You Got Served

• Jared Cullen, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2016

Tom, Tom, Tom the crowd chanted as I walked nervously out onto the grass tennis court. I was anxious and nervous but foremost excited, my first ever world national’s tennis tournament was ever fast approaching.
I could feel the anticipation, the pressure surging through my veins.
It was almost time to get started, after a quick nervous exchange of words with my opponent, and a toss of a coin, we were ready to play.
I glanced at his piercing eyes, a shiver went down my spine, was I really good enough to win this game?
I jogged into my position, eager to start. I began the match placing the tennis ball fast and deep into my opponents half however, in return I received the exactly the same shot that I had just played. He moved quickly to set the lead.
I was not giving up, even though it wasn’t a good start at all!
After a quick drink from the garden hose, and minutes of chasing the tennis ball, the temperature started to rise. We thought we were playing tennis on Venus. Due to the heat, my opponent deliberately started to smash the ball into the swaying net wanting to finish the game quickly. I felt like an overcooked hotdog!
After watching my opponent miss a heap of simple shots, I started to hear a fan in the crowd shouting “Take out the trash Tom, take out the trash.” I sure am going to take out the trash, this guy is going down, I muttered to myself.
My heart pounded and my breathing was shallow, I was chasing the ball around the court as if I were an Olympian.
Suddenly, I feel something grab and pinch my left ear. I look up at two angry looking eyes staring at me. It was my mother. “How many times have I told you to take out the trash Tom” she asked. “Get inside and quit playing tennis against this old brick wall. Well, what are you waiting for” she questioned, “TAKE OUT THE TRASH.”