Creative Piece

      1000 hrs / 15. 6. 99

Name : Gary

Brief Profile : Member of Knights, an all guys' rollerhockey team.

    It is 10 o’clock on the morning of the fifteenth day of June. I wondered what the hell I was doing here, in the sweltering heat, under a cloudless sky. I hadn’t wanted to be here, had better things to do with my time but here I am anyway. Ben needed my help and I couldn’t refuse. Couldn’t let him down. An inline hockey teammate and a friend no less, I agreed when he asked if I would please come to NUS and lend him a helping hand. He was conducting a course on inline hockey and maybe I could assist in introducing the sport to the course participants?

    Actually, except for the heat, it really isn’t so bad, I thought, as I took a drag of my cigarette and surveyed the surroundings. Hilly and undulating, the many slopes on the grounds of the university were perfect for some real thrilling, adrenaline-pumping skating. The kind that I enjoy. The kind that makes me giddy with exhilaration. Made a mental note to try out ‘em slopes later.

    I sat in a corner and watched Ben as he showed the group of forty or so participants the various ways to shoot the puck at goal. I could see that the girls were impressed, awe-struck and fascinated with Ben’s skill and expertise. My thoughts wandered and I thought about how I came to pick up inline hockey.

    Carol. We had met, loved and had broken up. Carol had had a change of heart. She had given me up. Some Gordon guy had won her over. I had lost the one person I ever really cared about. Friends suggested I try out a new sport, how about rollerhockey, it’s pure adrenaline, I would and could really develop a passion for it, and maybe, just by the way, it could take my mind off her. I gave it a shot and I am since hooked on it.

    Ben was calling me. Standing up, I thought I saw a familiar face in the distance. Clad in a white sleeveless top, checked bermudas and a pair of Nikes that no doubt, had seen better days, she sat crosslegged on the kerb, watching Ben and chewing gum. I didn’t know her name but I remembered seeing her at the hockey court where both our teams trained. She appeared to be alone. She seemed bored and uninterested. I wondered what she was doing here.

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