Hallo…been a good week. Started a crochet project: Hermaeus Mora. See how that pans out. Bit challenging at the moment. Also painting the very top floor now. Fun and games. Anyway, today’s three little word are: homeruns/tiebreaker/worriedly (28/04/24) Hope you enjoy.
The crowd fell silent. The wind shushed the birds. You could almost hear the way fingers twisted about the bat’s handle and the scuffed tip tapped the ground. The bowler stood still, ball held close to his mouth as though whispering secrets.
This was the super over.
No tiebreaker had been so tense. Not even the Ashes compared to this. Long contested rules were at stake.
Behind the batter, the water bottle stumps and ice lolly stick wicket stood precarious, and across the way, the other waited, poised to run, worn trainers digging worriedly into the rough tarmac pitch.
Then the bowler started their run, eyes fixed on the wicket, mouth tight in concentration. The arm swung round and the tennis ball was let loose.
Breaths were held and muscles tensed.
She watched the ball and then twisted, felt the heavy thump of ball against wood and air squeezed out of lungs. There was a gasp, a cry and then the pounding of feet on road and pavement.
Laughing, she ran grinning at her friend as she ran past, on and on, stacking up the runs until they beat the boys. The other team moaned and kicked at empty crisps packets fluttering like crowds waving flags in the distance. Two boys were on the wides, arms stretching to reach the ball lost under a parked car.
There were calls of no fair and no way and the sun behind the clouds was in my eyes. But the bowler just nodded with his hands on his hips, watching the girls on the kerb with the told-you-so smiles.
50 and not out.
Then a window opened and a mother called and the last of the homeruns ended play. Tomorrow there’d be a reply, but today more than ashes were carried home.
299 words
Sian_ink 
Very good as always ð ð ð
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