Short Story
Friday, December 24, 8:40 a.m.
Christmas Eve - today’s going to be insane. When I got up this morning, it was snowing heavily. The sight made me tingle with excitement. Pumping with adrenaline, I fixed myself a cup of water and took a quick wash. I lay down on my snug bed pondering over what to put down for my Christmas list... Life was hard here in Serbia ever since my mum died. Nothing was the same. No more clean water, no electronic luxuries and a huge shortage of money. I had to often help my dad on the farm if there was any chance of affording a Christmas present. Any second I had free I was on the streets playing football with my friends. Football was all I thought and dreamt about. Several years ago my mum bought me a Barcelona kit and some posters which currently remain on my bedroom wall. I had outgrown the kit many years ago now but I loved it and it reminded me of my mum so I still wear it in the streets of our rundown village. I go to Nikola Tesla School which was named after a famous inventor and I was happy there, for most of the time, anyway. After school every day, whatever the weather, I’d be on the streets somewhere playing football with my school friends despite any of us not having a proper football so we have to improvise with a sponge ball or a tennis ball. We had our own team, Barcelona FC we called ourselves, and we were good, too. I was nicknamed ‘mini Messi’ because of my slick dribbling and lethal finishing. Not many people came close to my balance, ball control and skill. Hence why I was named after my idol, the best player in the world- Messi!
I slurped down my murky cup of water and gazed out the window that opens on to the snowy streets. This filthy house was a good buy at the time, but so many things still remind me of my mum. She chose it, she decorated it, she... I guess that doesn’t matter now. All I want to do is make my mum proud. My dream would be to become a footballer, but how could I possibly get scouted from a
Christmas Eve - today’s going to be insane. When I got up this morning, it was snowing heavily. The sight made me tingle with excitement. Pumping with adrenaline, I fixed myself a cup of water and took a quick wash. I lay down on my snug bed pondering over what to put down for my Christmas list... Life was hard here in Serbia ever since my mum died. Nothing was the same. No more clean water, no electronic luxuries and a huge shortage of money. I had to often help my dad on the farm if there was any chance of affording a Christmas present. Any second I had free I was on the streets playing football with my friends. Football was all I thought and dreamt about. Several years ago my mum bought me a Barcelona kit and some posters which currently remain on my bedroom wall. I had outgrown the kit many years ago now but I loved it and it reminded me of my mum so I still wear it in the streets of our rundown village. I go to Nikola Tesla School which was named after a famous inventor and I was happy there, for most of the time, anyway. After school every day, whatever the weather, I’d be on the streets somewhere playing football with my school friends despite any of us not having a proper football so we have to improvise with a sponge ball or a tennis ball. We had our own team, Barcelona FC we called ourselves, and we were good, too. I was nicknamed ‘mini Messi’ because of my slick dribbling and lethal finishing. Not many people came close to my balance, ball control and skill. Hence why I was named after my idol, the best player in the world- Messi!
I slurped down my murky cup of water and gazed out the window that opens on to the snowy streets. This filthy house was a good buy at the time, but so many things still remind me of my mum. She chose it, she decorated it, she... I guess that doesn’t matter now. All I want to do is make my mum proud. My dream would be to become a footballer, but how could I possibly get scouted from a