Aim High

• Eve Newsome, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2019

A quiver of excitement was in the air on Friday. The reason was very apparent. Riley felt jittery and nervous entering the school grounds, with an extensive game plan set out in her head, which she'd prepared for the big game ahead that day.
Soccer was everything to Riley, especially today. With her father and older brother having had a memorable career it was now her time to shine.
'Riley, Riley!' yelled an enthusiastic toned voice.
The owner of the voice bustled up to her. It was Brooke, her best friend. She seemed as excited as everyone else for the Soccer Grand Final. 'Nervous?' she questioned.
'A bit, yeah,' Brooke interrupted.
'The whole school's simply buzzing with excitement,' she exclaimed.
As Riley placed her bag on the bag rack, Brooke was already pulling out her football boots.
'Brooke,’ moaned Riley, 'the game's more than an hour away.’ She shrugged and kept tying her shoe-laces up.
'Coach wants us training and warming up at 9:00.’
'Already?' Riley complained.
'Yep,’ Brooke replied.
‘We've made it this far guys.’
Coach was giving the team a pregame pep-talk.
'Nothing will stand in our way this game,' he paused,' I can feel it.’
He searched for the right words as his speech faltered.
Anticipation lead up to the game. As they went through drills, Riley imagined herself winning the Soccer School Cup. As her daydreams began to wander further, they came to a complete halt when she received a nasty bruise on her forehead from a ball. Moments later, Brooke received the same head injury.
'Get your heads in the game!' yelled Coach Mathews. Riley burned up a deep scarlet. In the change rooms everyone looked quite pale, including the teachers who were situated near the door. Anxiety, nerves and adrenalin were pumping through the half confident team. As the team made their way out onto the pitch, a colossal applause met their ears.
The whistle blew and they were off.
After 10 minutes, the score was 2-1 to Riley's team! Only a few people received injuries in the first half. As the game pressed on, half time came and the score was 5-5.
'Everything comes down to this girls, let’s make everything we've worked for this year worth it!’
It was an intense last game of the season, with only a few scarce minutes to spare.
Riley was in possession of the ball, dribbling it up the field.
She booted the ball towards the top left hand corner.
The goalie dived.
She missed it.
It flew into the goal.
The cheering, shouting, squealing and sound of satisfactory applause would've reached the moon and back.
Brooke ran over and hugged her. As she held the cup above her head, the crowd chanted her name for what seemed like forever, 'Riley, Riley, Riley!!!
Riley's smile was as dazzling as the sun.
Riley learned if you want to win big, you've got to Aim High.