slammed into him. Gunter crashed to the floor. His side burned like fire, and he couldn’t bring himself to get back on his feet. Ryan came running over to him and called a time out. Coach Peterson and the game’s doctor came up to him.
“How are you feeling?” asked the coach.
“I feel dizzy and my side is ripped up.”
“Best get you on the bench.”
“But I want to play,” said Gunter. He didn’t want to let his friends down just because he felt a little unwell. Tries had been scored on both sides and now the home team was trailing the other team by four points.
“Maybe later,” said the coach, “but for now you must rest.”
“Yes, sir.” Gunter could see Debbie in the stands as the coach helped him back to the bench. Her hand was covering her mouth. Gunter collapsed on the bench and put his head in his hands. He just wanted to rest his eyes. After a few minutes he opened his eyes and looked up. There were only about ten minutes left in the game. The other team had possession of the ball. Ryan managed to get the ball off the other team, but a few moments later he was tackled to the ground. The other team scooped up the ball. They ran off and scored another try. They were now nine points behind. If they didn’t score a try soon they would be out of the game.
Six minutes before the end of the game Ryan got hold of the ball again, but he didn’t get caught up by the other team this time, he charged forward, put down two defending players and managed to score a try. They were back to four points behind. The conversion was next. Gunter looked to his left. The team’s star kicker was on the bench with a leg injury.
Coach Peterson called for a timeout.
“Ready to go back on, Gunter? We need your foot.”
Gunter jumped up and down. “Ready, sir.” His side was still giving him trouble, but he wasn’t going to tell the coach that. The crowd roared.
Gunter went over to ball. He looked up at the stands and at Debbie, she waved. He felt his confidence boosted. He lined up the posts, stepped back a few paces back, took a deep breath, charged forward and kicked the ball. It sailed through the air and went through the posts down the middle. The crowd erupted with cheers. The gap was now a two point margin, but they only had three or four minutes with overtime left to try score them in.
The coach queried from the sidelines if he was fit to carry on playing; he indicated that he was. Would he be able to keep himself together for the last few minutes that remained in the game? He really hoped so. The other team seemed to be determined to slow the pace of the game so that the score would stay as is and they would win. Coach Peterson and Ryan seemed to have other plans. They exchanged some hand signals. Ryan grimly nodded his head and charged forwards. A few of the other guys followed. They ran towards the other team in a staggered line. The other team got through a few guys before Ryan managed to take one down and steal the ball.
“Go!” he shouted. All defense was forgotten in a last ditch effort to score some points. Ryan and the team steamrolled their way through the opposition. The Bluewings were a little too spread out and unprepared for the full on assault. Ryan threw ball just as he was tackled. Gunter sprinted forward and so did one of the Bluewings. There was one minute left in the game. The other guy dived forward first. The ball landed just before him and bounced up and over him. Gunter, already going at full speed, had nowhere to go and also dived forward. Amazingly he got a tenuous hold on the ball, landed with a roll, saw that half of the other team were bearing down on him, and threw the ball to his nearest team mate. It was Ryan. Ryan grabbed the ball. Gunter laid on the ground and watched in amazement as Ryan, seeing that his path blocked, faked a left to right movement and dove over the defending man’s shoulder, and landed on the other side of the try line.
Some cheering erupted from the crowd, but all waited with baited breath for the signal from the referee declaring that it was a try. A few moments later the referee blew his whistle. The crowd went absolutely ballistic. It had been years since they had won an opening game. Especially against a team as good as the Bluewing Crusaders. Gunter rolled over on to his back and smiled. He was so happy, but so bone-tired as well. A few moments later the ref blew his whistle again. The game was over.
Someone gripped his hand pulled him up and back on to his feet. It was Siswe. “Amazing game, my friend, you really showed those guys how to play!”
Gunter chuckled. “Maybe, but it was a very steep learning curve, I’m absolutely shattered.”
“For your first game ever, I think you did very well.”
“I’ll you give that.” It wasn’t in the Swedish nature to brag, but he had to admit to himself, he had done rather well. They made their way back to the changing rooms. “How’s your training coming along?”
