One Minute Squash
By Christopher Elieson

Sarah Sarfati stood just behind the curtain as she heard her music start up. A Southern rock tune based on the themes of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Give Me Three Steps” but changed to avoid copyright infringement.
“Hmpf, clever,” Natalya snorted through her nose before making the grudging acknowledgement of Sarah’s music choice. “Maybe a little over-confident for one so young.”
Sarah’s dark eyes narrowed at the large Nordic woman behind her. “I’m very good at what I do,” she warned. She felt rather than saw Natalya’s pale eyebrows rise up at the challenge and a smirk spread across her pale face.
The chorus started to come around in her music. Showtime!
With three quick steps, Sarah danced through the curtain to the arena in her thigh-high white wrestling boots, raising her arms high causing the white sequined cape around her shoulders to flare out. She knew the contrast against her brightly striped rainbow suit was stunning as the overhead lights created a halo around her. If her ancestors could see her now, they’d rise from their graves, hijabs at the ready.
With a carefully perfected waltz-like motion, she made her way around the ring, slapping hands and flirting outrageously with the crowd. When she slipped between the ropes, she took another moment to bask in the glow of her audience. With practiced ease, she hopped onto the ropes and pumped the air. How she loved being the center of the crowd’s attention. This was the moment she lived for.
Graciously yielding the floor, Sarah removed the cape from her shoulders with a flourish deliberately timed to distract attention away from Natalya’s entrance. The steel blue of Natalya’s eyes were pinned on her when Sarah peeked to see if the bigger woman noticed. She had.
As Natalya stomped around to greet her fans, Sarah flirted with the referee as he attempted to ensure she was aware of the match rules.
Once Natalya was in the ring, the announcer disappeared into the shadows and the referee started the match. A jolt of panic ran through Sarah’s veins at the firmness of Natalya’s handshake to start the match. Natalya knew the rules, right?
Without seeing a movement, Sarah felt a sharp pain strike at her chest, forcing the breath out of her lungs. An immediate hard blow to her gut was even less expected. All Sarah could do was try to keep her feet while she struggled for air and her eyes filled with darkness.
The stage started coming into focus again when a hand grasped her chin firmly from behind. A heavy hand pushed at the small of her back. The hand at her chin pulled backward, the hand at her back pushing forward. Pain spiked up and down Sarah’s spine as it was forced into an unnatural position. A leg curled around her shin and found some stability while trapping Sarah even further. Sarah felt she was being ripped in two.
Trying desperately to break the hold, Sarah moved the foot that wasn’t trapped. It seemed to work. Natalya had no choice but to spin Sarah around and throw her to the ground. All Sarah had to do now was get to her feet before Natalya placed hands on her again.
But something prevented her feet from obeying the command. A force not her own was pulling her feet up and back. As bad as it had been standing up, pinned against the mat was ten times worse. Now even gravity was on Natalya’s side.
Screaming in pain, Sarah tried to squirm her way forward, anything to release the pressure. Natalya was practically sitting on Sarah’s shoulder blades, Sarah’s ankles firmly in her grip.
“You have to let me up!” Sarah cried, tears streaming down her face. “You aren’t supposed to hurt me.”
“What was that? They couldn’t hear you?” Natalya muttered.
It would end her career to admit it. Sarah couldn’t say it. Natalya leaned back even more.
Another scream wrenched its way out of Sarah’s body. Her muscles were tearing, her tendons threatening to break free of their tethers. Something deep inside her shifted with a painful dull thud.
“Let me go! I’m just a jobber! Let me go! I give in!”
In shock, the atmosphere of the arena turned sour. Boos rang out throughout the room, but the pressure in her back eased.
“Next time you try something, little girl,” Natalya said, making sure Sarah saw the sneer on her face, “be sure you show proper respect.”
With that, Natalya forcefully threw Sarah’s feet to the ground and stood, accepting the ref’s hand to go collect her adulation. Sarah was left broken and sobbing on the mat both relieved and anguished as she felt the pain of the final blow.