Flash Fiction Post
Wiping the sweat of his forehead with a white towel, Tyler listened to his coach’s instructions, praying that his team could come back. His team, the Mustangs were down by 9 points to their rivals, the Golden Hawks. With just 2 minutes to play, the game looked out of reach, but Tyler couldn’t shake the feeling of how pessimistic his teammates were acting. “Come on guys, let’s keep our heads up” he said. “Play hard defence, we’re still in this game.” He knew even in his heart that it would be nearly impossible for the Mustangs to come back, but as a team captain, he knew he had to pick his teammates up and help pick them up. He stepped out onto the court when the horn sounded to signal a play resume. Running their favorite inbounds play to set Tyler up for a three, he inbounded the ball and darted through a double screen towards the right corner. Coming off the screen and setting his left foot down behind the line, he called for the ball and drained a jumper. 6 point game. Since the crowd was full of Mustang fans, they started getting into the game and the “Defense!” chants rang out through the gym. The Mustangs turned on a full court press, hoping to create some turnovers and come back in the ball game. The press worked, as the Mustangs got two quick layups off the Golden Hawks miscues. The Golden Hawk coach called timeout, as it was a two point game with just 29 seconds to play. Now as Tyler came walking onto the court, he could see the looks on his opponents faces, they looked defeated. With a twenty-four second shot clock, Tyler knew that if his team could secure the rebound, the Mustangs would get the last shot with a chance to win the ball game. The Golden Hawks forced up a 3 pointer that clanged off the rim, right to Tyler. Their coach called a timeout and quickly drew up a play for Tyler to isolate at the top of the key to take the final shot. Before Tyler stepped out onto the court, he knew the shot would go in. It was just the type of person he was. With the crowd standing on their feet and counting down the seconds left, Tyler dribbled left and drained a step-back three to win the ball game! There was pandemonium on the court, as they had just won the championship. In the post-game interview a reporter asked Tyler how he felt with 2 minutes left in the game. Holding back tears of joy, he exclaimed, “You just gotta believe man!!! WOOOO!
Reflection: This story represents optimism and pessimism by showing examples of people who demonstrate these traits. While his teammates may have been pessimistic, Tyler held his head high, and refused to give up even when things looked out of reach. On the other hand, his opponents’ body language gave the impression like they were ready to quit when things got tough, even when they were still up by 2 points. It’s also safe to say that Tyler’s optimism kept the rest of his team engaged and supportive of one another when they were down late in the game, and without Tyler I don’t think the Mustangs would’ve been able to come back and win that game. It just shows you what can happen when you work hard, and keep belief even when things aren’t going your way.
