Believing "Pass" the Fear

Page 13

I stared up at the towering giant who was assigned to guard any pass that would be thrown in my direction. My legs quaked at such a demanding responsibly of out running him for my catch. I barely heard the words “hike” being shouted because I was too concentrated on the fear that they would come at any moment. All chaos resumed with the play as everyone on the field scattered for a pass. The ball regretfully was thrown towards my position. It hovered in the air briefly and descended perfectly into the arms of the other team with ease. Once again with little effort or sweat on their part they ran it in for another touchdown.

At this point our small, inadequate team was depressed. Even though our numbers doubled them, we still hadn’t scored a touchdown. This was mainly because the teenagers that oppressed us were far more matured in the sport and every single one of them doubled the height of our tallest player. We all huddled up pathetically together to listen to my older brother who assumed the position captain since he was the only one that really understood the sport. He must have been frustrated because the best plan he had for our next play was “everyone get open for a pass.” This had primarily been our strategy the entire game which was obviously not working. Even though he said “everyone”, it normally excluded me due to the numerous turnovers on my behalf and my small, inadequate, stature compared to the other kids.

Before we separated from the huddle I chirped up quickly, “Throw it to me, I’ll score”. Everyone looked surprised and my brother rolled his eyes.

“You’re not going to catch it,” my brother faithlessly doubted.

“Throw it to me,” I reiterated boldly against his response.  

He shook his head hesitantly and carelessly agreed to my demands by saying “whatever”.

We all found a place on the line. I met the same towering guard who expected to make another easy take from me. This time I cleared my thoughts of fear and doubt. The game resumed with the words “hike”. I cut sharp for a short pass and the ball was thrown effortlessly into the air for a sloppy catch by me. My guard was only a few feet away when he noticed he failed to relieve me of my catch.

My feet pounded against the grass and my heart beat so fast it almost exploded out of my chest. I had the entire field to run which gave my pursuer time to catch me. I could hear him breathing down my neck, practically running on my heels. Ignoring it I just focused on the end zone. Faster, faster, faster, I ran.

Then I stopped when I heard the guard groan in disbelief because he knew he failed to stop me. I had done it; I had ran the entire field into the end zone, scoring the only point for our team. My older brother and my teammates came running down the field cheering. My brother laughed by complimenting me “I knew you could do it”.

           I smiled in response, “I knew I could”.