flipped. charlie conway

61

ms mckay rose her eyebrows in approval. "when the wind blows hard and the sky goes black?"

"ducks fly together!"

"when the roosters are crowing and the cows are spinning circles in the pasture?" dwayne eagerly questioned.

with a little hesitance, the team continued. "ducks fly together!" they cheered, dwayne smiling proudly.

"when everyone says it can't be done," bombay quietened, "ducks fly together." leah nodded as adam wrapped an arm over his sister's shoulders.

"new ducks and old ducks must unite under a new banner," jan introduced, holding up a jersey, "i thought perhaps something like this."

a billed hockey mask crossed by two sticks. a white jersey with purple and teal embellishments. it was lovely. team usa cheered as they rushed to put on their new gear and head back out to the ice.

despite the duck sitting on her jersey once again, and the newfound unity amongst the team, leah still felt she was intruding by wearing the jersey. her eyes flickered to their captain, hearing his words echo in her head. 'you're no duck.'

she pushed it down as they returned to the ice, prepared to put everything she had on the line for her team. bombay ushered them into a huddle as the referees gave their warning to third period.

"quack, quack, quack." their coach began to chant.

the team joined in, accumulating excitement and volume as they chanted. soon enough, the audience in the stands were changing along, too. leah smiled.

"go ducks!" she yelled, slipping away to centre ice.

the girl shook out her arms and legs, narrowing her eyes at the iceland player approaching. he drawled a maniacal laugh in her face, which leah chose to ignore. she bent forward, feeling her skates grind into the ice. she was grounded.

"cross sticks." the umpire instructed, leah whipping her stick into place.

time slowed as he showed the puck, raising it a little before he let his fingers slip. leah angled herself away, hitting the puck out of reach the second the puck hit the beaten ice. the stands erupted immediately.

connie, guy, jesse, luis, and leah weaved through the iceland players. one thought on each of their minds: 'ducks fly together'. it was clearly the perfect phrase, as leah had felt more intuitive and united with her team playing on the ice than ever before.

with a few manoeuvres and dodges, the usa players had slipped the puck into the net. their teamwork shone through.

but iceland were quick to score another goal. leah threw herself in the way, desperately trying to intercept the puck, to no avail.

"timeout!" bombay's voice echoed through the stadium.

the team huddled at their bench, charlie whipping out a whiteboard. an intricate array of arrows were scribbled on the board, an array which leah could see the strategy behind. charlie was so clever.

"what are you trying to do here, charlie? this isn't the nba."

"but it's the perfect teamwork play!" he argued, taking the opportunity to explain. leah nodded in approval.

following charlie's plan, adam, leah, dwayne, fulton, and averman head onto the ice. adam stole the centre puck and began to dart around. his players trailed, too oblivious to notice that adam left the puck behind. dwayne sweeped in to perform his trick.

"alley-oop, boys!" he yelled, flinging the puck into the air. it flew through the air toward the goal, but leah could see its trajectory. it wouldn't quite make it. though it wasn't in charlie's plan, leah thought on the spot. as the puck landed five feet away from the goal, leah was quick to shoot it past the goalie. the siren wailed victoriously.