A bright burst of sunshine peeked through Anne’s window, become more noticeable by the second. Forcingly opening her eyes, she procrastinated to rise up, out of her adequate bed. She sat up, and placed her hands behind her, into the cushions of her mattress. Stretching her back, feeling a tingling sensation, she tumbled out of bed, and began getting ready for another day of high school. Sliding the mirrored door to her closet, she scanned her wardrobe, trying to envision what she would be wearing that day. “Anne! Do you think the clock stops for you in the morning? Hurry up!” Her mother annoyingly shouted. Anne disgustedly rolled her hazel eyes, and snatched out her baby blue tank top and denim bell-bottoms. She opened her overused make up box, and took out the empty mascara tube. She applied millions of coats through her lashes, and lined her waterline with eyeliner. She never has any time to fixate on the details. She desperately slipped on her fringed boots, and neon head wrap, and bolted out the door, just catching the bus in time. Most people zoom into the news that the driver is playing, but all Anne heard was, “President Nixon pulled out of Vietnam…” and was bored out of her mind. She plugged in her ear-buds and blasted her favorite Queen songs.

For Anne, school was like being locked in prison. Everyone had his or her own group. There were the jocks, the book heads, the popular, and norms. Being referred to as a “norm,” was like being a grain of sand, drifting along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Anne wanted to be seen as something more, not just another loser who comes and goes. Although, no matter how hard she tries to be noticed and accepted, her try-hard attempts, never quite worked out. Finally arriving, she grabbed her her fringed backpack, and marched off. “Another day.” She mumbled under her minty breath. Even though she should be grateful for what she had, a house and a family, but in school, she was the last person some people would ask to ‘chill’ with. People all over Peru were suffering from an earthquake, and Anne was zoned in on her own life more than anything else.

As she waked through the grass, she laid her eyes on Alexis Dijocaviz, the best tennis player in the state. She had swept titles out of every single girl’s hands. She also had plundered and discouraged each of her opponents. She looked at her watch and walked faster into the building, trying not to be late. She was a tormenter. Alexis casted at her and rolled her eyes. Anne was trying to forget the match she had against her, but the memories were not nearly bleak enough. “You’ll never make it. So stop trying. Tennis is not your forte so ‘dream on.’” Those detrimental words were on her mind like a tattoo. She was having trouble believing in herself. Especially after what Alexis said.

Approaching her locker, she unlocked her engraved lock, and grabbed all of the textbooks she needed for the morning. The day unusually spun by, as she watched the hour hand race behind the minute hand, and catch up with it every hour. Her mind was running to all different places, mostly about Alexis, and how she was trying out for her country wide ranking today. Despiteful of herself, Anne restlessly carried herself to each of her classes, hoping Karma works on Alexis. Before her eyes it was lunchtime, and Anne grabbed her lunch and headed to the cafeteria. During lunch most people played crossword puzzles and word searches, some even read the paper on current news. Anne personally found it eerie or strange that people were able to relax and read at lunch, for her it was time for excitement, the day was halfway through.

The bell startlingly rang, at 2:50, and Anne willingly busted out of her school doors, and began to walk to the park, where she would have her tennis lesson. She always enjoyed her walks to the park because the could taste the crisp breeze trailing through the air, and the serene sounds the birds were creating. The park was located on the calmer side of town, the rural area. For some reason Anne enjoyed walking away from the jumbled streets and smell of pollution, and admired the scenery. With no distractions or cell phones, her walk was completely breathable and relaxed. She traipsed aimlessly all of the way to the park.

As she approached the tennis courts, she jogged up the grass, and met her coach on the court. “Hey Anne! You are looking hip today!” her coach, Mrs. Brown complemented.

“Thanks, I am going to change now.” Anne replied with gratitude

“Don’t be long! Today is a rocket-lesson!” Rocket lessons were lessons that she just blasted the ball as hard as she could; using the best form and technique she was able to do. During these lessons, she felt macho, and on top of the world.
Anne always had to change in the park bathrooms after school, and put on her plain white Hanes tee shirt, and her black spandex. She hurriedly slipped on her thick socks, and Willson sneakers. Excitedly, she sprinted outside. She dawdled with her time during her lesson, because it would be a sin to not work hard with her mom’s hard work as a teacher.

