Reggae Girlz & Stoppage Time by Don Robishaw

Three drinking buds are watching a soccer game via SKYPE. Tom lives in Thailand, Mark in the Philippines (half a year), and Don here lives in exotic Lowell, Massachusetts.
“When we reach the end of the road, wouldn't it be cool if we have extra time,” Tom says after many cold Red Stripes?”
Mark nods. He does that a lot.
We love Jamaica, mon. Sometimes it takes a while after we return home to switch to our own everyday language. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, so they say. What follows is a fictional tale:


The goalie swings back and forth. She dives, falls, cannot block the shot. Goal. . . . . . . . . . . . !

Bloodied from the face-plant and double-body-bounce, the fading star pounds reddened fists into the field. 

She lies lifeless. Last breath, exhale.

The sky opens.Ya, ‘mon’?

Blood pours from the sieve that is the goalie’s nose. One hand presses into her chest. “Who’s that?”

Ya know, little sister.

“Please, another chance at glory, ‘mon’?”

No problem. You’ve accrued forty-eight months of stoppage time. It expires in 2023.

She rises. “We’ll be back . . . in many a day.”

So will I.

*Cheers! Jamaica moves on to the knock out round in the 2023 World Cup.

Don Robishaw’s collection of five FF tales found in, ‘Bad Road Ahead’ was the Grand Winner in Defenestrationism, 2020 Flash Fiction Suite Contest.


Don’s short story entitled,’Bad Paper Odyssey’ was a semi-finalist in Digging Through the Fat 2018 Chapbook Contest.