Here's the story:n
Friday I qualified for the finals by shooting a quarter sized dot at 20 yards. You buy your shots, ($2.00 per arrow) so there is no limit to how many times you can try. I hit it with my fourth shot, which was a personal best.
So I was in the finals. If you missed your one shot in the finals, you were out. If you hit it, then you got to duke it out with whomever else hit it. So the rest of the day I kept telling myself, and my shooting companions that I only needed one lucky shot to get past the first round. If I could just get that one lucky shot, then I felt comfortable duking it out with the rest of the competition.
At dinner Friday night, I ordered a sub, some chips, a soda, and a cookie. The cost of my meal? Seven dollars and seventy-seven cents. I pointed out the total to my sister, and repeated again: one lucky shot.
Saturday evening the shoot was on. As a crowd of maybe a couple hundred gathered around to watch, we learned the numbers. 220 people had tried to qualify, paying for a total of 1,200 shots. Of those 1200 shots, only 30 had hit the dot.
Round one of the finals saw shooter after shooter come to the stake and miss the now 3" dot. Eventually two shooters managed to hit the dot and make it to round two.
As I approached the stake, and looked at the dot, it looked as big as the broadside of a barn. I pulled back and let 'er go...and smacked that dot darn near dead center. I had been granted my lucky shot and made it to the second round along with those two other shooters.
Round two. I get to shoot last. The first two guys miss. All I need to do is touch that dot and I'm $1,200 richer!!n
I miss by a hair. They had to go check to be sure I didn't hit it!n
Round three, and four are EXACTLY the same. I miss by a fraction of an inch each time, while the other two guys are hitting well away from the dot!n
How many times do I have to throw away the money??n
Round five. Shooter one hits the dot, shooter 2 misses. I need a hit to stay alive.
In an attempt to lighten the mood and calm my nerves, I approach shooter one and offer to miss the shot on purpose if he gives me $500 of the prize money. He cheerfully agrees, and the crowd laughs, but my nerves are still frayed.
I step to the stake, come to full draw and try to aim. Lower....I must get the arrow lower. But my mind has frozen my body in place. I refuse to be held fast, so I jerk my whole body down and let go. I miss the dot by a good 10 inches....low and to the right. Apparently I have no use for $1200.
I congratulate the winner....who asks if he needs to pay me now....but I let him off the hook. After all, I did not miss on purpose.
I was proud beyond words of what I had accomplished. Throughout the day and during the next day, complete strangers would approach me and tell me how well I did, or shout to me that they had been pulling for me.
It was one of the most exciting and memorable days of my archery career.
Next time, however, my wishful thinking will include a request for TWO lucky shots instead of just one.
