Gemotions

The coach's words hung in the air, a thick, suffocating cloud. Sarah stared, mouth slightly agape, at the man who had been her mentor for the last decade. Soccer was her life; right wing was her identity. Now, he was suggesting center back. The change felt like a wrong turn at a fork in the road, leaving her facing the wrong direction.

Her hands instinctively clenched into fists. She remembered the countless hours spent honing her cross, the feeling of the wind whipping through her hair as she sprinted down the flank. That was her. This… this was a stranger's territory.

"But… why?" The question escaped her lips, small and almost lost in the vastness of the stadium. Her stomach twisted into knots.