Lucy ran down the field after a red-headed girl who had the tenacity to think she could get the ball past her. Soccer hadn’t been Lucy’s idea. It had been her mom’s. If she had her way, she would have stayed in her room watching monster makeup tutorials and taking her frustrations out on her punching bag. But her mom had given her a choice. It was either soccer or ballet and there was no way she was going to put on a tutu and dance for an audience. She much preferred a game that allowed her to slide tackle.

In fact, she had just finished an especially brutal slide tackle on the redhead when she looked over at her mother for that disapproving look that said I know you’re allowed to slide tackle but you shouldn’t be trying to hurt the other players, but her mother wasn’t looking at her. She was staring at her phone. All the adults were staring at their phones. Even as the whistle was blown and the ref came over to inspect the crying little victim laying on the ground, the adults continue to look at their phones. You could see all the other players were confused by this as they started to wander off the field toward their respective parents, except for that one girl still blubbering on the ground like a baby trying to get everyone’s attention. Lucy made her way over to her mom.

“What’s going on? Did words with friends just get an update?”

“They’re dead. They’re all dead.”

This took Lucy by surprise as she didn’t know who “they” were and was a little concerned that she might actually care who “they” were. “Who died?” she asked.

“The heroes. They all died. They were all killed by the super villains league.”

“So the super villains are running the show now?”

“No, they were killed too.”

“So who’s running the show?”

“No one.”

Lucy smiled. No one. There was no one to stop her. No one to compete with. It was her time. This was going to be the best soccer game ever.