The Football Match

 “Come on, kids! Let`s go. We`re going to be late!”, Catherine yelled.  

That was something you would hear her say regularly. Catherine was a mother of three, and when you have three kids, you forget about your own needs. In between football practice, helping with homework and preventing the house from breaking down, Catherine didn`t have any spare time. Don’t get me wrong, Catherine loved her kids, most of the time. You`re probably thinking “but what about her husband?”, well, her husband died three years ago. So sad, so sad, but back to Catherine. 

“Kids! Where are you?”, Catherine yelled from the kitchen. 

“m here, mom”, her youngest son, Luke, replied.

 “Yes, you`re, but where is your sisters?”, Catherine asked. 

“I don’t know. Amanda was talking on the phone, and Elizabeth was reading. She`s such a nerd”, he giggled a little. 

“Don’t talk about your sister like that, Luke. Go and tell them to come. We`re running late.” 

“No, I don’t want to. It`s too far away. I need to save my energy. Besides, why do they even have to come? It`s my football match.” Luke said with a grumpy voice. 

“It`s not far away, Luke. It`s literally ten stairs, and it isn`t just a football game. It`s your biggest match ever, and I bet you`ll win!” Catherine said with a huge smile.

 “I don’t think so, mom. The other team is pretty good, I don’t think we can beat them.” 

“Oh Luke, you know what Theodore Roosevelt said? Believe you can and you`re halfway there.” Catherine comforted. 

“Oh mom, you and your quotes”

Then Elizabeth came, her head in a book, followed by Amanda`s giggles. “Really? Omg she did not! That`s hilarious.” 

“Amanda, would you please hang up? We`re running late” Catherine asked. 

“Yeah, Yeah.” Amanda answered. 

“let`s go” Catherine said with a deep sigh. 

They drove to the football field and Catherine sighed twice of exhaustion. The other team was already on the field, and so were their parents. Catherine hated those parents, they would always roll their eyes whenever Catherine quoted someone. She believed they were jealous of her intelligence. It was the only reason she could think of.  

The match started, and Catherine was yelling out quotes faster than anyone would have thought. 

“Come on, guys! Like Lao Tzu said, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

 “Mom would you stop that quoting of yours? It`s really embarrassing!”, Amanda said frustrated. Catherine shook her head in disagreement and waved at Amanda.

It was even between the two teams, and Luke had the ball. “Come on, Luke! Nothing is impossible. The word itself says I`m possible”, Catherine cheered. 

“I know, mom. Please be quiet.” Luke asked as he dribbled the ball to the goal. 

“Oh yeah. Sorry!” Catherine answered. Luke, as little as he was, managed to dribble the ball back and forth between several boys. Finally, he stopped in front of the goal, and scored. They won!

“Yes. Yes! I knew you could do it, Luke. That`s my boy, a splendid footballer!” Catherine screamed as she sent a little smirk to the other team’s parents.

 “Thanks, mom”, Luke said “Couldn`t have done it without your quotes”, he continued with a tiny wink before they headed home.