“It was hard at first,” admitted Siswe. “But now I can do a few hours on the bike with no sweat, and next week my doctor says I can take off the sling.”
“Excellent news.”
After the game. Gunter and Debbie spent the evening together relaxing and listening to music. The pain was the last thing on his mind when he was with her and it really helped with his recovery.
Saturday 27th April
Gunter waited at the side of the road. Both sides of the road were packed with people and cars. Everyone was there, even Siswe’s mother had come out. Everyone was there except for Siswe. They looked down the road expectantly. They could hear the crowd getting louder and louder from further down the road. A group of riders came into view. They were only seconds away from the finishing line. Gunter searched the faces of the oncoming riders, he couldn’t see Siswe’s face in the first ten people, then out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Siswe’s colours of blue and bright yellow. He was coming down the side on his own. His friend seemed to be very tired, but you could see that he was putting every little ounce of energy he had left into making himself go faster. Gunter, and everyone cheered him on. Melody, who was also with them, wasn’t quiet about her support of her boyfriend and cheered him on the loudest. When he heard her voice he seemed to gain that little bit of extra strength. He closed in on the leading pack. It was a little too late, but he had done really well and managed to squeeze into fifth place before he crossed the line. Siswe’s mother and Melody hugged each other and jumped up and down for joy.
“Siswe, I’m so proud of you, my son.”
“But I didn’t win,” said Siswe, he seemed to be a little down about not finishing in the top three. The last few weeks it was all he had been focused on.
“Don’t be silly, boy, you’re still a winner to me.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
“And besides, you will win it next time. Carry on improving as you have been, and you are sure to do even better next time.”
“Your mom is right,” said Gunter. “You have gone from a person who used to ride a bike sometimes, to a person who came fifth in a race with other people who have been doing this most of their lives. It’s only logical that you will take some time to catch up.”
“Very true,” nodded Siswe with a smile.
They travelled back in Mary’s new 4x4. James, Amy and Fred were driving in James’s car.
“And you know another thing?” asked Melody.
“No?” Siswe frowned.
“No matter if you never win a race, you will always be a silly, but cute Siswe.” Everyone laughed. Even Siswe thought it was slightly amusing.
Friday 3rd May
Gunter came home from school with the other kids as usual. He was feeling a little down. He had just gotten his report card. It was a little disappointing. His report card was full of Bs and Cs when they should have been As and Bs like he was used to. With the rugby training and spending so much time with Siswe and Debbie or with the Johnsons he hardly had any time to study. Now he had the task of phoning his parents, and telling them the bad news. That evening he phoned his parents:
“Hello, Mother,” his voice was softer and more subdued than normal.
“Gunter!” She wa
s always so happy to hear his voice. He had missed her so much. “How is my little pumpkin today?”
He smiled.
“I’m well, Mom, but I have some bad news...”
“Oh no!” Her voice suddenly grew very concerned. He kicked himself for the wrong choice of words. “What happened, no one got hurt did they?”
“Not that kind of bad news.”
“Oh! I’m so relieved. Sometimes your father and I are worried sick about you.”
“I know, Mom. I’m sorry.”
“What is the news, Gunter?”
“My report card...” his voice trailed off. There was no use hanging back in longer. “I didn’t do too well. “I got 3 Bs and the rest Cs.”
He expected his mom to get quite upset. “Oh, Gunter, that is really okay! Silly boy, you had me worried.”
“You’re not upset?” He felt better already.
“Of course not, you’re doing very well and your father and I are very proud of you. After all you’re in a new school, new country and surrounded by so many new people, you are bound to take some time to get into the swing of things, and besides after what you went through, you’re lucky to have done so well.”
“You’re the best, Mom!”
“I miss you so much and I can’t wait for you to get here on holiday.” Gunter was going home for a few weeks during one of the end of term breaks. He couldn’t wait.
“Me too.” He laughed. “And, Mum?”
“Yes, pumpkin?”
