winty
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Hi Guys and girls. Just finished writing a short story for a creative writing course I'm doing online, and thought I might share it with you, since it's football related. Enjoy. 
It is a little lengthy though (just over 2100 words.)
Joshua's Big Day
Joshua Egan was woken by the first rays of sunshine breaking through the bedroom curtains. Rubbing his eyes, he got out of bed and hurried up the hallway to his parent’s bedroom. “Daddy, is today the day?” he asked excitedly.
“Yes son, today’s the day.” came the weary response.
“Yay!” screamed Joshua as he ran out of his parent’s bedroom. Seconds later, his parents were woken by the sounds of a ball bouncing off the hardwood floor. “Joshua! How many times do we have to tell you, don’t kick the ball in the house?” yelled Joshua’s mother. His father got out of bed, went to his sock drawer, picked out a pair of thick black explorer socks, put them in a ball and handed them to Joshua. “Here, if you want to kick something, kick this, but only in the hallway, ok?” His son nodded his approval.
“And Gary Ablett baulks one, baulks another and goes BANG!” Joshua said as he ran down the hallway, avoiding two imaginary opponents before kicking the rolled up socks into the wall at the end of the hallway. After about ten minutes of play, his mother had made him his favourite breakfast – two slices of vegemite on toast, cut diagonally, and a tall glass of milk. “Do you think we’ll win today Dad?” asked Joshua, between mouthfuls of toast.
“I’m pretty sure we will son. Hawthorn are a great side, but Geelong are better. We’ll win, but it’ll be a close game.”
After another hour had passed, Joshua was bathed, dressed and anxiously waiting for his father to finish his morning routine. He had won the right to play in the Auskick game at half time of the AFL grand final, as well as hand over a premiership medallion if his team won three months beforehand, and ever since that day, has been running into his parents’ bedroom at first light every single morning, asking if that particular day was grand final day. Thankfully for his parents, that day had finally come, and while they were also excited to see their side run out onto the MCG in front of a hundred thousand screaming fans, their excitement paled into insignificance compared to that of their son.
Joshua’s mother eventually grabbed the house keys off the hook next to the fridge and walked outside. Joshua followed, ball in one hand, flag in the other, as his father lugged a bag containing Joshua’s football boots, their lunch and an assortment of snacks behind him. The family walked down the street towards the railway station. Even from this distance, Joshua could see there were quite a few people on the platform already, a virtual sea of people decked in blue and white, with the odd brown and gold island. In a nearby park, a few kids and teenagers were having a kick of the football. Joshua noticed with amusement a group of six people standing under a tree throwing sticks and stones at a brown and gold ball stuck in the tree about halfway up. Privately, he hoped it would stay stuck, but a burly lad in a Geelong jumper with the number 14 on the back eventually dislodged it with a well aimed throw of a stick.
They made their way across the car park, and Joshua and his father found a spot on the platform while his mother went inside to buy their tickets. Just as Joshua’s mother rejoined them, the train pulled into the station. This train was longer than usual, with ten carriages instead of the usual six. The vast crowd on the platform rushed forward, and soon the train was completely full. Joshua and his mother were lucky to find a seat, but his father had to stand nearby. After several minutes, Joshua heard a whistle then a toot of the train horn. The train jerked forward, and slowly but surely, it gained speed as it left the platform and started on its journey towards Richmond station.
The conductor soon announced over the PA system that since the train was full, it would now run express to Richmond. All the passengers cheered. Joshua smiled as the train went past several stations and saw crowds of people standing on the platform. He waved as the train went past, but very few people returned the favour. Joshua kept looking out the window, as all around him, people were chatting about the day’s game, discussing who would win, who would play on who, who will be voted best on ground, and would the pre-match entertainment be a disappointment again this year.
