Townsend Harris High School - Crimson Gold Yearbook (Flushing, NY)

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The Game SHORT STORY CONTEST FIRST PRIZE By WILLIAM GIBSON E WAS nervous for the frrst trme rn hrs career He trrpped on the ropes as he stepped rnto the rrng and came near fallrng Mechan rcally he caught at the fibres wrth hrs rrght hand and as rt was clench ed there he looked at rt That hand had battered down hrs opponents won the champronshrp earned for hrm the sobrrquet of Thunderbolt And now rt was tremblrng vrolently He had felt shaky all evenrng The palms of hrs hands were wet wrth persprratron and hrs lrps were very dry Occasronally he found hrmself lrckrng them wrth hrs tongue Ten mrnutes before he had sard to hrs brother Im qurttrng the Can you? sard rmmy Could he? Thorne asked hrmself Could he break away from the game that had been hrs lrvelrhood for years break away wrth a gesture lrke that? Of course I can' he had sard confidently And he realrzed that vxhen he qurt rt would be wrthout the trtle He knew that he would lose to nrghts fight A month ago hrs brother had stated that rn three words They all go he had sard speakrng of champrons And Thorne told hrm that he was crazy that he Thorne was the exceptron to the rule But as he clasped hrs hands together and rarsed them above hrs head and acknowledged the crowd s roar of greetrng he knew jrmmy was rrght He was not the exceptron He would lose to Young Edwards rn the comrng fight exactly as jrmmy had predrcted He was too old Too old too old at thrrty four What a laugh' Well he was too old for the rrng Hrs wrnd was no good any longer Hrs legs got trred after the fourth round Hrs rrght drdnt have the steam behrnd rt that rt had when hed beaten Morton for the champronshrp erght years ago Erght years was a long trme to keep the heavywerght crown In erght years he had become an old man Old at brtterly The referee called hrm and he went to the center of the rrng and recerved the frnal rnstructrons N hrttrng on the break Old stuff He had hrst heard of rt years ago years ago He was old and just begrnnrng to realrze rt Hrs entrre body and soul were clamorrng for youth a youth he had lost ages back He had hardly reached hrs prrme and they were callrng hrm washed up-and rrght at that Morton must have felt lrke thrs the nrght he fought Thorne jrmmy had been speakrng about hrm only the other day What was rt he had sardg Suddenly Thorne remembered Mor H f . , . 7 , 0 - I . , . S ' a , . . . , . 7 7 9 7 ' . . Iqghfiflg game wflighf, Jimmy. thirty-four! And he laughed again, . . , . . . . . . ' ,, O W- 7 1 I .,, o tt .u ' . , ' 7 ' I 4 p . . 7 . , - a ' 7 7 . 7 y . . , . . Page Furty-.six

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ton was bumming around the city and but a few days ago had been arrested for vagrancy You d never know hrm 1mmy had declared He looks lrke he got the T B Pale and thrn and srckly And then Well they all go If they dont get out they vnnd up l1ke Morton Or else they go bugs Its a lousy game thrs frghtrng racket When a man lrkes If IES hard for hrm to urt Hard to qurt? Well Thorne vtouldnt call rt that In a way he prned Morton Not many of the old trmers left now he reflected Well He shrugged He too was get trng old Morton hadn t had brarns enou h to get out when he should have Strll he mrght have stuck because he lrked the game Thorne lrked rt rn the same way rn sprte of all rts drrtrness he lrked If He lrked lf for the clean that was rn If for the fickle crowd that was always for when hrs blows thudded agarnst the sweaty body of hrs opponent H lrked If It was a good game But rt was a game for young men and Thorne was no longer young He was old too old for the rrng Prtrfully old Soon he would get out rf he could He drdnt know 1mmy had sard he couldnt and 1mmy was rlght on a lot of thrngs Dont make me laugh 1mmy had sard You qurt? You can t Youll never get out I tell you rt holds a man who lrkes rt and makes rt damned hard for hrm to qurt You lrke If too much for your own good And you re too old for rt You thrnk you re as fast now as you were a year ago? Or a year before that? Or another year back? You re used up and you don t know If The Thun derbolt' scornfully Your thun der You won t beat Young Edwards wrth rt And Thorne had sa1d Young Edwards ' contemptuously and laughed But now he knew 1mmy was rrght he wouldn t beat Young Edwards He could see how the fight would go Errst he would force lf chasrng Edwards around the rrng shoonng h1s bolt early And he would lose Soon he would t1re and be at Edwards mercy and that would be the end They all go 1mmy had sald He was one of them f if. V 5 galley jo! A Thorne fell forward mto a chnch Ten years frve years from now youll be hang1ng around drrtv gyms 1mmy had asserted sparrrng partner a prelrm man that s all you ll be And people w1ll pornt you out and say See that? Thats Thunderbolt Thorne heavywerght champ of the world Sunk krnda low hasn t he? 7 9 , . Qt , a , D! l U fl ' , ' 7 . t v , J , . . , ., I D . ,, . , q I . . , I n , 0 ' n l 7 - 7 ' ' 7 . . . i , , , . . , O' D . I ' . , ,mb . Aff' , . . . . i . V .uf .,,,, ,nu,,,.v Y h 9 .... . 5 I - , .... . the wrnner, for the thr1ll that he got ..,,,, c K ..,,. , - . ' , C ......... ' , .vziflg ......-.. . . , IV S' ' , W . ,.r, V ff' YA l 'M . '57 AJ l , I W A ' xg ' ' J 3 Yf .7 I , ,YY J' . ' 4 . . U. , 1 , A . . ' , . 7 l , 1 , , , . , 1 . a . y 7 ex- , . , , Page Forty-sow