Once on the court, she warmed up by doing lunges, laps, and jumping jacks. She took her usual spot in the center of the service box, and was ready for a great lesson. Mrs. Brown tapped the ball over the net, and began by rallying mini tennis. The two simply bounced the ball off of each other’s racquets and kept a long rally going. Anne worked on her groundstrokes, serves, and volleys during her lesson. Before she knew it, every week, her mom met her to pick her up. “Anne!!” her mom excitedly hollered

“What?” She answered

“I entered you in a tournament for 6:00! There was a late withdraw, so I was able to slide you right in.” Anne’s face lit with excitement, for once in her life, she actually thought she would be able to pull out a win without anything getting in her way. As she hopped into the car and closed the door, her face was still beaming with delight. She pushed the little knob on the car, and was thrilled to hear Elvis play through the speakers. She happily sang along to the lyrics. Pulling into the driveway she ran out of the car, and unlocked her front door. She anxiously walked into the kitchen, grabbing her favorite, Coka- Cola soda. She popped open the lid, and took a pittance. If I am going to win I am going to need energy! She thought. Her lesson had tired her out, and a bottle of Coke is just what she needed. She quickly showered, to feel refreshed. She sung her favorite song of all time, “bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum A-B-C easy as 1-2-3 as simple as do-re-mi A-B-C-…” to get her pumped up.
Anne didn’t quite understand how hard it was to succeed in the long run. She never truly understood what it was like to work truly hard and actually receive extol. She absolutely despised the fact that such an obnoxious brat such as Julie could achieve such high goals. What ever happened to Karma? In a world that is changing so quickly, it is hard to focus on one thing, even though she wanted it more than a child wants his blanket, it was the highest apple on the tree, and it seemed as if she would never reach it. Her arm always skimmed the top and could never grasp the delectable apple. Another person always seemed to come along at the end and snatch it away from her. Every tournament she enrolled in was like another chance, and just for a quick minute, she almost was able to envision herself winning, but the true, undefeatable champion always came along and stole the trophy. She was sick of being the loser, and was ready to steal the trophy and be the winner. She had been in too many tournaments and came out as a loser. It was time to become a champion. As a strong Christian, she felt it was only fair for God to show he cared for her, especially since she was so enthused in going to mass every week.

So many thoughts were fusing through her brain as she quickly redressed. She threw on her white skirt, and her white tank top, and brushed through her curly hair. She sprayed it with her favorite hairspray, to keep all of her fly-away curls out of her face. Leaving her room everything but pristine, she quickly threw on her think Hanes socks, and tennis shoes, and was out the door.

On the way to the tournament she stroked her racquet and whispered to herself, this is the day, this is the one. You have practiced too hard to let this one go. She took a couple of sips of her Fruit Punch Gatorade, and before she blinked, she was at her tournament. Her bones began to shiver, and her teeth began to cringe in fear of what would be occurring within the next couple of hours. She signed her name in at the front desk and saw a list of the five other competitors: Lillian, Sammie, Christie, Amy, and Alexis. Anne tried to calm herself down by stretching and jogging in place. Her match started in five minutes. The tournament director called all of the girls over, “Girls in the level 3: 14-16 tournaments please come out to court one.” Anne’s mom gave her a good luck hug, and whispered, “Go get them!” into her ear.

Anne collected her belongings and reluctantly headed out to court one, where she was told to go. She analyzed her competition. The director began to explain the rules of the tournament, but she was completely zoned out and focused on Alexis. Anne studied Jamie, with her high- ponytail, knee-highs, spandex, and her white Wilson top. Anne grinded her teeth with angst. All of a sudden she came out of her daze when she heard her name, “Anne you will be paired with Sammie first.” The director announced. The two girls jogged to court 3 in silence. Both did a few lunges and laps around the court.

