The Password.

Huntah had been celebrating his 14th birthday. It had been low key family fun, his favourite steak for dinner, a birthday cake, after playing basketball for his junior team. His mother, Eden, smiled almost wistfully, as she eyed her tall boy. His father was Jeb, the local builder, who said with a grin, "Stop feeding him so well, time to measure him again."

Huntah was now 6ft 5 inches tall, and rising fast. He loved sport, and focused on his basketball season. He quite liked school, but hated doing what everyone else said, like the teachers. The other kids stared up at him when they asked, "Are you for real?"

He just laughed and told them, "I'm a nano experiment for the CIA, that's all."

Huntah's family lived a simple Christian life, praising their Lord for their one and only adopted son. He had asked his mother about his true identity, so she encouraged him to research his birth parents from the knowledge on the adoption register. His birth mother had passed over shortly after childbirth, leaving only sketchy information about his birth father. Eden and Jeb had tried to limit Huntah's access to the explicit nature and rivalries of social media and the internet. That was what their preacher had told them to do.

Despite this, Eden permitted Huntah to use his digital devices for this query about his ancestry, to discover where his tall genes had been sourced. "Your password here is prayer, " she kept telling her son, "cool to stay connected with God." Huntah knew his adoptive parents would always have his back, as he became fully engaged in browsing for some new knowledge about his background.

After googling the scant details he had, Huntah found that his birth family ancestry stemmed from a small village in Europe. His relatives in the genetic pond there had played Olympic basketball, as they regularly grew to be nearly seven feet tall. So it wasn't the steak after all, making him so lofty.

Jeb was thrilled, and so was Huntah. He could see stars in his future, and decided to practise basketball as much as he could. Eden smiled at these two males of hers, saying, "Aim high, your password for tomorrow is prayer!

Huntah hi-fived Jeb, "Our Lord had so got this!"

At school, Huntah was the coach's dream always keen to improve, to build up his core strength, telling himself before every match, "Fly like an eagle!"

The next years soon flowed by. Huntah was never a ladies' man at the teen parties, he was very well brought up. However, he did have a cute love crush on one of the most successful girls in the athletic team. Her name was Mira, sometimes her glance held his in class, and they smiled at each other. She was tall for her age too, some of the boys in the gymnasium felt a bit scared of Mira's promising attributes. They all had some growing to do.

Huntah was not only still taller, he was speedy and strong around the court, winning Most Valuable Player several times. He felt fit and strong. The head coach had alerted the talent scouts for the big league,. Huntah kept up with his school work, he had no option there, as Eden wanted him to aim for a sports scholarship and get a qualification for his future. Her personal password was prayer, that Huntah would not be distracted by the temptation of turning professional, and all that meant.

As that basketball season in particular rolled away, the stadium for the night matches was jammed with the crowds of their home town, cheering. Mira always seemed to be sitting in the front, too tall to be a cheerleader, but she definitely had her eye on Huntah. Eden still wanted him to go to college incognito, but Huntah wondered about that.

The giant offers flooded in, right after the finals. Huntah was on fire, the talent scouts were competing, offering him the most amazing amount of salaries, as well as opportunities for income from promoting sports gear. He was destined to be a star, but he was torn between his heritage and his simple faith. After the school team had won the final, Huntah had found himself being kissed by a very happy Mira, as she said, "I'll wait."

Huntah discussed his choices with Jeb and Eden, who were disappointed and downright concerned that all fame and fortune would corrupt him before he was even 18 years old. The school coach and the talent scouts had also visited his adoptive parents, offering their family a whole new world, like a magic carpet ride for Huntah to become a national success star, even dream of an Olympic career.

Huntah prayed very hard to make a life-changing decision. Prayer was still to be his password, as he seemed to hear a whisper, "Why wait? Fly like an eagle."

Was this temptation? Huntah made his choice to turn professional, and entered the national draft. He got picked up by a large interstate team, contenders for the title again. Huntah was soon playing short segments of court time, mixing it with the big men, trying to hassle him and knock him off his game.

Huntah came from tough stock, as Jeb had raised him to be. Eden had a part to play, as her blue-eyed giant son blessed himself before each match. By the end of his first season, Huntah had an impressive tally of goals and assists. Eden tried to convince him not to let this fame get to his head. But it was hard to resist buying some very flash wheels, and a lovely car for his mother back home.

Jeb did not refuse some funds to develop his building business, he had great faith of his own. Huntah's password was still prayer, as he and Mira texted and phoned constantly. The off season was spent practising and training, after a holiday at home, back in his small town. No way Huntah could drive anywhere unnoticed, he was everyone's new star success.

He did them all proud in his second season, as the team played on again, fully devoted to aiming high to final victory. However, in one vital game, Huntah flew like the eagle, and landed awkwardly, jarring and twisting his right knee. He had to be assisted off the court. It was career changing for him, so young.

Huntah realised that this was so disappointing for his team, coaches and fans, and especially for himself. He took stock of all his options, and went back home, hopefully to recover some mobility. Eden told him it was not too late to take up a college place now, in the next Autumn. But Huntah did not want to write essays and assisgnments ever again.

So, he proposed to Mira, not on bended knee, and she accepted. He united with Jeb to join his building business, to expand it across the region. He hired an acknowledged business mentor, to explore new ways to gain clients and keep his employees busy. Profits could still be made, jobs at home. He and Mira looked forward to not waiting too long for rather tall children to arrive, to follow their own stars, to fly like eagles. Prayer was always his password.