Just over an hour later, the train had reached its destination. The Egan family stepped off the train, and were virtually swept away in a tide of people heading towards the exit. Joshua held onto his mother’s hand as they made their way through the exit and crossed the road. He cringed when he heard someone playing “We’re a happy team at Hawthorn” on the bagpipes as he walked past Punt Road Oval towards the footbridge. At the top of the footbridge, Joshua could see the tops of the huge light towers over the sea of humanity surrounding him. He could hear people kicking footballs in the car-park, smell the scent of hot dogs and hot jam donuts wafting on the breeze, and hear the occasional cry of “Record! Get your Footy Record!” from the many pimply faced adolescents scattered around the car park.
As they walked towards the mammoth concrete structure ahead of them, Joshua saw more and more people converging towards the ground like ants would converge on a picnic basket. There were a lot more people decked out in brown and gold here, the vast majority with the numbers 15 and 23 on their backs, while most of those decked out in blue and white had the number 29 on their back.
Finally the Egan family made their way to the section of the ground set aside for the Auskick kids and their families. Joshua munched on a vegemite and cheese sandwich while he cast his eyes around the massive stadium. He watched intently as the two sides ran on for a pre-game warm-up, and clapped whenever a Geelong player kicked a goal, which was often.
Soon, the two cheer-squads walked onto the ground and prepared their giant banners for the teams to run through. After the pre-match entertainment, the huge crowd roared as first Geelong, then Hawthorn ran through their respective banners. Everyone stood as the national anthem was sung, and let out an almighty roar as the final notes played. That roar soon turned into a crescendo as the umpire held the ball aloft in the middle of the ground and the opening siren sounded.
Geelong started well, as Tom Hawkins marked strongly on the lead and kicked the opening goal within a minute. Joshua waved his flag enthusiastically with a huge smile on his face. The rest of the quarter went goal for goal, and Geelong held a slender 7 point lead at the first change.
Soon after the resumption of play, Joshua was told it was time to get ready for his game, so he left his seat and followed his Auskick coach down into the rooms. He was putting on his boots when his coach threw him a Geelong jumper. “Here, this one’s yours.” Joshua quickly unfolded it, and looked at the number on the back - 29. “Yes!” thought Joshua as he pulled it on. For ten minutes, he kicked the ball to his good friend Brendan and Brendan kicked it back. Occasionally, he heard a muffled cheer, or cry of “Ball!”. Eventually the coach summoned the players and they ran up the players’ race just as the siren went. Running onto the ground, Joshua was mesmerized by the sea of faces looking back at him.
To Joshua, the whole game seemed like a blur. He was playing in the forward line in the first half and managed to kick a good goal from the pocket. The crowd behind the goals at that end cheered the effort as a few of his teammates patted him on the back and ruffled his hair. In the second half, he was playing as a defender, and got a few kicks. Soon the siren went, and it was time to line up at the top of the players race to form a guard of honour as the players ran back onto the ground to resume hostilities. Joshua looked up at the scoreboard and saw that Hawthorn had a 12 point lead at half time.
It was then time for Joshua to go back to his parents. He returned to his seat about ten minutes into the third quarter. Geelong were still trailing by 12 points, but soon after Paul Chapman snapped the ball over his shoulder for a great goal and cut the lead to a solitary kick. Again, the game went goal for goal, and at the last change, Geelong trailed by five points.
The crowd were at fever pitch during an intense final quarter. Hawthorn kicked the first goal through a marvellous 45m kick from the boundary line from Lance Franklin in the first minute, which was answered almost immediately by a long running goal from Travis Varcoe after a chain of quick handpasses. The next twenty minutes was intense. Hawthorn would goal, then Geelong would get one back, but could never get the extra goal to pinch the lead. The quarter was 29 minutes old, and Hawthorn still had a five point lead. Joshua had a sinking feeling that Geelong would lose yet another grand final.
