Elliot Zamora grew up playing football, before and through school. Lawrence, his identical twin brother, played as well, and they were unstoppable together. During their senior year of college, Elliot wasn’t getting looked at by any recruiters. He had few prospects beyond college if he wasn’t going pro.

Lawrence, on the other hand, was getting tons of offers every day. His phone was ringing non-stop for invites to stadiums and fancy trips. It was well-deserved, as Elliot was the less prominent player. For this reason, he began to show up to practice hours early and train harder than Lawrence, more than the entire team.

Soon, results began to show, and Lawrence expressed how proud he was.

“You’re killin’ it, El. Guess we’ll be on the Big City Spankers together, huh?”

“Sure hope so, Law.”

As the season progressed, raw talent edged out training again. Elliot fell way behind, and the discrepancy in ability between him and his brother grew wider.

Elliot woke up another hour earlier one day, headed out to the field and planned to train until the team showed. That morning, the field was riddled with dirt tracks and holes. Elliot leaned over one of the holes to investigate. There was nothing in the ground there, but behind him, he felt rumbling. He saw three tracks underground zipping towards him, glowing a distinct green.

Suddenly, out of the ground emerged three gophers, glowing a bright green. Two bit his arms and one his neck. Elliot fell to the ground, his blood now infected with whatever resides within the Glowphers’ DNA. 

After some time, the pain subsided. Elliot kicked dirt back into the holes and returned to training. He couldn’t shake the feeling of failure from his head. As the team arrived, they watched Elliot train the hardest they ever witnessed.

“Slow down, bro. You’re gonna hurt yourself. Looks like you already did.” Lawrence remarked on the three bite marks.

“It’s all good, Law. I just need to be ready for the game.” Elliot smiled at his broter, though he felt defeated on the inside and he was unsure of why.

Practice was good and an important game started later that day. Elliot was positioned well for a pass, but the quarterback kept beaming the ball directly to Lawrence. He didn’t have an opportunity to prove anything to himself.

Elliot pushed and pushed all game until the final drive. Lawrence fumbled the ball near Elliot’s feet, giving him the chance to grab it. There was tons of defensive coverage surrounding the ball, and on their team, only the two of them were anywhere nearby. SCOOP. Elliot instantly snatched the ball and jumped over another player to head toward the goal line. Lawrence stiff armed and tackled others to give his brother a chance to make it.

Elliot ran and ran and ran until he crossed that line. In that second, the world went black. A white line was drawn in every direction. He was on another plane. His mind was freed from self-doubt.

What everyone else saw was an explosion of green light from Elliot’s body. He was glowing now, and he returned to the real world.

Elliot’s team was tied with the enemy. He knew what had to be done. He whispered to the quarterback and stayed by his side. As ‘hike’ was announced, Elliot took the ball and vanished.

Players stopped moving and looked under their feet to see the ground swell. Elliot emerged at the goal line, and again entered the ethereal realm and exploded with light.

Lawrence cheered loudly for his brother, picking him up as the game timer expired. His glow faded with the game.

“Might want to check your phone.” Lawrence warned Elliot.

Recruiters from every pro team left messages and sent videos pleading for Elliot to join them.

“I know you dropped that ball for me.” he told Lawrence.

“I don’t want to do this alone, bro. I knew you could do it… Well not that. But something. Hey, that first touchdown was all you.”

Elliot nodded and responded with a picture to the Big City recruiter; he and Lawrence holding the game ball with the caption, “Package Deal”.

Before his pro career began, Elliot would search for the Glowphers to find out how to control his power. He wanted to do some good in the world and to master his mysterious ethereal plane, his Endzone.