The sun - Ona Batlle

Prologue

People tend to recognize a story by its beginning or its end. Unfortunately for me, I don't remember the first few years of my life and I can't either tell you how it's going to end, acknowledging the fact that I'm only 22 years old. However, I can tell you when I really started living. I'm born on the 9th of June 2001. I don't remember much from the five years that followed. It's kind of a blur. In march 2006, I ended up in an orphanage.

Luckily, a few days later, Jessica Gardner and Paul Garcia decided to adopt me after several failed attempts to extend their family with a baby. For me, calling them by their name is more like a formality, because I truly see them as my real parents and I allow myself to believe it's the same for them. Dad is a lawyer while mom is a medicine teacher at Manchester University. Unsurprisingly, we lived in Manchester. I started to go to school and went on to have a pretty normal life or so I thought.

In the winter of 2007-08, Jesse, it's the nickname I give mom, got pregnant. It's a miracle none of us expected since a doctor had diagnosed dad with a form of infertility, diagnostic from which resulted in my adoption. While mom was pregnant, Paul decided to bring me to a Manchester derby. United lost, but that didn't matter to me. From that moment on, I knew I would play for that club one day. I had started playing soccer the summer before with a local U-6 team, so I already loved that sport, but seeing this derby brought my passion to another level.

Two months after our father/daughter outing, my mother gave birth to Marco on the 17th of July. I'm going to spare you all the bloody details of giving birth and go to the essentials, Marco was a really cute baby. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a ugly baby...

Anyways, for the next three years, we lived happily in Manchester. Then, in August 2011, we moved to Ottawa, Canada. Jesse had received an irrefusable offer from a prestigious university called Carleton University. There, you must probably think that I was sad to leave my life in England behind. Well, not really... I already wanted to explore the world and visit different places. So I felt very lucky that this opportunity was given to me that young. Plus, I loved Canada. It was peaceful, well, most of the time... However, what I loved the most about it was that I was able to keep playing soccer. I played in elite teams till the summer of 2015.

At the end of my U14 summer season, we moved back to Manchester since mom's contract had ended and she received a new permanent one at Manchester University. Moreover, I had a feeling mom was starting to miss home. Quite the opposite of dad, he seemed unphased by that decision. We could have moved to Antarctica and he wouldn't have said a word. He is one of those people who are just happy to be there, to live. That's mainly how I know that my brother was really our father's son, he had the same behavior and he was so energetic, he still is. We would always find ourselves playing soccer, hide and seek, volleyball, basketball... In short, all kinds of sports and activities possible. However, Marco was never tired. He would often run in the house, his black curls bouncing on top of his head, a spark in his emerald eyes, a soccer ball in his hand begging me to play with him. Request that I would have never declined, not in a single universe.

On a more boring note, I kept going to school which I didn't really like. Plus, I was apprehensive at the idea of having to make new friends all over again. Still, these thoughts didn't have much time to torment my mind, because the summer we moved back, I received my first call up to play with the lionesses.

I went to Iceland to attend the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship. As a fourteen year old midfielder, I didn't play that much. I was still very young and there were much more talented players in our team, but still, I managed to play half a game. We were playing against Spain which had scored a goal in the first half and the coach thought that bringing a new player on could probably benefit the team which wasn't able to make plays like they used to. So, there I was making my International debut. We drew 1-1. That wasn't the best outcome for the team, but for me it kind of was, since I had a beautiful assist on that goal. It's probably the reason why for the rest of the championship, I managed to play a few minutes each game. Unfortunately, we lost in the quarter finals against Germany 5-0. Honestly, seeing that score you must think that we played bad but it wasn't the case, they were just too strong. Well, not enough for Sweden that won against them before losing to Spain in the final. Even if that experience was short, I loved every second of it, either it was on the field or on the bench cheering for the girls.

As soon as I went back to Manchester, it was like summer was already over. I went back to school even though all I wanted to do was to play soccer. Not being in the position to do that, I would spend most of my class writing or studying soccer, positioning, technique and strategies. It wasn't long before all this work paid off and people started to call me The Strategist. It isn't my best name, I agree on that, but thanks to him, some recruiter started noticing me.

When I turned 16 in 2017, I was offered a 3 year deal with Manchester United. Saying that I was happy would have been an understatement... Unsurprisingly, I signed with Manchester. A few matches after the beginning of the season, I was already making my debut for the club. I scored many goals, had many assists and even more appearances.

Then, in 2019, I received a call up to play for the lionesses in the Women's World Cup. Unfortunately, we only managed to end up fourth place. Although, we all played pretty well and as always, it was quite a fun and enriching experience. I have to admit that I was starting to get a bit known in the world of women's soccer. Some might say that I was becoming one of the best youngsters in the world. Sadly, a few games after the beginning of the 2019-2020 season, I hurted my calf. Due to that injury, I missed the rest of the season since Covid happened a bit before I was ready to go back on the pitch.

Luckily, my family had expanded to a fifth member. We had adopted a dog in the fall. Since then, he has become my best friend. We named him Toffee. He was a Cavalier King Charles, a really cute breed if you ask me and very energetic. Taking care of him would keep me quite busy with my rehabilitation in parallel. But even with a new friend by my side, it was difficult to not be able to do what I loved the most, so in an attempt to forget about my situation, I taught myself how to play piano and I began songwriting. These new hobbies brought me even closer to my brother since he really liked music. Liking is an understatement, he lived for music. Deep down, Marco was hoping with all his hearth to be able to make a living out of his passion. And by hearing him play the guitar, I was convinced that one day he would realize his dream. Although I wanted to do everything in my power to help him achieve his dream. Acknowledging the fact that he also helped me in the realization of mine. We played together so often that our parents decided to soundproof the garage. To be honest, quarantine was quite boring, but at the same time, it was fun spending time with my family.

Unsurprisingly, when I received an offer from Arsenal for a three year deal, I was very happy to have the opportunity to go back on the pitch. Manchester still wanted me, but I had the persistent feeling that perhaps it wasn't the best club for me. And I couldn't have been more right... Over the weeks, Arsenal became my second family. At the end of my first season with them, I knew that I would probably never be able to leave that club again.

My life was perfect. Marco and I even released an album in 2021 called Sunshine. Our songs were listened to worldwide which made Marco pretty happy. And me? Well I couldn't have been prouder, he was only 13 when we recorded the album which is very young to start a career in singing since his voice wasn't fully developed yet. Marco insisted for us to be called the Garcias. Just so you know, I strongly disagreed with that. At that time, I still had some privacy since I wasn't that known and I enjoyed it. Plus, I didn't sing that much of the songs, according to me, Marco deserved all the fame even though he didn't think that way.

So, I must admit that I have quite the life, professional footballer and according to Marco, songwriter and singer. On the social level, I also have very good friends, but my best friends are Tooney and Lessi, of course. If I was ever to get back to Manchester, it would be for them. But, I won't have to do that since Lessi is the one joining me next season at Arsenal. Poor Tooney... She better join us one day.

I just realized that I forgot to tell you my name which is probably one of the most important pieces of information to give when you present yourself. Sorry about that. I'm Gabriela Garcia. That being said, I think I have pretty well described my life and as for the love part, I still haven't found the one, but I'm pretty sure I will find someone. Therefore, I'm not really stressed about that. I enjoy life and seeing my life, I have all the reasons to enjoy it while I can. After all, nothing lasts forever...