In a frantic passage of play in the dying stages, Stuart Dew kicked a long ball towards a Lance Franklin – Matthew Scarlett duel. Scarlett managed to get a fist in to spoil the marking attempt, and Corey Enright ran past and picked up the ball. Dodging past a lunging Cyril Rioli, Enright handballed to Andrew Mackie running past. Mackie looked upfield, and chipped the ball to Jimmy Bartel on the wing. Bartel marked, stopped, and then handballed over the top of his opponent to Joel Selwood. Selwood looked up, baulked past Chance Bateman, and spied a loose Geelong player running forward out of the corner of his eye. He angled the kick across his body, and Gary Ablett jumped in front of Luke Hodge to take a strong mark 45 metres out from goal. As the late afternoon sun reflected off Ablett’s bald scalp, he surveyed his options. He decided to have a shot, and steadied himself as the siren went. The crowd gasped as they watched the young champion lean over, his eyes focused on a target behind the goals.
Joshua was on the edge of his seat as Ablett took some slow, deliberate steps towards goal. He slowly increased his pace, and when he reached the 50m arc, dropped the ball onto his boot. Joshua’s gaze was fixed on the ball, and he watched as the ball spun end over end as it approached the goal face. He watched the goal umpire crane his neck skywards, and bend his back as the ball sailed overhead. He then jumped up in the air and screamed in delight as the umpire held up two fingers. Ablett had goaled, and Geelong had won the grand final by a point.
As he was jumping up and down in delight, his coach tapped him on the shoulder. “Come on Joshua, you have to go onto the ground to hand out a premiership medallion.” Joshua ran down to where the rest of the Auskickers were, and they were lead onto the ground in single file according to the number on their back.
Joshua waited patiently beside the podium until he reached the front of the queue. “Number 29 – Gary Ablett!” said Craig Willis, the MC, as Joshua was prompted to step onto the podium. As Joshua stepped onto the podium, Ablett approached from the opposite side, and they met in the middle. Ablett bent down so Joshua could drape the medal around his neck. Ablett then ruffled Joshua’s hair and put a cap with a Ford logo on his head. Joshua turned around with a huge smile on his face, and ran off the podium.
As they got home, Joshua was still wearing his cap, and chatting excitedly about being on the same podium as his favourite player. His parents told him it was getting late, so they helped him into his pyjamas and tucked him into bed. He soon drifted off to sleep, and dreamt he was in Ablett’s boots, kicking the winning goal in the grand final with 100,000 fans watching his every movement. He started smiling.
It is a little lengthy though (just over 2100 words.)Joshua's Big Day
Joshua Egan was woken by the first rays of sunshine breaking through the bedroom curtains. Rubbing his eyes, he got out of bed and hurried up the hallway to his parent’s bedroom. “Daddy, is today the day?” he asked excitedly.
“Yes son, today’s the day.” came the weary response.
“Yay!” screamed Joshua as he ran out of his parent’s bedroom. Seconds later, his parents were woken by the sounds of a ball bouncing off the hardwood floor. “Joshua! How many times do we have to tell you, don’t kick the ball in the house?” yelled Joshua’s mother. His father got out of bed, went to his sock drawer, picked out a pair of thick black explorer socks, put them in a ball and handed them to Joshua. “Here, if you want to kick something, kick this, but only in the hallway, ok?” His son nodded his approval.
“And Gary Ablett baulks one, baulks another and goes BANG!” Joshua said as he ran down the hallway, avoiding two imaginary opponents before kicking the rolled up socks into the wall at the end of the hallway. After about ten minutes of play, his mother had made him his favourite breakfast – two slices of vegemite on toast, cut diagonally, and a tall glass of milk. “Do you think we’ll win today Dad?” asked Joshua, between mouthfuls of toast.
“I’m pretty sure we will son. Hawthorn are a great side, but Geelong are better. We’ll win, but it’ll be a close game.”
After another hour had passed, Joshua was bathed, dressed and anxiously waiting for his father to finish his morning routine. He had won the right to play in the Auskick game at half time of the AFL grand final, as well as hand over a premiership medallion if his team won three months beforehand, and ever since that day, has been running into his parents’ bedroom at first light every single morning, asking if that particular day was grand final day. Thankfully for his parents, that day had finally come, and while they were also excited to see their side run out onto the MCG in front of a hundred thousand screaming fans, their excitement paled into insignificance compared to that of their son.
