you look both ways across the street. The hot Houston sun glares off the pavement almost blinding you. You begin to slowly edge your foot onto the street. Your shoe,pink with white laces, about to set foot on this new world. And yet when it was in reach a car comes. Mother shrieks and holds you back. She is unable to believe that she almost allowed you to go without holding your hand. The brief moment of big kiddom is gone. Forever lost to that big mean car speeding down the street. Mother grabs your hand and squeezes tight. As if just by moving slightly you will be free. And slowly the two of you begin to cross the street.
The fans buzz in the stands seemingly making the entire building shake, nothing could be heard. The ball is tossed in the air. Don't mess up, you can do this, one more win and you go out a hero. Just play like this is a normal game, you can do this, keep you head on straight, you can do this. The ball is in our possession and passed into the big man. This is an easy bucket, he's too damn big for anyone to guard, you can just trot back to the other end. A whistle shrills and brings the play to a halt. Traveling? Has that moron lost his mind? Fuck that, it was a bullshit call. Its hard to win a game as is, you dont need this dumbass screwing you over the whole time. Oh well, you just gotta get it back on defense. They bring the ball up the court. Everyone keeps hyping this bitch on the other team up. You have to shut him down, he is not better than you. You cannot allow him to beat you. The game continues on. It is a tie game and the bitch has scored thirty points. The other team has the ball. Why are we not double teaming this guy? You have to force him to give up the ball, you have to win this game. You cant just sit here and let him tear up the defense. He drives to his left and raises up to shoot. You have to stop him! Put his ass on the ground, do something. He passes to a wide open teammate who scores right as time expires. People rush the floor. You have got to be shitting me. Really? You had to lose this way? You must have done something to deserve this, because there is no amount of physical pain in the world that can match this. Fuck all these idiots running around like they actually did something to win, they have not done anything. You should have won this game, for you team, for your school, for yourself. There is nothing you can do about it at this point. You just sit there and wonder what could have been.
Your alarm rings loudly in your ear. It sounds the same as it does every single weekday morning. Within the next ten minutes your mom or dad opens your door to wake you more with a song or the flip of a light switch. More than likely they turn off the fan, confusing it for the light switch. Your room begins to feel stuffy and hot. It encourages you to get out of bed. Getting up is never the peak of the day. The tangle of sheets and blankets is hard to escape, but you manage to separate yourself from them. Your feet hit the white carpet and you suffer the same 30-second head rush as usual. You slowly make your way to brush your teeth. The lights reflect off the marble sink top and you squint because your eyes are still sensitive from sleep. Your sluggish morning stride leads you to your desk and you sit in a leopard covered fabric chair. Soon you find your way to the uniforms and dress. Eventually the day ends. You make your way back to bed. Then start all over.
Your heart is beating so fast. You can almost feel it protruding out of your body. You can’t find your Daddy in the bookstore. What if someone kidnapped him? What if he forgot about you? You walk slowly through the golf and travel section. Just in case you pass him by. Your cheeks become hot. You try not to cry because it is embarrassing. Mommy always says,"don't cry in public." Your head hurts from turning your head in all directions. You try so hard to hold back your tears. You cant. You let it out. You are so loud that everyone around you can here. A lady with red hair and big earrings approaches you. You try to hold back your tears. But you just can't. You are devastated. Your daddy is gone. Her eyes feel bad for you. She takes your hand and walks you to the front of the store. Suddenly, you see your daddy flipping through a car magazine. The wrinkles on your forehead disappear. The pain you felt is released. You laugh. Tears fall down your eyes. You feel totally opposite than how you did two seconds ago. You feel silly for being so scared. You tell the lady thank you and you found your daddy. You give him a huge and he hugs you back. This is the best feeling in the world. You say, “I thought you were gone forever.” And he says, “I love you too much to ever leave you.”