“Do you remember the girl Debbie I mentioned?” Even though he was almost grown up, he still found it hard to speak to his mother about girls.
“The one you like so much?”
“Yes, I was wondering could she come with me to visit Sweden?” He had asked Siswe if he had wanted to come to Sweden with him, but he declined the offer, he had a big bike race during the holidays and he was going to spend the rest of the time with Melody and her aunt and uncle in Durban.
“Wow, Gunter, that is a big thing to ask. Would her parents let her?”
“I’m not sure. I wanted to ask you and dad first, I didn’t want to get her hopes up for nothing.”
“I’m sure she would have a lot a fun here, I will speak to your father about it, and you ask her parents okay?”
“Sounds like a plan to me, Mom.”
Gunter looked at his watch. He had been on the phone quite a while and phoning long distance wasn’t cheap. They quickly caught up on a few other things and said their goodbyes.
Saturday May 23rd 6:00pm
The sun was just setting on the horizon. Gunter and Debbie sat in her back garden. It was her birthday and they had just enjoyed a small dinner party, with her parents. She was happy about it being her birthday, but she seemed a little downcast about something. She looked out at the reddish-pink sky, and didn’t say a word.
“Debbie?”
She turned and looked at him with the green eyes that he found so amazing. She smiled a soft gentle smile, but even there Gunter could tell that there was something bothering her. “Yes?”
“Why so sad?”
“You know me well,” she smiled a little more. “I don’t know, I was just thinking about the winter holidays and how sad I’m going to be with you gone.”
“I know, Debbie.” He moved in closer and put his arm around her. “Maybe this well help.” He passed her a card.
“I hope it’s a card with your phone number in Sweden, because I want to speak to you every day. You got that?”
“Oh I’m sure that won’t be a problem.” he said with a wry smile.
Debbie raised one eyebrow. “You’re up to something aren’t you?”
“Open it and find out.”
Debbie didn’t take her eyes off him. She slowly opened the envelope and pulled out what was inside. She looked at the airplane tickets with disbelieving eyes. She looked at the name on the ticket. Her eyes went even bigger. She let out a screaming giggle. “Gunter!” She hugged and held him tight. “You’re so amazing!”
Gunter just smiled.
“But how?” She sounded so excited and happy.
“Your parents and my parents both chipped in and now you’re coming with me on holiday.”
“Oh I can’t wait!”
She then ran inside and gave both her parents big hugs, even Ryan was ambushed coming out of the kitchen.
Friday June 5th
After a particularly hard and tiring session. Gunter and Ryan sat on the bench by the field, catching their breath before they went back inside to get changed. It was the first time in a while that he and Ryan had been alone for any length of time and he had been meaning to ask him something.
“For a big brother you’re very supportive about me seeing your sister.”
“I was wondering when you would ask about this again.” Ryan rubbed his eyes and yawned. “To tell you the truth it can be very hard for me to see her with you, but I’ve gotten over it and I have no reason to be upset with you. You make her feel happier than she has been in a very long time. Even my parents see that you are a good influence on her, even though she wants to spend every waking moment with you, she is working and studying a lot harder and doing much better in school. Could you believe she used to get Cs and Ds?”
Gunter was a little taken aback, it didn’t sound like the girl he knew. “Did she have some problems in the past?”
“She doesn’t like to talk about it so don’t tell her that I told you, okay?”
He found it hard to keep secrets from her, but if he was going to understand her better, then he had better know. “I won’t tell her.”
“When was nine years old, she went to the Pretoria zoo with our Gran, and had a great time. I was playing rugby that weekend so couldn’t go, on the way back a drunk driver sped through a red light and hit the car Debbie and our Gran was in.”
“That’s so terrible!”
“Except for some cuts and bruises Debbie was alright, but our Gran had been close to the impact, and suffered serious injuries. Debbie was helpless as she watched her only remaining grandparent pass away before her eyes.”