Joshua’s mother eventually grabbed the house keys off the hook next to the fridge and walked outside. Joshua followed, ball in one hand, flag in the other, as his father lugged a bag containing Joshua’s football boots, their lunch and an assortment of snacks behind him. The family walked down the street towards the railway station. Even from this distance, Joshua could see there were quite a few people on the platform already, a virtual sea of people decked in blue and white, with the odd brown and gold island. In a nearby park, a few kids and teenagers were having a kick of the football. Joshua noticed with amusement a group of six people standing under a tree throwing sticks and stones at a brown and gold ball stuck in the tree about halfway up. Privately, he hoped it would stay stuck, but a burly lad in a Geelong jumper with the number 14 on the back eventually dislodged it with a well aimed throw of a stick.
They made their way across the car park, and Joshua and his father found a spot on the platform while his mother went inside to buy their tickets. Just as Joshua’s mother rejoined them, the train pulled into the station. This train was longer than usual, with ten carriages instead of the usual six. The vast crowd on the platform rushed forward, and soon the train was completely full. Joshua and his mother were lucky to find a seat, but his father had to stand nearby. After several minutes, Joshua heard a whistle then a toot of the train horn. The train jerked forward, and slowly but surely, it gained speed as it left the platform and started on its journey towards Richmond station.
The conductor soon announced over the PA system that since the train was full, it would now run express to Richmond. All the passengers cheered. Joshua smiled as the train went past several stations and saw crowds of people standing on the platform. He waved as the train went past, but very few people returned the favour. Joshua kept looking out the window, as all around him, people were chatting about the day’s game, discussing who would win, who would play on who, who will be voted best on ground, and would the pre-match entertainment be a disappointment again this year.
Just over an hour later, the train had reached its destination. The Egan family stepped off the train, and were virtually swept away in a tide of people heading towards the exit. Joshua held onto his mother’s hand as they made their way through the exit and crossed the road. He cringed when he heard someone playing “We’re a happy team at Hawthorn” on the bagpipes as he walked past Punt Road Oval towards the footbridge. At the top of the footbridge, Joshua could see the tops of the huge light towers over the sea of humanity surrounding him. He could hear people kicking footballs in the car-park, smell the scent of hot dogs and hot jam donuts wafting on the breeze, and hear the occasional cry of “Record! Get your Footy Record!” from the many pimply faced adolescents scattered around the car park.
As they walked towards the mammoth concrete structure ahead of them, Joshua saw more and more people converging towards the ground like ants would converge on a picnic basket. There were a lot more people decked out in brown and gold here, the vast majority with the numbers 15 and 23 on their backs, while most of those decked out in blue and white had the number 29 on their back.
Finally the Egan family made their way to the section of the ground set aside for the Auskick kids and their families. Joshua munched on a vegemite and cheese sandwich while he cast his eyes around the massive stadium. He watched intently as the two sides ran on for a pre-game warm-up, and clapped whenever a Geelong player kicked a goal, which was often.
Soon, the two cheer-squads walked onto the ground and prepared their giant banners for the teams to run through. After the pre-match entertainment, the huge crowd roared as first Geelong, then Hawthorn ran through their respective banners. Everyone stood as the national anthem was sung, and let out an almighty roar as the final notes played. That roar soon turned into a crescendo as the umpire held the ball aloft in the middle of the ground and the opening siren sounded.
Geelong started well, as Tom Hawkins marked strongly on the lead and kicked the opening goal within a minute. Joshua waved his flag enthusiastically with a huge smile on his face. The rest of the quarter went goal for goal, and Geelong held a slender 7 point lead at the first change.
Soon after the resumption of play, Joshua was told it was time to get ready for his game, so he left his seat and followed his Auskick coach down into the rooms. He was putting on his boots when his coach threw him a Geelong jumper. “Here, this one’s yours.” Joshua quickly unfolded it, and looked at the number on the back - 29. “Yes!” thought Joshua as he pulled it on. For ten minutes, he kicked the ball to his good friend Brendan and Brendan kicked it back. Occasionally, he heard a muffled cheer, or cry of “Ball!”. Eventually the coach summoned the players and they ran up the players’ race just as the siren went. Running onto the ground, Joshua was mesmerized by the sea of faces looking back at him.
