The first time I won a fight

The warm, California sun shone in my eyes when I realised that we were on a hill. As things were not going very well for me up to this point, I figured I should give it a try. Stepping little by little in a small circle, I maneuvered myself up the hill. By placing my back to the sun I had also, unfortunately for him put it directly in his eyes as he was forced to look upward, just a little, to face me. I could tell immediately that my scheme had worked as he squinted into the sunlight and tipped his head downward a little. He had a blind spot to his left caused by our new position, and I took full advantage of it. With a quick left jab to distract him further, I delivered a right hook with every ounce of power I possessed. He fell like a rock.

Standing over the first person I had ever dropped, I thought very hard about what I had just done as I waited for him to get back to his feet, which he did soon enough. Then, just as I had done the first time, I unknowingly followed the ancient advice of Sun Tzu's "Art of War" and placed myself on high ground, with the sun to my back. Adjusting to the light I once again saw his eyes work to focus on me as I delivered another punch, without even the benefit of a distraction, and watched as he reeled. Following quickly with a slurry of punches and kicks to his body and head I was admittedly shocked when he fell again, this time without getting up in any hurry.

Hearing him utter something about being done, I turned around and walked away as the crowd of kids engulfed me with pats on the back and words of praise for my previously unknown ability to fight. With every step I began walking taller, my chest puffing out a little more. Pride turned my walk into a swagger and for one moment I was a bad ass. I think I may have even looked at a couple pretty girls straight in the eye without my usual shyness. Yep, I was a real hard case.

Then I saw his friends coming and I ran like a little girl.