Because Anne lost the coin toss, her opponent decided whether or not she would want to serve or receive, which is an avail Of course, she chose to serve- as most people choose to do. Anne waited nervously on the baseline, watching Sammie swing her racquet furiously at the ball, Anne jumped up and sprinted to the ball, and completed a smooth stroke, putting top-spin on the ball. The two started a rally going, and Anne placed the ball in each of the corners of the court, making Sammie “run for her money.” Anne got a lob-shot, and returned with a lob over the net, just skimming the net. Sammie failed to return the ball, giving Anne the advantage. The rest of their games resulted in a similar manner. When the coach called time, the two shook hands and agreed on their score, 5-1 Anne. She was gleaming in her self- confidence. She had never intimidated others before; she was always the one intimidated. Anne played every other opponent, winning each match by a landslide. She was on the balls of her feet, rocketing each shot, making it impossible for the receiver to return. She unfortunately had to zoom back to reality, where all of the talent meant noting compared to her next competitor, Alexis.

The two walked to their assigned court in absolute silence. You could hear a pin drop on their court. The tension was high. Luckily, Anne had choice of serve, and headed back to the baseline. She girded her strokes through her head and swung her racquet back, tossing the ball at exactly 90 degrees into the air. She dropped her wrist and came back and attacked the ball, making a perfect serve. Alexis missed the shot, stunned at the improvement Anne had gained since the last time the two had competed. Anne served again, this time Jamie actually returned her shot, hitting a groundstroke to the baseline. Anne recovered quickly, and snapped a mean backhand cross-court, and Jamie could not reach. Anne had one the first game, and it was Alexis’s time to serve. She tossed the ball into the air and served quickly. Anne knew that making little contact with the ball would create a short ball, in which Alexis would not be expecting. She lobbed the ball over the net and Jamie struggled to get to the ball. She screamed in agony. “ARRRAAGHHH!!” she shouted as she banged her racquet onto the court furiously. She gave Anne an angry berate as she recovered for her next shot. All of her shots were tenuous, or inconsistent. Every shot Jamie hit resulted in a smash into the net. Never in her entire life, had she seen Alexis so halting. Anne ended up winning the game, 6-1. As the two shook hands after time was called, Jamie disgustingly admitted, “great, thanks for taking my chance at winning.”
“You’ve been taking everyone else’s chances, but you know what I have realized Alexis?” Anne replied
“What now?”
“You haven’t been winning because of talent, but more for your caustic words and obnoxious actions.” She gouged out.
“Well excuse me, you may have won this time, but I’ll get you next one, for sure.”
“Okay, that’s a “far out” dream but whatever you say. You falsely conjectured me” Anne agitatedly replied. Alexis furiously marched away.

As all of the girls walked up the steps, waiting for the results to be announced, there was a great deal of stress between each player. Finally, the man called all of the competitors and their parents over. “Okay first I would like to say, everyone did an absolutely amazing job here today! I loved the sportsmanship going on between the players. Everyone was a winner today. Okay I would like to announce second place, going to Sammie Lazio. Congratulations! You did a great job.” He handed her the trophy she earned, and went back to the counter. Everyone was applauding. Anne’s heart raced, and knew at that point she had won. “Okay first place goes to Anne Smith. You were absolutely breathtaking, one of the best players we have seen in years.” He lifted up a 3 foot trophy, and approached Anne, shaking her hand. Her beatific appearance intimidated everyone in the room. Her mother was beaming with joy, and for once Anne was as well. Alexis’s jaw dropped faster than a cheetah chasing its prey. She muttered and mumbled words of hate underneath her breath. It wasn’t long before she began to bawl her eyes out; it was Alexis’s first lost in years. Justice has been served. Tennis was Anne’s virtuoso. Victory was made. This was a moment in which Anne would savor for the rest of her life.




In my piece, the theme is, “never give up on something worth striving for.” Anne clearly has a lot to strive for, like how Anita’s family had to strive for freedom. Both tennis and freedom are worth fighting for. My theme is closely knit with Before We Were Free ‘s storyline and theme. Both Anne and Papi’s family had to fight for what they wanted more than anything.