The Fourth Quarter Belongs to Us

(This is the first entry in a weekly short story project called "The Spohn Challenge.")

Ohhhh ...oh man. Wow. I don't feel so good. Did anybody get the license plate on that truck? Gotta turn over.

Oh hey, look at all the people. What did they say ... 50,000? 60,000? How can so many people be so quiet? And look! It's me! Bigger than life on the Jumbotron at the Apex Financial Dome. How about that?

Oh, hey guys. How's it going? How many fingers? That would be ... three. No, wait. Four. Can I stand up? Sure, no problem. Let's get back in the huddle and ...

Oh, no.  Gonna puke. Ugh. Take a knee. C'mon, Woodley, pull yourself together. You can do this. National TV audience ... contract year.  Get it together, buddy.  Let's try this again.

Ok, I'm standing. Standing is good.  Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.  Wow. Haven't heard that song in forever. Didn't he marry Gwen Stefani? Lucky bastard.

Time to go?  Ok, let's head for the sideline. One foot in front of the other. Nothing to it. What? I'm heading to the wrong sideline? Ok -- that's embarrassing. Turn around. Got it. Good. Let's go.

Gatorade? Great. Oxygen? Great. I'm all right. I'm good, guys. Don't worry. We got this.  The fourth quarter is ours.  The fourth quarter is ours.

"'The fourth quarter is ours'?"

"Yeah, he keeps saying that over and over. Must have something to do with the papers he was looking at. Presentation notes or something."

"Presentation. What kind of presentation?"

"Evidently, Mr. Donald Woodley here is some kind of big shot at Apex Financial."

"Apex? Aw man, he was just a block away for work. What an unlucky bastard. Did anybody get the license plate of the truck that hit him?"

"Cody's checking around now. With 50,000 people in a four-block radius, surely somebody was paying attention."

"I wouldn't count on it. Everybody's wrapped up in their own little dramas ... Ok, here's the bus.  Let's make a path for the EMTs."

"You see the game yesterday?"


"Yeah. How about that hit? Geez ... talk about being hit by a truck..."