Flash Fiction: New Years Win

Writing by Emma Elizabeth Mathes

Photography by Ari Adams

I trained for months. I fought dozens of other women in sessions. My coach told me I was ready. He told me I was capable of winning my first fight. But there was a part of me that didn’t believe him. It would just be too unreal.

The fight passed in a blur. I relied on instinct and my training. Before I knew it, I had won. My mouth fell agape and I kept it that way for hours after.

Afterwards, when the ringside doctor checked me, I felt tears pricking my eyes, so I squeezed them shut. Like I thought it would be, it's just too unreal.