Tennis Practice (tag Madison)

People who seen the flyer in the university applied for the lessons but still had to phone in to book their time slots. Since it was students taking these day time slots the cost was reduced slightly and Madison knew just what it was to be a student trying to count the nickles and dimes. Even with a coffee shop job while she did her own masters degree it was still hard even with support from home.

Sports were also an important part of island life as they were encouraged. This 2pm slot was for Ms Dana Winchester and she figured it would go like most other lessons she did. They were all different as everybody had different needs. Some were starting, others trying to improve their game as a whole and a few trying to fix a particular problem. Sometimes you didn't even need the full set to acomplise everything the student wanted to do. Lessons were usually booked in as blocks of four.

Madison walked out at 1.59pm to the court to see her student ready in white and blue. Madison was wearing a light pink tennis dress that was sleeveless and carried her racquet bag which also held her spare and a bucket of balls with her. Dana was already getting warmed up and leaving the bucket off to the side of her introduced herself in a cheerful manner and sounding completely New York. Madison was quick to notice Dana's height and striking looks. At least her height would help with serving.

"Good afternoon Ms Winchester. I am Madison Quinzell, your tennis instructor and by the time you've been through the set of lessons you will notice an improvement in your game".

Then came the first question she needed to ask. "What part of your game do you think you need to work on first?"

Dana Winchester

Madison also noticed something new. The unmistakable English accent she'd heard in plenty of movies and tv shows. That wasn't so unusual given the university was so international; its students came from all the world.

So with that question answered she looked back at Dana noting the smile. She had thoughts about another student in her head but shelved the ones she had about Dana away for now until she knew how she stood with Mallory. "So lets start with a simple warm up and volleys. Then I can see how your backhand is playing at the moment" she mused. Heading to the other end of the court with the bucket of balls and one of her racquets she started with gentle hit balls in an underarm fashion. She'd move onto serves later as Dana knew what she needed to improve first.

Dana Winchester

By now they'd moved onto Madison serving so she could test out the back hand properly but it was so far so good prior to that point. Dana had more than enough of a game to work with but there was observations to be made and communicated. So leaving the line she gracefully moved to the other end of the court.

"Dana I can see the problem with your backhand. The timing seems to be slightly off when you hit; that can be fixed but how often do you get to play?" she quietly posed once they closed the distance. The more she did play the faster she could fix this herself. "The rest of your all round game is pretty good so you must have been playing quite a while" she added. She could imagine Dana going through the same path she had as Madison had started at a young age but being able to enjoy tennis for what it was rather than seeing it as a possible career. Her mind was all professional right now but girls being into girls on a tennis court wasn't unusual.  The sport was the great leveler no matter what else was involved. 


Dana Winchester

Madison noted the answer to her question. At least twice a week wasn't bad and that was explained by Dana's second reply. She also smiled a little bacause of the compliment.

"I know all about being busy. I finished my masters degree here and decided to stay around for a while. Compared to New York the isle feels chilled out and safe. I just recently started this job as a coach but I sometimes end up on reception.

Ultimately I'm not sure myself what I want to do either. This will do for now" Madison cheerfully replied. She was a human who wanted oddities to get a fair deal and she didn't really want to have to return to the hatred back in the states. She asked questions back home that weren't encouraged and always had.

Dana Winchester

Madison didn't always turn on netflix when her day ended. A bit of music and a beer did the same job as Dana's series of choice. As a passing shot flew down and to the right it seemed like a good time to pause. Her student had seemed to have picked up a lot in two years. She raised an eyebrow at the mention of the L Word. It was one of those series you knew about but she'd never actually seen; was this a signal?

She took this chance to head back to her student and suggest a little adjustment to the backhand grip Dana was using. "Is your course that much work?" she posed cheerfully. Students could get trapped in that but she knew university life was also about getting out and living life. "It sounds like you need to get out more. How long have you been on the isle?" she posed. There might well be a lesson for later on.

Dana Winchester

Madison listened to Dana as she tried out her freerer backhand swing. All she said sounded interesting and beyond her grasp of science. Her field was sports sciences which could improve a human to a point but oddities could already take things past what a fully fit and trained human could do. Madison herself was proof of what the human limit was.

When she heard how long Dana had been here she wondered if she'd ran into her before at the university. She'd just finished her masters in the previous academic year. How hadn't they ran into each other?

"I know I'm human and always had questions I could never get answers too. So I did my masters degree here to find out for myself and finished it last academic year. That was sport sciences by the way.I'm a seeker too given that as a species we have conquered a lot of old problems but I couldn't understand why people with blue skin, who can fly or even fling fireballs had to be feared. Now I have the answers I don't know if want to back to the states again".

Then she had a suggestion for Dana. "How about we go out on the town tonight? I know this club were the L-word isn't taboo. It's called Mavericks".

Every town including Ashford Isle had a LGBTQ+ club or bar and Madison truely felt at home there. She'd show Dana it too.

Dana Winchester

The session continued and time was flying along. They could converse while Madison sent down serves and returns to work the backhand. Then the rest of the session was about improving general play. So Madison asked "is there anything else you think needs worked on?" The work would be done in future sessions as Dana's schedule allowed.

"I was questioning humanity as a whole but who you are as a person is the most important thing. I got similar answers to others seekers while I was here and the stories I heard; some were heartbreaking. We didn't learn from the Holocaust nor the Balkan wars when Yugoslavia broke up. Its been happening again since 1993. We still make war against our brother and let his children starve" she added but Dana was going to accept the night out. At least she'd have a clubbing partner going out tonight; perhaps more by the end of the night.

When a natural break occured she she spoke again "In that case meet me at 9pm tonight and dress to have fun. You'll still have time to squeeze some netflix in too".

Dana Winchester