Creative Writing

"Now this is great weather," I thought. "A little breeze, not too hot, not too cold."
My thoughts raced back to the past three weeks. Two of our games had to be cancelled because of rain and there was that 100 degree day.

Now, of course, we wanted to play those three games. I smiled as I recalled David’s mom absolutely forbidding the games. David tried to explain that football was played in all weather, but his mom would have none of it.

"You are 4th graders, not professionals," David’s mom yelled, "who do you think is going to pay to clean your clothes?"

"5th Graders mom," David shouted, "the school year is over now. We are 5th graders."
We just shrugged our shoulders, the argument was lost. David got the most embarrassed look on his face when his mom said, "Abe, talk some sense into David. Why don’t you run along and play with your ePods?"

"Yes Ma’am," I replied.

Today there would be football. I walked onto the field and got a big shove from David when I asked if he had fun with his ePod.

Ben and David were the designated team captains. David won the "odds" and "evens" and was able to pick first. No surprises, David picked me.

"That’s the best part about being good at a sport," I thought. "You don’t have to wait until the very end to find out what team you’ll be on."

David and Ben choose the first 7 players on their teams quickly. The final four players took a little longer.

"Ok...Ok, I’ll take Adam."
"Sheesh, I got Sam."
"(Snicker), Ted."
"Alright, Bob."
"Hey! Hey! Where is Larry?" Ben asked.
"It’s his cousin’s Bar Mitzvah in Chicago, knucklehead," I responded.
"Well, then, we have an odd number of guys," David said. "We can’t play football with an odd number. Jack will have to sit."

Jack’s face fell.

"Well, he is the worst," I thought. "He knows that. Those are the breaks."
The two teams lined up for the kickoff. David’s team picked first, so Ben’s team would receive.
While lining up for the first play, I glanced over to Jack. He was off kicking a rock down the little dirt path next to the field. "Was that a tear?" I wondered. " No. Boys don’t cry. He’s probably just sweating."

Ben’s team ran 2 quick plays and moved the ball well past midfield. It was on the next play that I saw David’s man run right past him. I dropped my coverage and charged across the field to defend what I knew would be a quick pass toward the end zone. I was right. Running across the field, I grabbed the ball away from a wide open Joseph.
The rest of the play was a bit of a blur. I saw David throw a huge block on Ben as I charged toward the end zone. TOUCHDOWN!

My teammates surrounded me, yelling my name. David mouthed a quick "thanks, man" to me. I was ecstatic. While I was slapping my high five’s, I saw Jack out of the corner of my eye, slumped with his head in his hands.

David looked over to me right before the kickoff. "We can’t lose with Abe on our team."
I winced and muttered, "we already have," stealing a peek at Jack as I hoisted the kickoff down field. I charged down the field full steam. The receiver cut suddenly to my left as I dived and made the tag.

"Yeow" I shouted.

Both team’s froze as I laid on the ground grabbing my ankle. David looked at me. "Get up Abe. We need you."

I got up, only to fall straight to the ground again. "I can’t play, guys," I proclaimed. "I am sorry."
David was having a fit. "What can we do now? We waited three weeks for a game. Now we have to play a man short?"

It was Ted that turned to David and said, "You can’t play football with an odd number. You said it yourself. So, either you take Jack, or it looks like we win by forfeit."

David knew Ted was right. "Maybe we should re-pick the teams," he said. There was no chance of that, of course. The game had already started. "Fine. We have Jack," David frowned.
Bob and Larry helped me limp over to the rock where Jack was sitting. I tapped the slumping Jack on the shoulder and whispered, "Knock ‘em dead, Jack."

The game remained close throughout. After two hours the score was tied. "It’s 1:59," I yelled, "last play, guys!" Both teams nodded. David pulled his team back to the huddle and said, "look, last play, tie game. Everyone might as well run to the end zone."

Everyone did. David threw the ball as far as he could, but it came up a little short. The ball was intercepted by Ben who had been trailing the play. Everyone else was in the end zone.
David was the one man Ben had to beat to score an easy touchdown. Ben sprinted down the field. David tried to cut off Ben’s angle. It was no use. Ben was too fast. He beat him to the sideline, avoided his diving tag and easily scored the winning touchdown.

Ben’s team celebrated. They surrounded him and lifted him on their shoulders. David sat with his face buried in the ground. The field was empty aside from David, lying at the sideline.
I walked over to David. "You ok, David?" I asked.

"Well, I am not worse than your ankle, I can see."

He had me. I smiled. " feelings hurt a lot more than ankles, David, my friend."

He turned around and smiled as we walked away. "Maybe we can find a song like that for my ePod?"