The Decision
The year is 2010 and it has been seven years since LeRama first entered the RBA. In that time span, LeRama has cemented himself as one of the, if not the best, player in the entire RBA. His individual accolades were very impressive: LeRama led the Ayodhya Kshatriya in all statistical categories and even lifted the bow of Siva with his transcendent talents. Not only that, LeRama has also brought prosperity to the Ayodhya Kshatriyas; even going so far as to single-handedly take them to the RBA finals in 2007.
General manager Dasharatha Ferry and head coach Vishwa Mitra were ready to formally cement LeRama as the king of the team. They told the owner of the Ayodhya Kshatriyas, Kaikeyi Gilbert, and the rest of the staff about their intentions. Cheers immediately rang throughout the room. They all approved of the thought and shouted "Make LeRama king the very next morning!" Naturally, the general consensus among the Kshatriyas and the people of Ayodha was that LeRama would stay.
There was, however, one person, who did not want LeRama back. That person was his own teammate, the hunched-back Manthara West. He was spiteful and jealous of LeRama. Manthara knew he would not be able to convince the general manager or the coach to let LeRama go, so he went to Kaikeyi. Manthara told the owner, "LeRama doesn't want to be back. He hates this team. If you resign him, he will purposely make the Kshatriyas lose so that you will be forced to trade him." At first, Kaikeyi was skeptical at this claim but as Manthara kept on talking, Kaikeyi can feel her doubts growing and growing. Kaikeyi fell for Manthara's dark ruses. "You always put my well-being first, Manthara," said the owner. "Now I can see through LeRama's evil plans of ruining this team."
Using her power as the owner, Kaikeyi attempted to force Dasharatha and the staff to renounce LeRama. Dasharatha and the rest of the staff was stunned at this proposal. They thought they were in a bad dream. "Please," they pleaded. "You can punish us or remove us from our positions but please keep LeRama. He is our only chance at winning. If we lose him now, when will we ever get a man of his talents ever again?" The owner ignored them, however, and instead released a scathing letter attacking LeRama. In this letter, not only did Kaikeyi attack LeRama's character, his ability to lead a team, and his dedication to the Kshatriyas, but it also stated that Dasharatha wanted LeRama to leave too.
The noble LeRama, however, was unfazed by these words. "I will fulfill your wish," said LeRama. "I will leave this team today."
"This is unfair!" shouted LeRama's friend and fellow RBA player Lakshmana Bosh. "I will follow wherever you decide to go!"
When news of LeRama's departure was released, the entire city of Ayodhya grieved. They cursed Manthara and the owner. The people were begging LeRama to stay. LeRama promises that he will return, one day, to rule over the Ayodhya Kshatriyas once again.
And so, LeRama and Lakshmana Bosh leaves for the Miami Forest.
Sources:
"Rama the Heir Apparent" by Sister Nivedita. Website: Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition
"Manthara and Kaikeyi" by Donald A. Mackenzie. Website: Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition
"Rama is Banished" by Donald A. Mackenzie. Website: Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition
Author's Note: One of the first major events in LeBron James's NBA career was "The Decision." This was a televised special where he decided to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and join a different team. The team he decided to join was the Miami Heat, alongside his friend Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. This decision was what essentially kick-started LeBron's entire career. Before this, he was just putting up really good stats on the Cavaliers but he wasn't doing anything extremely special (they only went to the finals once during this time). Naturally, since this was such a major event that leads to everything in his career, I decided that it would be perfect first story. I felt that this move was very similar to Rama being exiled. The issue I ran into was that the reason for leaving was different between the two cases. LeBron leaving the Cavaliers was a decision he made himself; no one had to tell him to leave. Rama, however, was exiled. Because of this, I had to change some things around to make it fit the narrative in the Ramayana. For example, the owner did write a letter that attacked LeBron's character, but this was after he left. To make it work, I had to have that letter be written before LeRama left.