The five-a-side match had ended hours ago, but its echoes lingered.
The dusty pitch near the estate was dark now, but laughter still carried down the streets. The dusty pitch carried a new memory now, a memory that was probably going to be unforgettable to every child that witnessed it.
It would become synonymous with Christmas to them.
Forget about the future for a moment. Even now, they were yet to get over the memory that they just created.
At home, children replayed the goals in exaggerated fashion, while neighbors argued good-naturedly about offsides that never existed.
As for Ian? Well, he was still insisting he had been cheated.
"Now I see why they had to introduced VAR to football, I mean, come on, VAR would have given me two more goals!" he declared, arms flailing.
"You mean minus two," Sophia shot back, puffing her chest with pride. "Don't forget, I scored too."
"You scuffed it!" Ian shouted. "The ball just pitied you."
