Victory Call

Splat on the ground. That was the only sound, the only boom, that I would last hear, and it stayed that way for a long while after...  either the crinkling of dirt, or the sharp buzzing ringing that just refuses to end. 

And yet eventually, it did, they all did. It was like a pop, a small crackle, a brick wall toppled over within my ear canals, giving way to an explosion of sound like no other. 

Cheering. Shouts. And in the midst of it, a single word, a single phrase that stood high and loud from all others… repeated over and over again, in the static of speakers, in the vast echoes of the open arena, and deep within, I heard it pound in my chest too.

"First! First!" They all cried out. "The Big Man came first!" 

I was promptly spurred up to my feet again, after Lyn slowly trotted over and bent her head forward, gauging my vital signs with the ol' horse hoarse sniff all over my face. She probably thought I've died or something.