{"product_id":"sandlot-9781475289893","title":"Sandlot","description":"I became an orphan on my 48th birthday. That's why I returned to North Carolina after 12 years in China. If I didn't have to help settle Daddy's estate, I might never have returned at all.===========I snapped the ball to myself and dropped back as all hell broke loose.Holy shit.So many bodies coming at me. Big bodies. It seemed like the whole team. I couldn't see shit.I didn't look at them. Just like crossing the street in China. I looked down the field. The pine, the blocking sled, my guys, the other guys. I got a glimpse of Rotten Roscoe and I flung the damn ball for all it was worth.Suddenly I was buried in big stinky foreigners - um, fellow Americans of passion and enthusiasm. First I noticed there was no air in my body, then the dizziness, and then the pain. Then the noise. Then my brain latched onto the fact that I was on the ground. My back hurt like hell. My ribs managed to complain a bit too.The large hairy-faced young man atop me wasn't a teammate.\"You again,\" I moaned.He grinned. \"Welcome home.\"\"Ohh,\" I groaned. \"I haven't been tackled in...\"\"Years? Didja forget we play tackle?\"\"Oh God, I think I did. Oh.\"\"I'm Tater.\"\"Nice to meet you.\"Then I noticed the happy whooping screaming. That was Rotten Roscoe and Gilroy celebrating a touchdown. Mostly Roscoe.\"What'd you do?\" I asked Tater. \"Send your whole damn team after me?\"\"Pretty much. We didn't think you could throw that fast.\"Rotten Roscoe and Gilroy reached me as I got to my feet, with two defenders following at a walk.I noticed I was the oldest guy out here. And the smallest. Being old felt normal, but being small didn't.\"I can't play anymore,\" I warned Rotten Roscoe before he could try some kind of macho chest-bump celebration that would've knocked me on my ass. My hand was on my lower back, old injury, although really the pain was very much in my ass. I hobbled my aching ass off toward Daddy's... toward my barn.\"Hey,\" Rotten Roscoe yelled at my ass. \"We play again next Saturday.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI lived in Asia for 12 years before returning to North Carolina in October with my Australian wife and our lovely Calico cat. I think I remember how to drive. I've written 14 published books, thrown twice as many in the trash, and edited over 300 more.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Createspace Independent Publishing Platform","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52103894335762,"sku":"9781475289893","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7ee95c03-9f3b-4593-98a2-1beda5db7dba.jpg?v=1773160169","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/sandlot-9781475289893","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}