Last Shot at Redemption

If she didn’t make it to the pipe by noon, she was going to be pissed. Her mother had made sure that all of everything wasn’t done the night before, so it was taking that much longer to get all her chores done. She would have thought that her mother would have gotten over whatever issues she had with Leanna boarding. But nope, she was still stuck listening to her complain about it constantly. It was enough to drive a sane girl crazy. Anna paid for it all herself; the car was hers; her dad had bought her the board. Leanna had worked seriously hard for everything that she had. But she worked even harder to keep all of it.

She had plans to meet Jamie at the pipe at Falls Creek at noon, but it was looking like she wouldn’t be there on time. The horses needed turned out and the chickens still needed fed. She’d been up since five working while her mother took Paulie to school and then went to her part time desk job downtown.

It was already close to eleven and driving through Melbourne to the opposite side was not something that she enjoyed doing. But she did it out of necessity. Falls Creek was the closest resort with a pipe so she would deal with it.

Her phone rang in her pocket just as she got the last horse shooed out into the empty pasture that was strictly for them. She might get a chance to ride Sonny if she got home early enough.

“Yes, bastard?” She asked as she answered her best friends call.

“Let me guess. You haven’t even left your house yet?” Jamie asked knowingly. Her best friend knew her entirely too well.

“No. They left all the damn chores for me. I just finished though. So I’ll be in the car in about a half hour. I need to take a shower so I don’t smell like horse shit,” She told her. Jamie laughed.

“Alright. But hurry up! Tomorrow is the first chance to qualify. You got all your shit together, right?” Jamie asked Anna and she did a mental check.

“Yup. All my cards are ready and my board is in awesome shape. Are you gonna be there?” She asked, walking into our old farm house.

“Of course! Now get showered. Coach is gonna be angry,” Jamie told her and then hung up. She took the stairs two at a time to get to her bathroom. She took her shower in record time and got out, throwing her hair into a low ponytail. She went to the car, dragging her coat along with her as she went. All of her equipment stayed locked in her car so her mom couldn’t get to it.

She hopped into her little SUV and started her drive towards the resort where she had a membership. Not to mention that she worked there throughout the summer months. Jamie worked there during the winter months but she was often found out on the trails or hanging out near the pipe with Anna.

Anna made it to Falls by one o’clock and parked next to Jamie’s big truck. She waved to everyone as she walked through the ski lodge and out to the lift that would take her to the pipe. It was important for her to get a good run in because tomorrow was one of the qualifiers for the Olympics. She knew that only three women would go for halfpipe so she needed to go in confident so that she could make it to her dream. She had tried to get on the X-Games circuit last year, and had made it, but her mom had threatened to leave her out in the cold and she hadn’t had enough money.

Since then, she had saved everything so she would eventually have enough to make it to the Olympics without a sponsor. She wasn’t necessarily cheap, but she rarely bought anything that wasn’t a necessity for her sport, the love of her life.

“Finally,” Jamie exclaimed as she met me on the bottom. She unsnapped the board from her feet as her friend shrugged, not wanting to go into all that she had to do that day. She just wanted to get up and board and get ready.

“You better hope that doesn’t happen tomorrow. They don’t accept late entrants,” Jamie told Leanna as they got onto the lift together.

“Trust me. I’ll leave the damn horses inside tomorrow if they expect me to be late. Fuck ‘em,” Anna told her, sliding her helmet on as they neared the top. They each held their boards between them as they rode up. The area around them was beautiful in the summer and the winter. She was lucky to have grown up in this area and not somewhere else. But she couldn’t help wanting to see more.

“You’re gonna do awesome, Anna. You’ll make it to the Olympics for sure. The only one who might beat you is Torah. She’s up here today already. Have you met her yet?” Jamie asked as they hopped off the lift and walked to the smaller lodge that sat at the top of the pipe.

“Bright? No. Since when does she board here?” Leanna asked her friend as they went inside.

“Today, I guess. Everyone is here trying to get some practice in before tomorrow,” Jamie said before pointing out Torah Bright.

“Come on. Let’s go get some runs in,” Her coach, Joe, said as he caught up with her. He knew better than to ask where she’d been. For now, he’d just deal with it and push her through at least four runs. The competition would be fierce and she hadn’t been out in a couple days. He knew how good Leanna was and wanted her to get there. It was the dream of a lifetime. She would go to the Olympics with no sponsors. And she might just leave with a medal to bring home.

“Ready?” He asked as he patted her back. He loved her as his own. He took care of her and gave her the fatherly advice she missed by not having her dad any longer. Anna loved him quite a bit too. And she was forever thankful for his help with regards to her boarding.

“Good. Put down a full run like you will tomorrow. I’ll meet you at the bottom since you’ll be waiting at least two runs to go. Coming with, Jamie?” He asked. Her friend could snowboard, but only did it for fun.

“I’ll come down with you. Two eyes are better than one for spotting mistakes.”