Fair Catch

by Kandi Steiner

There was something oddly comforting about it, I supposed — the low lighting, the shelves and shelves of book spines soothing in their own way.

He shrugged, putting the star back in the jar. “You can open a little burst of art to remind you.”

“You can forgive. Forgive, and understand that we’re human. We’re not perfect. And one day when you make a mistake, you’ll want someone to afford you the same grace.”

“Give them hell, Mighty Mouse,”

Then, the whistle blew, and the game resumed. But my heart wasn’t on the field anymore. It was with the boy who’d just been walked off it.