Writers' Showcase
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Voigt
by Bill Tope
D. L. Voigt wanted
more than anything
To play on the neighborhood's fifth grade
Football squad. It wasn't an
official team,
Just the students who attended the local
Elementary school and lived in the same
part
Of town.
But they scorned D. L.'s participation,
insisting
That Voigt was too small. True
enough, D. L.,
Though a gifted athlete, was by far the
slightest
Child in the fifth grade. Just now
the prospective
Athlete was approaching Billy Tubs'
driveway,
Where footballers were clustered round a
Collection of weight-lifting equipment.
As D. L.
Neared the home, several classmates
hooted.
"Get out of here, Voigt,"
snarled Billy, who was
Something of a bully. "I want
to play football,"
Rejoined D. L. "D. L. can
really run, Billy," said
Danny, a secret ally of D. L.'s.
"Voigt's too little,"
Growled Billy scornfully. One
tackle and the
Twerp's dead," he opined.
"Voigt's strong too," insisted
Danny defensively.
"Prove it," snapped Billy.
"How?" asked D. L.
"Lift this here weight,"
challenged Billy, putting
One of his big feet atop a barbell that
must have
Weighed at least a hundred pounds and was
far
Heavier than anything that any team
member could
Lift. "That's not fair, Billy,"
protested Danny. "No
Fifth grader could lift it."
"Voigt lifts the weight
Then the twerp plays," proclaimed
Bill
"Step back," cried D. L., who
approached the
Barbell determinedly, knelt, fitted fifth
grade
Hands about the bar and in one swift
movement
Cleaned the bar to shoulder height.
Then, taking
A single step back, then forward, pressed
the
Tremendous weight overhead.
"Way to go, D. L,," shouted
some of the children.
Even Billy Tubs was impressed.
"Nice one, Voigt,"
He mumbled, conceding the victory.
"A deal's a
Deal," he remarked. "You
start in the backfield
Today." And so it was that
Deborah Louise Voigt--
D. L. to her friends--crashed through yet
another
Glass ceiling, this one leading to gender
parity in
The rough and tumble world of fifth grade
Sandlot football. |
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