This was the last game of the season for his team and Archie knew that a handful of college scouts would in the stands. All he needed to do was to distinguish himself as the great defensive back he knew he was and he was sure that scholarship offers would be heading his way.

But the game was in the middle of the third quarter already and, so far, the other team’s quarterback had been damn near perfect, never missing his targeted receiver. If anything, he was making Archie look bad.

Still, Archie fully expected that at some point, the opposing team’s quarterback was bound to throw a stinker that Archie could pick off and maybe even run back for a touchdown. As the fourth quarter was about to start, however, he knew his opportunity to shine was running out of time.

And then it happened. The quarterback was forced out of the pocket and had to make a rushed pass on the run. Archie immediately saw that this was a pass that he could intercept. Things seemed to be happening in slow motion for Archie. He had the time to follow the ball’s inflight trajectory and to plan out precisely when to time his jump.

That instant finally came and Archie leaped into the air and grabbed at the football with fervor. It was in his grasp and all he had to do was tighten his fingers around the ball to secure it. Archie was so sure that he’d be able to successfully complete the interception that he started to focus on his path to the end zone once he came down with the ball in his grip.

The realization, as Archie’s feet were about to once again make contact with the ground after his spectacular leap, that the ball had slipped through his fingers and had fallen harmlessly onto the field for an incompleted pass, rather than the magnificent interception that would turn the game around and make Archie a hero, was devastating.

Poor Archie didn’t receive any calls from college scouts after that game. But Archie did learn from that game the truth of the old adage about not counting your chickens before they hatch.

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Written for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Story Starter — Saturday Mix, where the story starter is: Archie leaped into the air and grabbed at it with fervor… I didn’t start my story with that line, but I did incorporate it and built the story around it.