and hand them over to the senior staff who organise this rainbow of dreams into some kind recognisable list.

The worst time is Christmas. We get absolutely snowed up here at Christmas time; you wouldn't believe the avalanche of wishes that we get. But that's another story, and I'd better stick with the one I came to tell.

Now, about wishes ... most of the time, we do what we can. Senior staff will have a word in the appropriate ear. Usually a parent or a grandparent. An aunt, uncle--even a teacher, if we think they might do anything about it. The senior types sort of put a thought here, a niggling suggestion there. And it usually works out. As I say, that's their job. And when they can make a dream come true--well, it's sort of satisfying, isn't it?

But then, there are those other wishes. Those ones that are almost impossible to make come true. When they come blowing up here out of the stratosphere, the apprentices aren't really sure what to do with them. They get categorised into Problem Wishes--and then they pass it on to me. Because that's what I do. I work on problem wishes, and try to sort things out. A problem wish may be something simple: for instance, a boy really wants a dog and the parents hate dogs. Or a girl might want to be transformed into a pop star--someone like Madonna, for instance. Of course, there already is a Madonna--so that's kind of impossible to make come true. Know what I mean?

But the all-time impossible wishes are from the kids who want to become professional soccer players. You wouldn't believe how many kids want to spend an entire lifetime kicking a little white ball around a grass-covered field. To me, it sounds a little crazy. I mean, what kind of proper job is that?

Despite my own opinions, I do what I can of course. And every now and then I get lucky, and a kid goes on to become a mega-star with Liverpool or Team America or--what's that other one?--oh, yes. Of course. Manchester United. But you just wouldn't believe how many young people want to become soccer heroes! And now, even some of the girls have this at the top of their all-time wish list. And soccer clubs aren't even signing girls.

Needless to say, I can't help everyone. There just aren't enough places to fill all the wishes. And if I get a soccer wish from someone who just can't play--well, what's an angel to do, for Gosh sakes?

Unfortunately, there are other ways to have your wishes granted. Bad and evil ways. Ways which I don't even want to talk about, really. A couple of people you might have heard about tried making their wishes come true this way, and it didn't work. People like Adolph Hitler and Jesse James and that Roman Emperor Nero. That's a few of them. They didn't get an answer quick enough, I guess. Wouldn't use the usual channels and wait for their wishes to come true like everyone else. Instead, they got a little visit from a Fellow I know. Rather a rough chap, I think, called Lucky Lucy. He talked to the people I just mentioned. Told them a bunch of lies. Also told them that their wishes would be granted darned quick if they'd sign his little bitty piece of paper. Of course, they never read the fine print. So, they decided to take up his offer--and I shudder to think about the consequences.