Bobby Knows the Best

There sat Bobby, alone, exhausted. Sweat was running down his pink neck, and a mosquitoes was drinking from the exposed vessel. The soccer field had been packed with an audience of five hundred, locals and parents, but it was not the case today. Quiet, windless, wet. The day had started with a drizzle, and the bright green grass of yesterday had turned away, where the lifeless, brown yellow sadness now took over.

Bobby had been practising his shooting the whole morning, all by himself. The goalkeeper he pretended to see was now sitting next to him.

"You've got a few decent shot today," said the goalkeeper. Bobby didn't name it after anyone.

"And you've got a few decent saves," said Bobby, looking down at the ball. His hands rubbing the leather surface, and rolling the ball back and forth.

"Wanna go for another round?" said the goalkeeper.

"Sure. Are you?" said Bobby.

"Bring it."

He stood up and was just about to kick the ball into the field when someone called him.

"Bobby! Yo, Bobby."

Bobby turned to see Silly Jones on his dirt bike. "What?"

"Your mommy's looking for you, Bobby."

"Where?" Bobby shouted back to Silly Jones.

"Just down the road," he rode the bike down the track and crossed the lawn and cut a diagonal stripe on the grass. Mr. Stenfield wouldn't like it when he saw that someone had destroyed his beautiful property. "I can give you a ride you know. I can ride really fast like those guys who can kick the ball so so far away."

"Thanks, but no," Bobby glanced at Silly Jones' dirt bike. It was an old, and torn up scrap of metal, a pure relic passed down from his grandfather and Silly Jones had been riding on the bike since the day his grandpa died. The gears had worn down and the chain had not been oiled properly that it now generate a irritating noise with every revolution. Besides, the backseat was practically non-existent, who could fit in that tiny remaining rusted metal frame anyway.

"Well, that's a shame. I thought I could get you a ride or something. Anyway, good seeing ya. Gotta ride home now, looks like it's gonna rain," Silly Jones was riding away. "See you tomorrow at school," he yelled.

"Yeah, I guess so," Bobby lifted the ball with the tip of his left foot and caught the ball in midair. "Gotta run now," he said to himself and maybe the invisible goalkeeper. He was running with the ball and wondering why hadn't he introduced the goalkeeper to Silly Jones.