The wind blows with a aggressive ferocity. The ice and snow chapped any unguarded skin. I am on a ski trip in Utah and the temperature is 12 degrees Fahrenheit at the bottom of the mountain. As I ride the gondola up which will take me to the ski lift that will then take me to the top of the mountain, the temperature drops rapidly. My three layers of clothes, including thermals, a shirt, and my ski jacket, prove little more than porous tissue paper to the demonic Jack frost that seeks my hypothermic demise. As I exit the lift with perfect grace, I take in the magnificent mountain range that surrounds me and the three options I have of getting down the mountain: a black diamond, a double black diamond, and an extreme terrain run. There are no children at this height and very few people in general. In fact, in place of the usual snow bunnies one would find at the base, there are only serious skiers with the exception of the occasional daredevil. I plot my course and drop down the side of the cliff before encountering the ten foot drop ahead of me. I lean forward.
You stand there nervous on the field waiting for the kick off to begin. Everyone in the crowd is yelling and singing for your team to win. You close your eyes and pray that you play well. The whistle blows and you start to run around trying to make your presence known. You pass the ball and cross it into the box, hoping to get your team a goal. You occasionally take a shot hoping to celebrate after because your scored. Finally, after your 5th shot or so, you score! You run around the field with your hands in the air celebrating as the crowd goes wild. You just scored the winning goal that won your team the trophy. You are on top of the world.
You sink below the surface, thinking this would be your last look at air and land. The ceiling of water rises, and creates an overhead mirror above you. Then you look down. The bottom is closing in, ready to swallow you like the water did. Sea weed grabs at your feet. Fish retreat as you swim closer to your foreign body. Fingers outstretched, you try to graze the fish that dare get to near. You efforts are fruitless. You adjust your mask and remove the water building up inside. There is a seahorse by your foot. You try not to kick it as you maneuver towards it.You are now at 12 meters below the surface. The roof of the ocean looks like a box. There is the reflection of a large fish swimming near you. When you look away from the ceiling you notice the large fish to be a shark. With yoru hand on your knife, you never let the shark out of sight. The shark swims away. You exhale a deep breath of relief into the regulator and watch the bubbles float to the surface. Then you follow the bubbles, floating upwards, heading home before the shark returns. You never reach the surface.
You turn around to see a big storm cloud coming your way. The wind starts to blow harder as you stand still while you figure out what to do. You are afraid of what is to come, but you decide to embrace it instead of run. All the rum, vodka, or scotch in the world could not help you overcome your fear of the storm. All of a sudden you sense a smell of moist bugs arousing your nose while you think to yourself, "What in the world"? The wind still continues pursuing you and you start to feel weak and scarred as the minutes keep ticking. The ground begins to tremble and you feel your heart start to beat faster and faster. Blood starts to rush where you don't want it to rush and you eventually get that tingly feeling that makes you wanna faint. Slowly you feel your courage start coming back into you and you feel the strength to get you back in motion. Slowly you start to move, but its too late. The storm has come to get you. There is nothing you can do to stop the inevitable. You feel the will to keep going but then realize... Its time. Time to leave this world.
Its a beautiful day why do you have to leave the river, this is bullshit. youve spent all weekend doing nothing and now your going to have to be productive. Your feet to your head is sunburned and so tired you would just like to sleep for a week. You wish that you can just lay out in the river for the rest of my life. Your gut would be the size of the astrodome. The second best alternative to the river would be another river. if you cant be in christoval, junction is hard to beat. you enjoy fishing just as much as laying out in the sun.
You look down from the tower of the boat as it coasts through the shallow flats. You see everything underneath you as your driving grass beds, oysters, and the fish in the cut. They scatter as the engine roars by. You see the fish make v's as their bodies rush just beneath the surface of the water. You see some reds shoaling along the shore line and quickly kill the engine and go into stealth mode. You climb to the back tower as your friend climbs in the front tower. You grab for the 24 foot pole used to propel the boat in the flats. You carefully make pushes behind the boat, a little to the left of the engine and then a little back to the right to straighten out. You carefully maneuver the boat closer to the redfish as your partner fishing in the front tower makes casting attempts. You watch as the fish sees the bait and shoots towards it and takes it aggressively, fish on. At this point you put the pole down in its place and heead down from the tall tower to help your friend land the fish. The redfish comes up to the boat and you take a hand around its top gill spot throw your pointer finger under the gill and out through the mouth. Fish Caught.
