Running The Miles

Chapter 22 - Super Bowl

        Our ball. This play is the last of the season. The crowds cheering, anzious, the people on the sidelines are in a slient trance, waiting. I continued to play receiver. 

        It started. The quartback received the ball, and he started looking. He saw me threw, I caught it, and I ran to the end zone. I dodged everyone, I was home free. 

        I felt something ram into my left side. I fell to the ground hard, my left leg bending in an odd direction. Then I just felt immense pain. All around my ankle and knee. Something broke, I knew that much. I still had the ball, which I was squeezing a little too tightly to my chest.

        I tried to get up, but my leg gave out immediately, I went falling to the ground. The whistle blew, and the coach came out on the field. There were a bunch of people looking down at me, concerned. Inhaling deeply, I tried to get up again. It hurt just as bad, but I knew what to expect this time. 

        "Here, come on, you've got to put that leg on ice, you can watch on the sidelines," said the coach. As soon as he said that, I hid my extreme discomfort, and put as little weight on my leg as I could. 

        "I'm fine," I said sternly, staring at the coach and anyone who tried to say otherwise. They still began to protest, but I ignored them and started walking out to the field with the rest of the players, ready to resume. 

        "Nicole! You can't play!" 

        "Watch me!" I say, as I limp over to the other players. When I reach my team, they all ask small, "You alrights"s. I said yes to all of them, and then we resumed the game. The coach never stopped yelling to get off the field. It amused me. 

        When the call was made, I started running to the end zone, looking behind me for the ball. The quarterback seemed worried to throw it to me, but he did it anyway. When I caught it, I ran as fast as my handicapped leg would let me. 

        I winced everytime I put pressure on it. I didn't have speed on my side this time. But I kept running. I looked behind me quickly and saw that four players were right on my tail. I pushed harder. I was close to the end zone. 

        But I was hit to the ground from the back. 

        My leg was missed, so nothing was broken further. I tried to get up, my leg rejecting to have pressure on it. Damn leg.

        I threw the ball to the quarterback, and we set up. I kept wondering what my parents were thinking.

        We began, I recieved the ball, and this time, I was tackled almost immediately. So close to the end zone, but two yards short. 

        The team started questioning my abilities to play, but I ignored them. I was probably putting our chances of winning at stake, but I wasn't going to sit out. I'm able to play, I'm doing it now, just nowhere as good as I could.

        If we were going ahinst any other team, we probably would've won already, but this is the Super Bowl, nothing is easy here. 

        The final play. The last chance to win. 

        It started. Everything went fast mode. I guess the team knew that the ball was going to be passed to me, so they pretty much all came at me. The ball was thrown, I caught it, and I ran on both feet. 

        I could feel my leg getting twisted, my bones moving out of place. 

        It hurt like hell. 

        I kept running. And running. By then I was going my full speed, 

        Touchdown.

        Everyone, even the people on the sidelines were screaming, yelling, cheering, everything. But we were tied. I had to make the field goal to win, else we would tie, and would have to go into overtime. 

        The crowd quieted down to an almost inaudible, suspenseful hum of voices. Our coach and team on the sidelines were staring, waiting, anxious, always anxious. 

        I went to the tall yellow fork. Everyone went into position. Everyone was at a standstill. Then, the ball was thrown, the ball was set up, everything went into motion, everyone started moving, I ran to the ball, I swung my right leg back, my full weight on my left leg. I think I actually yelped. I guess no one would know with all of the noise. 

        I swung my right leg forward, making contact with the ball, and then it went flying. Everyone stopped what they were doing, and watched. Even the other team stopped and watched. 

        The brown ball spiraled through the air, and then it hit the back of the net, in between the yellow poles, and we were three points ahead of the Giants. 

        We won. 

        We won the Super Bowl.