Riddle of the Left Outfielder

Mateo's thumbs hovered over his phone, the group chat blowing up. 'Baseball at the park tomorrow, you coming?'

He stared at the screen. Not athletic. Not coordinated. Definitely not baseball material. But Maya was going.

'Maybe,' he typed, then immediately regretted it. His room felt like a time capsule. On his desk sat Mr. Cuddles—this beat-up stuffed **bear** his grandma gave him when he was seven. The fur was patchy in spots, one eye was slightly crooked, and the ear was torn from when his dog had grabbed it freshman year. He should've thrown it out ages ago, but...

Whatever. It was fine.

He opened his laptop, needing distraction. The ancient **cable** connection sputtered, buffering indefinitely. He smacked the side of the router—his go-to tech support move—until the Wi-Fi symbol stabilized.

Back to his game. Sphinx's Legacy. Level 47: The final riddle.

The digital **sphinx** stared at him with stone eyes, pixels of ancient wisdom.

'What walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?'

Mateo rolled his eyes. Original. He'd googled this exact riddle in seventh grade for extra credit. But the game wouldn't accept his answer. Something was different this time.

'Man,' the sphinx rumbled, 'what walks on four legs, then two, then three... but never grows old?'

New riddle. Same vibe.

He thought about it while brushing his teeth. Four legs, two legs, three legs. A person? No, that was literally the first riddle. Something that never grew old...

His phone buzzed. Maya. 'You coming tho?'

He stared at himself in the mirror. The braces were off. The acne had cleared up mostly. But he still felt like the same kid who'd carried Mr. Cuddles to school for show-and-tell in second grade because he was scared to be alone.

Four legs (baby). Two legs (now). Three legs...?

Wait.

Mr. Cuddles. Stuffed animals had four legs. Humans had two. Old people used canes—three legs. But stuffed animals never grew old. They stayed exactly the same, frozen in time, while you moved forward without them.

He typed 'STUFFED ANIMAL' into the game.

'CORRECT,' the sphinx announced. 'You understand what you leave behind.'

The achievement unlocked: GROWN-UP.

Mateo grabbed his glove from the back of his closet. It was still there from when his dad had tried to get him into baseball, years ago. He'd quit after two practices because he was terrified of the ball.

'Sure,' he texted Maya. 'I'll be there.'

Mr. Cuddles sat on his desk, watching. Maybe it was time to leave some things behind. Or maybe... maybe some things could just stay where they belonged, and that was okay too.

He grabbed his bat and headed out, ready to strike out, ready to swing, ready to just show up.