Ryan was shaking a little and Gunter could see some tears. “She was never the same after that. She went through a very rebellious stage a few years back and only recently mellowed out, and now when she saw you, a couple of months back, I could see some of the old Debbie coming back. And there’s nothing in the world I want more than her to be happy. “
“Ryan, I’m sorry about your Gran.” Gunter, fought the urge to cry too. “And thanks so much for telling me. I promise I will take the best of care of your sister.”
“You better!” He thumped Gunter on the arm. The tears now forgotten.
Gunter couldn’t believe it was possible, but he adored Debbie even more.
Saturday June 22nd
It was a crisp snow-blanketed morning, forests blurred past the windows. Living deep in the north of the country the winter lasted longer than in the south.
“Ah wow!” Debbie gasped. “It looks like pages of a fairy tale come to life.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Gunter had never looked at it that way before. It had always just been home. It looked so beautiful seeing it all again.
Debbie could hardly keep her eyes open. She had been so excited during the flight that she couldn’t sleep. It was still an hours drive back to his home. They were getting a lift in a taxi. After that they came to some more built up areas and it was mostly just highway. “Debbie, I think you should get some sleep.”
“I think you’re right.” She gripped his arm, put her head against his shoulder and promptly fell asleep.
Halfway through the journey the taxi driver looked back through his rear view mirror. “She has a strange accent. Where’s she from?”
“South Africa.”
“Wow. That’s far. You were there too?”
“I was.” Gunter spent the rest of the drive telling the driver about his time and adventures there. As he was tel
ling the man, he realized how much he was going to miss the place once his time was over. He vowed once he got back that he would make every moment count. And not being able to see Debbie was unbearable to think about.
Late that morning they arrived at Gunter’s home. His mom was there and his little brother and sister. His mom came up to the door, which he had just opened. Debbie was still asleep against his arm.
“She looks like a sleeping angel.” she commented, giving Gunter a kiss on the forehead. Gunter smiled. It felt so good to be home.
Debbie groaned a little and woke up and stretched. “Oh, are we here?” She looked around bewildered. “Oh, you must be Gunter’s mom.”
“I am yes, nice to meet you, Debbie.”
They untangled themselves and got out the car. Gunter gave his little brother and sister big hugs. They were both very happy to see him.
Debbie stood there shivering. Gunter’s mom hugged her around the shoulders and took her inside. “Better get you warmed up, dear. Kids bring in the luggage.”
Sunday June 30th
Event though they were wrapped up quite warmly the wind cut through all their layers of clothes and made them feel cold. Winter was lingering longer than normal in Sweden. They looked down at the slope before them. To Gunter it looked like a medium slope. One he had been down many times and could most probably do with his eyes closed.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” asked Debbie. “There are a lot of things to crash into on the way down.”
“You conquered the beginner slopes with no trouble at all. I’m very confident you can make this out alive.”
“Yes, but I have the bruises that prove I conquered those slopes.”
“Trust me, you will do fine.”
“I hope so, but before I go down this hill and potentially kill myself, can I have my potentially dying wish?”
“For you? I’m sure that can be arranged.” Gunter smiled.
“Since I’m now sixteen years old and I’ve never been kissed can you relieve me of that?”
“What about before the rugby match?”
“That was just a good luck kiss, silly.” she rolled her eyes.
Gunter visibly blushed. He wondered when this was going to come. He leaned over, she closed her eyes expectantly, at the last second he moved up and kissed her on the forehead.
She frowned and looked at him. All the emotions under the rainbow passing by her eyes. She looked a little angry.
“That’s not the sort of kiss I meant.”
Gunter smiled and shrugged.
Debbie seemed to fight the urge to laugh, she didn’t win, she burst out laughing and collapsed onto the soft snow.
Gunter laughed and pulled her back up.
She stopped and smiled wryly. “You can’t avoid the kiss forever you know.”
“I know.” he said, brushing some snow out of her hair. “But you will have to catch me first!” he turned and made a dash down the slope.
“Hey!” she shouted.
She went down after him. Gunter slowed down so she could catch up. Once she was level, he smiled, but the smile flew off his face when Debbie threw a snow ball at him, hitting him in the face. She was a natural at skiing. Once they had reached the bottom it had