Your alarm goes off. It is way too early and you cannot believe it is 7 a.m. already. You question why you have to go to school because high school is such a waist of time. Slowly, you stick your foot out from under the covers to test the cold air that immediately covers your foot. Quickly, you sneak the foot back under the sheets and pull the blanket over your eyes. It is super cold and the sun stings your eyes. 10 minutes pass by. Ok, now you really have to get out of bed. The freezing tiles in your bathroom cool your feet. After getting dressed, you get in your car and drive. You definitely wish you were in a convertible. The bell rings when you step inside the school. Late again. Great, now you have detention. First period passes by like a caterpillar trying to make in to China. It is time for chapel. You sit there, trying to stay awake, but your eyes lids are persistent on closing. Now time for Physics. You failed a test again. Awesome job. You definitely had a bad day.
Your alarm clock lights up as the volume on the radio ascends simultaneously. The clock flashes 7:05 am. You stare up at the ceiling, listening to the end of the new Keith Urban song playing through the radio. You hear your little sister in the bathroom, brushing her teeth, along with your mom downstairs, making a smoothie out of foods she has labeled ‘healthy’. You scoot towards the window and lift up the curtain, surprised to see another beautiful day for the third day in a row in Houston, Texas. For some reason you do not struggle to wake yourself up, you are eager to head to school, eager to see your friends. This is usually not the case; you usually are resentful, stressed out, tired and upset for some reason. But today is not that day, today you feel content, for what may be the first time in a long time. Today you feel the world wants to be on your team, that things will go your way. You stumble out of bed, listening to your feet crack with each first step. Squinting, you realize your bedroom is a mess: cowboy boots, running shoes, an empty water bottle, and some jewelry all sprawled out sporadically in the bedroom. You take one last glace at the messy bedroom, and head to the bathroom to wash your face. You can barely see your face in the mirror, as the glare is so strong coming from the opposite window.
you look both ways across the street. The hot Houston sun glares off the pavement almost blinding you. You begin to slowly edge your foot onto the street. Your shoe,pink with white laces, about to set foot on this new world. And yet when it was in reach a car comes. Mother shrieks and holds you back. She is unable to believe that she almost allowed you to go without holding your hand. The brief moment of big kiddom is gone. Forever lost to that big mean car speeding down the street. Mother grabs your hand and squeezes tight. As if just by moving slightly you will be free. And slowly the two of you begin to cross the street.
ReplyDeleteThe fans buzz in the stands seemingly making the entire building shake, nothing could be heard. The ball is tossed in the air. Don't mess up, you can do this, one more win and you go out a hero. Just play like this is a normal game, you can do this, keep you head on straight, you can do this. The ball is in our possession and passed into the big man. This is an easy bucket, he's too damn big for anyone to guard, you can just trot back to the other end. A whistle shrills and brings the play to a halt. Traveling? Has that moron lost his mind? Fuck that, it was a bullshit call. Its hard to win a game as is, you dont need this dumbass screwing you over the whole time. Oh well, you just gotta get it back on defense. They bring the ball up the court. Everyone keeps hyping this bitch on the other team up. You have to shut him down, he is not better than you. You cannot allow him to beat you. The game continues on. It is a tie game and the bitch has scored thirty points. The other team has the ball. Why are we not double teaming this guy? You have to force him to give up the ball, you have to win this game. You cant just sit here and let him tear up the defense. He drives to his left and raises up to shoot. You have to stop him! Put his ass on the ground, do something. He passes to a wide open teammate who scores right as time expires. People rush the floor. You have got to be shitting me. Really? You had to lose this way? You must have done something to deserve this, because there is no amount of physical pain in the world that can match this. Fuck all these idiots running around like they actually did something to win, they have not done anything. You should have won this game, for you team, for your school, for yourself. There is nothing you can do about it at this point. You just sit there and wonder what could have been.