To Joshua, the whole game seemed like a blur. He was playing in the forward line in the first half and managed to kick a good goal from the pocket. The crowd behind the goals at that end cheered the effort as a few of his teammates patted him on the back and ruffled his hair. In the second half, he was playing as a defender, and got a few kicks. Soon the siren went, and it was time to line up at the top of the players race to form a guard of honour as the players ran back onto the ground to resume hostilities. Joshua looked up at the scoreboard and saw that Hawthorn had a 12 point lead at half time.
It was then time for Joshua to go back to his parents. He returned to his seat about ten minutes into the third quarter. Geelong were still trailing by 12 points, but soon after Paul Chapman snapped the ball over his shoulder for a great goal and cut the lead to a solitary kick. Again, the game went goal for goal, and at the last change, Geelong trailed by five points.
The crowd were at fever pitch during an intense final quarter. Hawthorn kicked the first goal through a marvellous 45m kick from the boundary line from Lance Franklin in the first minute, which was answered almost immediately by a long running goal from Travis Varcoe after a chain of quick handpasses. The next twenty minutes was intense. Hawthorn would goal, then Geelong would get one back, but could never get the extra goal to pinch the lead. The quarter was 29 minutes old, and Hawthorn still had a five point lead. Joshua had a sinking feeling that Geelong would lose yet another grand final.
In a frantic passage of play in the dying stages, Stuart Dew kicked a long ball towards a Lance Franklin – Matthew Scarlett duel. Scarlett managed to get a fist in to spoil the marking attempt, and Corey Enright ran past and picked up the ball. Dodging past a lunging Cyril Rioli, Enright handballed to Andrew Mackie running past. Mackie looked upfield, and chipped the ball to Jimmy Bartel on the wing. Bartel marked, stopped, and then handballed over the top of his opponent to Joel Selwood. Selwood looked up, baulked past Chance Bateman, and spied a loose Geelong player running forward out of the corner of his eye. He angled the kick across his body, and Gary Ablett jumped in front of Luke Hodge to take a strong mark 45 metres out from goal. As the late afternoon sun reflected off Ablett’s bald scalp, he surveyed his options. He decided to have a shot, and steadied himself as the siren went. The crowd gasped as they watched the young champion lean over, his eyes focused on a target behind the goals.
Joshua was on the edge of his seat as Ablett took some slow, deliberate steps towards goal. He slowly increased his pace, and when he reached the 50m arc, dropped the ball onto his boot. Joshua’s gaze was fixed on the ball, and he watched as the ball spun end over end as it approached the goal face. He watched the goal umpire crane his neck skywards, and bend his back as the ball sailed overhead. He then jumped up in the air and screamed in delight as the umpire held up two fingers. Ablett had goaled, and Geelong had won the grand final by a point.
As he was jumping up and down in delight, his coach tapped him on the shoulder. “Come on Joshua, you have to go onto the ground to hand out a premiership medallion.” Joshua ran down to where the rest of the Auskickers were, and they were lead onto the ground in single file according to the number on their back.
Joshua waited patiently beside the podium until he reached the front of the queue. “Number 29 – Gary Ablett!” said Craig Willis, the MC, as Joshua was prompted to step onto the podium. As Joshua stepped onto the podium, Ablett approached from the opposite side, and they met in the middle. Ablett bent down so Joshua could drape the medal around his neck. Ablett then ruffled Joshua’s hair and put a cap with a Ford logo on his head. Joshua turned around with a huge smile on his face, and ran off the podium.
As they got home, Joshua was still wearing his cap, and chatting excitedly about being on the same podium as his favourite player. His parents told him it was getting late, so they helped him into his pyjamas and tucked him into bed. He soon drifted off to sleep, and dreamt he was in Ablett’s boots, kicking the winning goal in the grand final with 100,000 fans watching his every movement. He started smiling.
