Alfredo Ruiz, winner of Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto’s First Short-Short Story Competition

Ricardo Gil wins the BM Puerto Sagunto Runner-Up Prize and Ana Isabel Martinez the Young Writer’s Runner-Up Prize

The judging panel of the First Short-Short Story Competition organised by Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto has chosen the winners of the three prizes at stake in this initiative by the red-and-white club. Alfredo Ruiz, with his work “The Legend”, has been the overall winner, while Jose Ricardo Gil, with “A Very Special Afternoon”, has received the BM Puerto Sagunto Runner-Up Prize, for works focusing on the club. The other prize went to young Murcian writer Ana Isabel Martinez, who received the prize reserved for young authors for her work “Only Him”.

This Saturday, before the match against FC Barcelona, the chair of the judging panel, Councillor for Culture Maribel Sáez, accompanied by other panel members, will present commemorative awards to the winners.

The three works will be published in this matchday’s edition of Pase de Gol, Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto’s official magazine. The red-and-white club would also like to thank all participants for their cooperation in this competition and announces that their works will be published progressively through the club’s internal communication channels, both in print and digitally.

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The Legend. Author Alfredo Ruiz Martínez

He walked from the car park to the sports hall with the serenity that comes with age, and the composure that comes from knowing he had been watched since childhood. I never knew what impressed the boys more: his legend or his almost two metres in height. His silences were as long as his strides, and he looked straight ahead like someone who knows that this is the only way to live.

His eyes only smiled when he reached the door and greeted Joaquín, the doorman, who proudly shook his hand and invited him into their shared home. Handball had not merely been a sport to him; it had been a religion, and this was its temple. The sport had taught him to run, jump and throw, but above all, it had taught him that effort, teamwork, honour, commitment and perseverance are always rewarded. Those values later shaped his life and his great family and, thanks to handball, he felt proud of both.

He sat in the stand, surrounded by the four friends who had accompanied him throughout his life and who, together with him, formed what the handball community called “The Council of Wise Men”. They were his second family. With a glance between them, they knew what they thought of every player and every move. They had spent many years sharing that passion and were the first to discover who would be the best lovers for their beloved. Their opinions were pronouncements, and they were always respected.

That day, the Ovni was celebrating. Puerto were playing the Cup Final against Barcelona. He had never been lucky enough to experience a match like that, either as a player or as a coach, but that day his grandson was on the court for him. He felt prouder than if he himself had been playing. When the teams exchanged greetings, his grandson looked at him, smiled, placed his hand on the badge, over his heart, and pointed at him. He felt happy. His eyes shone when the referee blew for the start of the match. It was a tough, bruising, hard-fought game.

No one ever knew whether he lived to hear the final result. When his friend Juan turned to embrace him, he realised what had happened. When his grandson lifted the Cup and looked up, he knew too. He handed the cup to a team-mate and ran to the stand. The sports hall fell silent.

“Don’t cry, Luis, champion. I want to die like that too one day, and you’ll understand then,” Juan told him.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.