ReplyDeleteYour alarm rings loudly in your ear. It sounds the same as it does every single weekday morning. Within the next ten minutes your mom or dad opens your door to wake you more with a song or the flip of a light switch. More than likely they turn off the fan, confusing it for the light switch. Your room begins to feel stuffy and hot. It encourages you to get out of bed. Getting up is never the peak of the day. The tangle of sheets and blankets is hard to escape, but you manage to separate yourself from them. Your feet hit the white carpet and you suffer the same 30-second head rush as usual. You slowly make your way to brush your teeth. The lights reflect off the marble sink top and you squint because your eyes are still sensitive from sleep. Your sluggish morning stride leads you to your desk and you sit in a leopard covered fabric chair. Soon you find your way to the uniforms and dress. Eventually the day ends. You make your way back to bed. Then start all over.
ReplyDeleteYour heart is beating so fast. You can almost feel it protruding out of your body. You can’t find your Daddy in the bookstore. What if someone kidnapped him? What if he forgot about you? You walk slowly through the golf and travel section. Just in case you pass him by. Your cheeks become hot. You try not to cry because it is embarrassing. Mommy always says,"don't cry in public." Your head hurts from turning your head in all directions. You try so hard to hold back your tears. You cant. You let it out. You are so loud that everyone around you can here. A lady with red hair and big earrings approaches you. You try to hold back your tears. But you just can't. You are devastated. Your daddy is gone. Her eyes feel bad for you. She takes your hand and walks you to the front of the store. Suddenly, you see your daddy flipping through a car magazine. The wrinkles on your forehead disappear. The pain you felt is released. You laugh. Tears fall down your eyes. You feel totally opposite than how you did two seconds ago. You feel silly for being so scared. You tell the lady thank you and you found your daddy. You give him a huge and he hugs you back. This is the best feeling in the world. You say, “I thought you were gone forever.” And he says, “I love you too much to ever leave you.”
ReplyDeleteThe wind blows with a aggressive ferocity. The ice and snow chapped any unguarded skin. I am on a ski trip in Utah and the temperature is 12 degrees Fahrenheit at the bottom of the mountain. As I ride the gondola up which will take me to the ski lift that will then take me to the top of the mountain, the temperature drops rapidly. My three layers of clothes, including thermals, a shirt, and my ski jacket, prove little more than porous tissue paper to the demonic Jack frost that seeks my hypothermic demise. As I exit the lift with perfect grace, I take in the magnificent mountain range that surrounds me and the three options I have of getting down the mountain: a black diamond, a double black diamond, and an extreme terrain run. There are no children at this height and very few people in general. In fact, in place of the usual snow bunnies one would find at the base, there are only serious skiers with the exception of the occasional daredevil. I plot my course and drop down the side of the cliff before encountering the ten foot drop ahead of me. I lean forward.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYou stand there nervous on the field waiting for the kick off to begin. Everyone in the crowd is yelling and singing for your team to win. You close your eyes and pray that you play well. The whistle blows and you start to run around trying to make your presence known. You pass the ball and cross it into the box, hoping to get your team a goal. You occasionally take a shot hoping to celebrate after because your scored. Finally, after your 5th shot or so, you score! You run around the field with your hands in the air celebrating as the crowd goes wild. You just scored the winning goal that won your team the trophy. You are on top of the world.
ReplyDeleteYou sink below the surface, thinking this would be your last look at air and land. The ceiling of water rises, and creates an overhead mirror above you. Then you look down. The bottom is closing in, ready to swallow you like the water did. Sea weed grabs at your feet. Fish retreat as you swim closer to your foreign body. Fingers outstretched, you try to graze the fish that dare get to near. You efforts are fruitless. You adjust your mask and remove the water building up inside. There is a seahorse by your foot. You try not to kick it as you maneuver towards it.You are now at 12 meters below the surface. The roof of the ocean looks like a box. There is the reflection of a large fish swimming near you. When you look away from the ceiling you notice the large fish to be a shark. With yoru hand on your knife, you never let the shark out of sight. The shark swims away. You exhale a deep breath of relief into the regulator and watch the bubbles float to the surface. Then you follow the bubbles, floating upwards, heading home before the shark returns. You never reach the surface.
ReplyDeleteYou turn around to see a big storm cloud coming your way.
