Present Tense

Here at Present Tense we’re mightly proud to present a memoir by Kennedy Elhajj.

Not only is this Kennedy’s first published work, it’s her first shot at writing memoir. This essay is the result of a fifth grade project done by her entire class. The press is claiming that she fabricated parts of this non-fiction essay, but don’t you believe it. As her father, I can vouch that every word of it is true. My little girl is the real deal.

My Favorite Water Polo Game
by Kennedy Elhajj

The swimmer was racing toward me while my teamies swam their hardest behind him. It was all up to me now, I was GOALIE! It seemed like slow-mo.

The ball came racing toward me! I WAS TERRIFIED! I tried to tread my hardest; it felt like my legs were going to EXPLODE! The player got ready to cheer. Then… SPLASH! I went underwater. A mysterious pain throbbed in my hands. When I bobbed to the surface my eyes were covered in water. When my eyes cleared the first thing I saw were my teamies cheering.

There was 1 second on the clock! I felt rushed; the score was 10-10. I looked behind me expecting to see the ball. But it wasn’t there; I looked in front of me. THERE IT WAS! The ball was sitting right in front of me!

I was proud and excited at the same time. I had saved the game, I felt good. The clock blared as loud as a siren.

The crowd stood up and cheered. I had saved the game, I felt very powerful at that moment. I got lots of hugs and kisses (even Aaron gave me a hug, when we got home of course, and that made me feel extra good).

But back to game! I got high 5’s from my teamies.

As it turned out my dad had taken a picture of me saving the goal, he took another picture of me and Aaron shouting at each other (after the goal) in a good natured, happy way. My dad made a joke about it and I laughed so hard, that when I was done laughing I was out of breath.

That was my favorite water polo game ever.

THE END