It was spring break and Peter decided to go back home in order to spend time with his family back in Toronto, Canada. He was greeted at the airport by Michael, his father, Gloria, his mother, and Nicole, his older sister. They took him home right away, where his favorite Uncle George was patiently waiting to see his nephew for the first time in over a year.
“So, Peter, how was it in Florida?” Michael asked his teenage son.
“Oh, it was great! It’s awesome living there with Ty and Dustin. We also have Rob and Ryan with us, and we all have a great time. Of course, most of the time, we’re all just studying and doing homework” Peter replied with a smile.
“When are you planning on coming back home?” Gloria asked him.
“I don’t know. I’ll be back for the summer. Ty and Dustin just don’t want to see me leave. Not even to mention Ryan!” Peter explained, since Ryan had now become his adopted brother.
When they got home, Uncle George came right up to Peter.
“Hey Peter! Boy do I have a surprise for you!” Uncle George shouted, as he grabbed Peter with his arms and hugged him so hard that he lifted him off the floor. “I’m one of the managers of our local ice hockey team, and we got a game coming up. Would you like to play?”
“Sure I would love to, Uncle George!” Peter smiled back, “It will be just like the times when I played hockey when I was little…”
“Well, you don’t seem that little anymore! My, have you grown. And you gained some muscle, too!” Gloria said, while examining Peter from head to toe. “And now he’s got a sun tan as well! I bet you just love it there in Florida!”
That evening, Michael and Gloria asked many questions about Ty and Dustin.
“Is Ty aware of your magical powers?” Michael wondered out loud.
“Of course he is! He can do the same things I can, dad!” Peter chuckled, as he made the bottle of coke levitate before him, as it poured the soda into his cup. Ice cubes floated out of the ice tray and magically plunged into his drink, without him touching anything.
“Wow! You’ve grown a lot more powerful, during your year in Florida, son!” Michael announced, as the whole family was astonished at Peter’s increased powers, while Peter continued to dazzle his family with all the new tricks he picked up while he was gone.
“Peter, you can maybe use a little magic on the ice tomorrow! We’re facing a tough opponent. Can you fill in for our goalie?” Uncle George asked Peter, as soon as he got off his cell phone. “Our goalie has come down with the flu, and we need somebody to stay in the net tomorrow.”
“Of course I can, Uncle George! I’ll be your goalie tomorrow!” Peter grinned. He had played hockey before and he was pretty good at it, even though he loves to play basketball more than hockey.
Peter went to bed early that evening, having dreams about gliding on the ice again, for the first time in several years.
Uncle George brought Peter to the ice arena almost two hours before the start of the game, so that Peter could practice and warm up. Two high school teams were playing, and Peter was the goalie for the Wolves, and their opponent was the Lions.
When Peter got all suited up in the shoulder pads, the harness, the jersey, the pants, the socks and skates, he quietly skated on the rink and glided for several laps around the parameter of the ice rink. He had a little difficulty skating, since he had not done it in a few years, but he picked up on it quickly enough after he had spent almost thirty minutes on the ice.
After the warm up, Peter skated back into the locker room where he snapped on all the pads and shin guards, along with his gloves and face mask. He then headed back out on the ice again, but noticed that he had some difficulty maintaining his balance with all the weight of the gear on him.
During the first half of the match, Peter allowed two goals while he had at least four saves, including one catch in mid air! The crowd cheered every time their substitute goalie made a save, but Peter wasn’t happy with the score, as it was now 2 goals to 1 for the Lions.
During halftime, the coach gathered all the players together in the locker room and he encouraged them all to remain focused, and also to help Peter out a little, since he was only a substitute goalie. Peter understood that the Coach meant well, but he hated the idea that the others had to be more concerned with defending the goal while that was in fact Peter’s job. Peter had to do something.
After all the players had left the locker room to head back on the ice, Peter decided to stay in the locker room a little while longer. After everybody had left, he stood up and walked over to where there was a mirror hanging from the wall.
Peter then looked at his reflection and concentrated on his waist and his own legs. His body grew wider and a little taller, and s small stump began to form just to the right of his right leg. He started to grow a third leg, which was a double of his right leg. As the stump grew longer, it began to take the form of his fully grown leg. The quadriceps was clearly visible, as the knee was formed. Right below that, the calf muscle formed, followed by the ankle and the foot. He grew five toes on his third foot, and hair started to cover his leg once it had completely formed as well. Peter then magically adjusted his clothes, pants, and the rest of his uniform to make his new leg resemble the other two legs, as he wished for it to also be wearing pads and once skate on the foot. Finally, Peter just had to smile as he looked at his reflection, grinning at the sight of now having three legs, three knees, three skates, and three feet!
Lastly, he wished for everyone who was there to not find it unusual to see that the goalie had an additional leg! Peter carefully skated around the hallway, just to get the hang of skating on three skates, which he had never done before. As he turned corners, he realized that it seemed even easier to skate while having the additional leg, and he was able to glide faster through the hall. Having the extra pads on would also help with defending the goal, especially since the Wolves were down by one goal!
All the fans cheered as Peter glided back on the ice again, as the second half was about to start. Peter positioned himself in the center of the rink, finding it easy to skate from one side to the other since he was now wider and he had the extra leg. Three sets of pads were there to deflect any pucks coming his way, and Peter was ready to defend the goal at all costs. He had made the decision not to allow any goals during the second half, no matter what it would cost!
The Wolves scored another goal and this made the game an even 2 goals for each team. The players played hard as each team was fighting to score the winning goal.
After a long battle on the ice, one of the Wolves finally scored the winning goal during the final minute of the game. Once the match was over, all the players skated on the ice and came up to Peter, who had an additional three saves during the second half. Uncle George finally walked on the ice and congratulated on a job well done.
Uncle George warned Peter that he may need him to fill in for the team again soon, and Peter just smiled back, knowing that it would be a fun experience, no matter what position he was asked to play.