Prologue
She loved it. The sounds of shoes squeaking on the floor of the gym. The sounds of the ball hitting the floor. The shouts of the other players. The feeling of freedom and flying as soon as she jumped up high to reach the ball.
With every fibre of her heart, she loved the sport – especially when the game wasn't an easy win. She knew that everyone in her team was giving their best, but nevertheless, the teams were almost tied. And knowing that her team was counting on her, made her smile. She took a few steps back, waited for just a second, until the setter positioned herself under the ball, then she shot forward and jumped off.
There it was: freedom.
There they were: the blockers of the opposing team –
but they had jumped too soon.
With a tiny grin, she threw her right arm back and with all the strength she had, she pulled it forward. The sound of her hand meeting the ball was music to her ears, the shouts of her teammates formed a melody, and the ball smacking the floor of the other side of the net was the ending crescendo of her favourite song.
28 to 26- they did it.
"Yes!" Shouting with glee, she hugged her best friend and the setter of the team. While the two girls hugged each other, a third one jumped on them and the three of them staggered. Their movement was stopped by the wall of the gym, and they loosened the hug to find their bearings again. The third girl ran off to hug other members of the team.
With a loud giggle, she shook her head and threw a glance to the stands. There he was. She returned his approving nod with a curtsy, grinning proudly. Then she looked back to the other side of the court. The team captain of the opposing team was angry, everyone could see that. Furiously, she threw a ball up into the air, jumped and spiked over the net. Surely, the ball should've only met the floor – this side of the court was almost empty, the team was celebrating the win after all – but the sheer strength of the spike made it bounce off the floor. It flew up again and darted over to the wall of the gym where the three girls were standing. They ducked anxiously, but the ball was too high and smashed into the basketball-hoop over their heads before it fell and rolled over the floor.
Still watching the ball roll away, she could first hear it: A faint creaking. But the sound got louder. Curiously, she looked up and her eyes widened with horror. The hoop bent forward. From her position slightly left of it, she could see that the metal brace, which job it was to secure the hoop to the wall, protruded. Only a long bolt connected hoop and wall. The whole hoop-and with it the whole plank– would come down any second now – with her best friend standing directly under it.
She jumped forward and used her dominant right hand to push her friend out of the range of the hoop. Her friend staggered a few steps but got out of the danger-zone. But instead of getting to safety herself, the wing spiker stumbled and fell to her knees.
The last thing she could see was the white face of her grandfather up in the stands, then she threw her hand up to protect her head from the impact.
Only darkness followed.