by Dayle Gaetz
Worried about what I was going to feed Mom for lunch and dinner and breakfast the next day and the day after that and the day after that. Worried about who would buy the groceries when we ran out of milk and bread. Worried about how Mom was going to get to the bank, or pay for my swimming lessons, or book my flight to see Dad next month or do anything at all if she wasn’t going to come down from that tree.
Scared about her falling and hurting herself.
And very, very scared about what my friends would say when they found out what was going on.
How did I feel? What a dumb question.
Sudden Impact by Lesley Choyce
The heavy fullback went down right on top of him. I heard this terrifying scream come out of Kurt. Kurt was not usually a screamer. I’d never heard him utter the slightest whimper of pain, ever. He was as tough as they come.
A whistle blew. The ball had missed the net. Nobody knew what I knew. I was over the rickety fence and running onto the field. The referee pulled the Fairview goon off of Kurt, but Kurt was still curled over on the grass.
Coach Kenner yelled at me to get off the field. He and Jason both came chasing after me. They thought I’d lost my mind. A kid falls down in a soccer game, big deal. But I knew better.