Closet

He squeezed himself into the closet between the ironing board, fold-up cot, and safe. For a few **** seconds he thought he wouldn't fit, but then he managed to twist one leg over the safe and just barely make it. Tanya came racing over in her bed sheet just in time to shut the sliding closet door behind him. Then from the darkness he heard her open the room door.

"Hi, Coach! What do you need?"

"What was all that racket?" he heard Vanessa ask, "Is there someone else here?"

"No," Tanya wheezed, "I was just..."

Suddenly John heard an agonizing metallic screech next to him. It was the fold-up cot... opening. He saw it all as if in slow motion: the cot unfolding itself, the crash of the closet door coming off its hinges as it gave way under the weight of the cot, and Coach Vanessa gaping at him as he stood there, in the closet, in nothing but a towel.

Kate's prediction that Vanessa would "freak" fell well short of the mark. After about two solid hours of yelling, she declared in no uncertain terms that the board of education would have her throat if they knew anything remotely like this was taking place under her watchful supervision, and that the only responsible solution was to shuttle him directly back to the airport and onto the next flight home, which is exactly what she did. Tanya unfortunately suffered the brunt of her anger as well. She was denied participation in the meet, and the team ended up ranking a disappointing 32nd as a result.

Later in life, John often looked back on his aborted trip wondering what might have been. Maybe you should rewind the story and find out!

The End