I had read this story when I was in 9th standard ... I clearly remember it was one of a shining morning of month August, and it was a Sunday... !! The story really touched me, and it always does when I remember that day... It goes like this....
Once upon a time there was a boy, like a normal boy he went to school, studied there, played after school and came back.. !! But this boy had a special affection for playing football, he would stay on the field till it was soo dark that he couldn't see the ball. Though he didn't had the talent but the hard work was there. He would do anything for playing football. And the good thing was that his dad supported him in all that, he would stay with him in the field till he wanted to. He never forced him to study, or leave playing football, what he did was just supported him. Then the boy got admission in college. There also football dominated most of his time.. Till 2nd year he didn't even get in the College team, but as he approached 3rd year, by the end of 2nd year, during the trials he was accepted for the extras in the team.. !! He was very happy with this new happening in his life. Though he was only selected for extras, he practiced more than the normal players did. He never missed a practice day. Throughout the third year he didn't get to play much, he was replaced generally in final minutes of match. But this never dis-appointed him, his dedication towards the game stayed, and moreover it has increased over time. And the constant thing was that his Dad never missed any match of his. He was always there was to support him.

Finally came his last year of college life. And as the team was announced, he saw his name in the first 11 players. He was no more playing as an extra. He was very happy. After two months he had to play a match for the college. He practiced a lot. And finally only 3 days were remianing for the match. He was practicing on the field. And suddenly his coach came to him with a paper in his hand. It was a fax from the boy's house. His dad has had a heart attack , and was no more. The coach didn't know how to tell this to him, he simply handed the paper to the boy, and told him to go home and no need to return for the match. He should be there, and they need him. He went home.

On the day of the match, their team was playing against the strongest college team in their Zone. It had to be a tough match. The first half ended with an no goals from both sides. And just in the begining of second half a goal was scored against our [refrring to boy's college team] team. And now the match became interesting. The other team defended well. And only 20 minutes were remaining for the match to end, and other team was strong enough to still maintain that lead of 1.Suddenly it was noticed that out of no where a boy emerged from the dressing room and came straight to the coach of our team, and asked him to give him a break in next change. He wanted to play. The coach had no option bit to try him. coach allowed him to go in. He went in with a zeal. He took the ball, moved it to the right, moved it to the left, did 2-3 cross overs, and finally went for a GOAL.. Yeah it was an equalizer.. And finally towards the ending minutes, as a result of a brilliant pass given by him, one more goal was scored, and our team finally won..There were celebrations all over the field.. It was such a close match.. All the audiences were just stunned.. The celebrations ended till late night.. everybody was happy..After everything was over and all celebrations came to an end, everybody had gone home. There was just a single person sitting in the field. It was our hero of the day, the star boy. But he was crying.. The coach went upto him and asked for that why was he crying, after all we had won the match.. He told the coach that , you know that I played for the team but always as an extra, but do you also know that my dad always came to see all my matches..But today was the only match, in which I had to play as a player, and I knew my dad would be watching me from up there.. I did it all for him !!


-Joker