The Rout at Recess

Short fiction

Photo by Ben Hershey on Unsplash

Twelve-year-old soccer star Liz Bowers stiff-armed football captain Mikey Caldera to the ground at recess, then juked around his co-captain, Pete Chambers, for the touchdown.

“Seriously?” Pete said to Mikey as they got set to return the ensuing kickoff. “Are you just gonna let her run right over you?”

“Like you can talk,” Mikey replied, face getting red. “I think you left your shoes back there.”

After the boys couldn’t put a drive together – Liz and some of the track kids covered their wide receivers with ease – they were forced to punt it back to Liz’s team.

For the next possession, Liz settled in at wide receiver. Lanky distance runner Wyatt sent her in motion across the formation, then hit her with a quick out-breaking route.

Mikey and Pete took off after her, dove at her ankles, but she high kneed over them with ease and bolted down the sideline. No one could catch her – she was gone.

After Liz scored her second touchdown and celebrated with her teammates, she held the ball out toward the two football captains.

“You sure you want to keep going?” Liz asked. “Cause I can do this all day.”

“Shouldn’t have ever bet against her,” Mikey whispered to Pete.

Pete glanced at his watch. “Yeah, we want to keep going. We’ve got twenty more minutes – there’s a lot of game left.”

Liz sighed and then cracked a smile. “Suit yourself.”

When it was all said and done, the boys lost to Liz Bowers and her crew thirty-six to six. The football boys simply couldn’t keep up with the lightning-fast soccer girls and cross-country kids. Liz scored four touchdowns in total.

Pete held out his ten-dollar bill to Liz, a clear sign of a lost bet and utter defeat.

“I don’t want your money,” Liz said. “Just do yourself a favor and stop running your mouth, okay?”

The warning bell for sixth period rang. Liz walked away. Pete slipped the bill back into his pocket and watched her go.

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Thank you for reading “The Rout at Recess” — I hope you enjoyed it.

Have you ever lost a bet or suffered a tremendous loss in a game/match of some sort? Let’s hear some stories!

Have a great week.

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