Short Stories Collection

17. Soccer Girl Forever

Let me tell you a story. Once, there was a little girl who did not know any sports. Her hair was red like the sunrise every morning, and she had freckles and curly waves that touched her shoulders. Her giggles, laughter, and smile light up the room when she walks into the backyard with a stuffed animal hanging in her tiny hand. Her older brother and his soccer buddy were messing around, kicking a soccer ball around the yard. She did not understand at the time. After all, she was just a little girl who was seeing soccer for the first time in her life. She wanted to play with them instead of playing with Barbies or having princess parties.

Once she saw the ball, she ran and ran until she left her foot up, then kicked straight into the goal. She danced and laughed until she fell to the ground. She did this again and again until she finally fell on the grass one last time when the sunset touched the trees and the houses. The little girl fell asleep and looked so peaceful that she could not wake up and walk to her bed in the house. Her brother scooped her up into his arm, carried her up the stairs, and finally into her warm, cozy bed with her favorite stuffed animal. Her brother knew she would have a nightmare, so he crawled into bed with her, sleeping right next to his lucky charm. That was the day she first saw what soccer was, and she has fallen in love with the sport. Every day, she gets older and starts playing soccer, getting better and better. One day, she promised she would make it onto the USA women's soccer team and travel the world. Ever since she was a little girl, she has had to do one thing that she loves to do.

One day, she will achieve her goal and fulfill her dream. She never knows when to give up and always remembers how she got into sports thanks to her brother. Her brother wanted to be a famous soccer player when he grew up, but that changed when he went out to a party after his high school team had won state championships. He never thought that that night would be the last night he would ever see her beautiful smile and everything that he loved about his little sister. When the sister finds out that her brother is the favorite soccer player in the whole world, every day she loses hope and loves soccer, knowing she will never play soccer or share the same thing ever again. She lost her soccer buddy and the one person who brought soccer into her life. Every day, she wore his lucky charm soccer dog tag with his name engraved on the back with a soccer ball and his favorite number (seventeen). Every day, she wishes she could bring him back or prevent it from happening. She always remembers how fun and happy her brother is. Every day, she grows up, gets stronger, and understands how she must go forward with soccer in memory of her brother.