ReplyDeleteThe wind starts to blow harder as you stand still while you figure out what to do. You are afraid of what is to come, but you decide to embrace it instead of run. All the rum, vodka, or scotch in the world could not help you overcome your fear of the storm. All of a sudden you sense a smell of moist bugs arousing your nose while you think to yourself, "What in the world"? The wind still continues pursuing you and you start to feel weak and scarred as the minutes keep ticking. The ground begins to tremble and you feel your heart start to beat faster and faster. Blood starts to rush where you don't want it to rush and you eventually get that tingly feeling that makes you wanna faint. Slowly you feel your courage start coming back into you and you feel the strength to get you back in motion. Slowly you start to move, but its too late. The storm has come to get you. There is nothing you can do to stop the inevitable. You feel the will to keep going but then realize... Its time. Time to leave this world.
Its a beautiful day why do you have to leave the river, this is bullshit. youve spent all weekend doing nothing and now your going to have to be productive. Your feet to your head is sunburned and so tired you would just like to sleep for a week. You wish that you can just lay out in the river for the rest of my life. Your gut would be the size of the astrodome. The second best alternative to the river would be another river. if you cant be in christoval, junction is hard to beat. you enjoy fishing just as much as laying out in the sun.
ReplyDeleteYou look down from the tower of the boat as it coasts through the shallow flats. You see everything underneath you as your driving grass beds, oysters, and the fish in the cut. They scatter as the engine roars by. You see the fish make v's as their bodies rush just beneath the surface of the water. You see some reds shoaling along the shore line and quickly kill the engine and go into stealth mode. You climb to the back tower as your friend climbs in the front tower. You grab for the 24 foot pole used to propel the boat in the flats. You carefully make pushes behind the boat, a little to the left of the engine and then a little back to the right to straighten out. You carefully maneuver the boat closer to the redfish as your partner fishing in the front tower makes casting attempts. You watch as the fish sees the bait and shoots towards it and takes it aggressively, fish on. At this point you put the pole down in its place and heead down from the tall tower to help your friend land the fish. The redfish comes up to the boat and you take a hand around its top gill spot throw your pointer finger under the gill and out through the mouth. Fish Caught.
ReplyDeleteYour alarm goes off. It is way too early and you cannot believe it is 7 a.m. already. You question why you have to go to school because high school is such a waist of time. Slowly, you stick your foot out from under the covers to test the cold air that immediately covers your foot. Quickly, you sneak the foot back under the sheets and pull the blanket over your eyes. It is super cold and the sun stings your eyes. 10 minutes pass by. Ok, now you really have to get out of bed. The freezing tiles in your bathroom cool your feet. After getting dressed, you get in your car and drive. You definitely wish you were in a convertible. The bell rings when you step inside the school. Late again. Great, now you have detention. First period passes by like a caterpillar trying to make in to China. It is time for chapel. You sit there, trying to stay awake, but your eyes lids are persistent on closing. Now time for Physics. You failed a test again. Awesome job. You definitely had a bad day.
ReplyDeleteYour alarm clock lights up as the volume on the radio ascends simultaneously. The clock flashes 7:05 am. You stare up at the ceiling, listening to the end of the new Keith Urban song playing through the radio. You hear your little sister in the bathroom, brushing her teeth, along with your mom downstairs, making a smoothie out of foods she has labeled ‘healthy’. You scoot towards the window and lift up the curtain, surprised to see another beautiful day for the third day in a row in Houston, Texas. For some reason you do not struggle to wake yourself up, you are eager to head to school, eager to see your friends. This is usually not the case; you usually are resentful, stressed out, tired and upset for some reason. But today is not that day, today you feel content, for what may be the first time in a long time. Today you feel the world wants to be on your team, that things will go your way. You stumble out of bed, listening to your feet crack with each first step. Squinting, you realize your bedroom is a mess: cowboy boots, running shoes, an empty water bottle, and some jewelry all sprawled out sporadically in the bedroom. You take one last glace at the messy bedroom, and head to the bathroom to wash your face. You can barely see your face in the mirror, as the glare is so strong coming from the opposite window.
ReplyDelete