I saw her fall, almost in slow motion. I looked around, but everyone stood frozen. And in that moment, I realized that it was all up to me now.
Driven by sheer instinct, I dove towards her… and caught her inches from the ground. Overcome with emotions, I held her tight, as if I would never let her go. And then, with my eyes full of tears, I kissed her passionately.
She would always remain a very special ball to me, for catching her off that faint edge had pulled our cricket team back from the edge of defeat.
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99 words.
Written in response to a combination of two challenges:
1) The Carrot Ranch Literary Community Flash Fiction Challenge, hosted by Charli Mills.Charli’s prompt this week, in her own words, was:
January 25, 2018, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that goes to the edge. Consider what the edge might be and how it informs the story. Go where the prompt leads.
2) Sunday Photo Fiction, hosted by Al Forbes. The objective is to write a story of 200 words or less based on the photo prompt given above. This week’s amazing picture was contributed by E.A. Wicklund. For more details visit HERE. To read more stories based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.
jagahdilmein 
Kissing a cricket ball can’t be very sanitary. 😉
That’s what passion does to you 🙂
What a wonderfully worry tale!
Thank you so much Barb.
*witty
LOL. You certainly gotcha me. I didn’t see it coming at all, helped by that wonderful statue. I couldn’t help but laugh when it became clear we were talking of a cricket ball. Good one Anurag.
Thank you so much Irene.
Wonderful twist, gave me a smile. Some things are just more important 🙂
Thank you so much Iain
That’s one tasty cricket ball! Nice one Anurag.
Thank you so much Keith 🙂
Clever way of combining the two prompts, and what an unexpected twist!
Thank you so much Joy.
Really good take. Loved the cricket twist.
Thank you so much Abby.
Great story, but we would have cried foul, for kissing the ball, may have changed it spin.😊
Ha ha ha. Thank you so much Michael
That was a ‘gotcha’ all right. (it’s just a game, you know)
Is it? 🙂 Thank you so much.
I remember a friend’s son went back to visit family in Trinidad. He was about 13 at the time. When he came back home (to Minnesota) he was all about cricket. I imagine him cheering at the end of your flash, Anurag. I still have to figure out what the game is, but I respect it — even built an ad for the Ranch with a spray-painted cricket player.
Because of our British legacy, cricket is a religion here in India. Passions run real high during any game, be it a local neighborhood game, or an international cricket tournament. And when the match is with a traditional rival, like with Pakistan, for example, there are fireworks on the streets when our team wins, and homes of cricketers get attacked by mobs if we lose.
Baseball was a game that popped up in the US in small towns. People would come in from farms and ranches to play. There’s something so primal about humans playing competitive games. I once saw a college mobbed when their hockey team won. The won, and in their mob celebration they upturned cars and set small fires. It was crazy. But it is definitely a shared human trait around the world.
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Haa haa, the funny Bakshi style stories – simply love them 🙂
Thanks Leena.