It had been a frustrating game for Kristi Harris. Although she was the leading scorer on the Panthers soccer team, she had yet to put it in the back of the net. She didn't think the other team's goalkeeper was all that good, either. Several times, Kristi had kicked the ball straight at the net, only to have it veer away and hit the post or miss the goal by just a couple of inches.
It must have been half an hour into the second half when Kristi got an unexpected break. A gust of wind blew her long, dishwater blond hair into her face as a teammate rocketed the ball over Kristi's and an opposing defender's heads. The keeper turned to watch the ball strike the crossbar near the right corner and bounce back toward Kristi. While this happened, Kristi reached up with her hand to clear her hair out of her face. At that instant, the ball struck her hand, causing her to slap herself on the nose. She bent over in pain and tried to feel her nose as she heard the referee blow his whistle. Thinking she was going to be called for a handball, she prepared to retreat ten yards to form a wall for the free kick. When she looked up, she saw him showing a yellow card to the goalie, who was repeatedly shouting, "She used her hands, ref!"
"Didn't you see it?" shouted one of the opposing coaches. "She used her hands! No goal! No goal!"
"Offsides, too!" yelled one of the opposing players.
BS, thought Kristi. I was onside when the ball was kicked over me. After that, it doesn't matter.
"Sub!" yelled Kristi's coach. "Kristi, come off. You did a good job."
"Who scored the goal?" Kristi asked as she took a drink of water and sat on the bench.
"You didn't see it?" asked one of her teammates.
"Of course, she didn't," said another. "She was bent over after the ball hit her."
"Kristi, you finally got a goal today."
"Ref didn't call a handball?"
"Didn't you hear them arguing? He allowed the goal. We're up, one to nothing."
"That goalie-"
"Hannah Myers-"
"Is that who that is? I remember her from second grade. She hated me then. No wonder she did everything she could to keep me from scoring."
"She got lucky a couple of times. I think the wind blew that one shot out."
"Funny how the wind helped me get this last goal. My hand was up to get the hair out of my face."
"Maybe the ref saw it that way, too, and decided that the handball was an accident, so he didn't call a foul."
Just then, the ref blasted his whistle. "Geez," said Kristi's coach. "Their goalie just got a red card." A moment later, he said, "Now their coach has got one."
The game soon ended, and the players ran across the field to shake hands and say, "Nice game." Hannah came at the end of the line, while Kristi was first for her team.
"You're a cheat, number twelve," said Hannah to Kristi. "I will get you."
"You got lucky, but your luck ran out, Hannah."
"Kristi!" said Hannah with a snarl. "I should have known."
Kristi and Hannah looked at each other for a moment, but Kristi's coach shouted, "Kristi, let's go!"
"She gives me the creeps," said Kristi to her teammates. "I remember when we were in second grade I thought she was a witch. She always acted like she was casting spells on other people-even our teacher."
Kristi didn't have a game the following Saturday, as the league had an odd number of teams and hers had a bye. When she got out of bed at ten o'clock in the morning, she put on a bathrobe and went out to the living room, where she was surprised to find she had received a package from her aunt, Special Delivery. "What's the occasion?" she wondered aloud.
"Well, you know Aunt Ruth," said her dad. "Maybe she heard about your game."
Inside the package was some wrapping paper; inside of that was a light-blue full slip. "Why would she send me a slip? I don't wear dresses, except to church on Sunday."
"Try it on, see if it fits," said her mom.
Kristi went to her room. She hoped the slip would not fit. Then she would have an excuse to send it back. However, it fit her perfectly. It was, however, ankle-length. Well, maybe it could be shortened. She never wore long dresses, even to church. She had to draw the line somewhere.
"It's too long, Mom!" she shouted as she came out into the living room, the hem of the slip at her ankles. "Maybe you could shorten it."
"I don't think so," her mother said. "It wouldn't look right if it was shortened."
"Whatever," said Kristi. She didn't care if it looked strange shortened, since it wasn't supposed to be seen in public, anyway. But she didn't plan to wear it again in any case, so it didn't matter.
She went back to her room a few minutes later to change into jeans and a T-shirt. Even though she wouldn't be playing, her cousin had a soccer game at noon, and she didn't want to miss it.
Ten minutes later, Kristi came out of her room with a look of panic on her face. She was still wearing the slip. "Mom? I can't get out of this thing."
"No problem. Here, let me help you," said her mother. They went to her room. Ten minutes later, Kristi was no closer to being out of her slip than she had ever been.
"It won't come off," she said to her father as he took her to the store to buy some dresses to wear over it. She was wearing an old T-shirt and jean skirt that had belonged to her mother in high school. "These are the only clothes in the house that I can wear with this." The jean skirt had a slit on one side, so it didn't entirely cover the slip.
After buying and putting on long dress that made her feel like a peasant, Kristi and her dad went to her cousin's game. Hannah's team was playing against Kristi's cousin's team. She laughed when she saw Kristi. Kristi's cousin, who normally played back, got a fluke goal early in the second half, and her team went on to a 1-0 win. "Carol's going to be in trouble," Kristi said to her dad as she watched Carol and Hannah snarl at each other at the end of the game. Her dad looked at her quizzically. "Hannah's a witch."
"Don't be silly," said her dad. "Your aunt sent you that slip, not Hannah."
"Aunt Ruth lives a block away from Hannah. And Carol's cousin Alice lives in the neighborhood, too."
After the game, Carol, who wore her hair short like a boy and was even more of a tomboy than Kristi, had a hard time believing the story about the slip.
"Just be careful about receiving any gifts from Alice. I think she lives in the same block as Hannah," said Kristi.
"Rubbish," said Carol. "What would Alice give me anyway? A cold?" Alice always seemed to have the sniffles.
Because Kristi couldn't change out of her dress, she couldn't play soccer anymore. Carol's team had a bye the next weekend, but she came to watch Kristi's team play. "See? I'm here. I got nothing from Alice or Hannah."
"Why is your hair almost down to your butt, then?" asked Kristi.