no.4

she was very little. she was a boy. it was her first hockey team. the ice was smooth at the start of practice and rough at the end. it always was. her dad one of the coaches. they had learned enough about teamwork to be ready for their first ever game. stepping out of the rink the skates hit the rubber mats and they walked to the dressing rooms. her heartbeat doubled maybe tripled. they had pinned all the jerseys on the wall. she  ran up to get hers. a big W on the front to represent the town they lived in. embroidered hunter green and yellow gold on white. the colors. on the back her last name was stitched in capital letters above her favorite number. in her very first game she scored the team's very first goal with a wrist shot past the goaltender and into the net. she made her family proud. everyone could see it was number 4. she raised her arms over her head and her teammates skated up and into her arms.  #katyamills