Simply Temporary

Tom stepped out into the blazing sun and made his way down the street when he heard laughter echoing through an alley. Curious, he turned to see children gleefully chuckling as they passed a football to one another. The ball of rubber danced around their feet as they effortlessly moved it from side-to-side. He couldn’t help but watch them as they twirled it between their feet, and it brought back a memory for Tom. He saw his younger self in one of the boys, he’d never been great at sports but football was his only passion when he was a kid. He dreamt of becoming a football player, bringing a trophy home - but dreams never lasted. They were temporary. Time wasters.

Tom moved on.

He climbed into his car and turned the radio on - he was on his way to work and driving was not something he particularly enjoyed. Not paying attention, he pulled away from the curb and heard a voice exclaim ‘It’s a dream come true’ from the radio. Tom slammed his hand on top of the power button and silenced the excited screams of a woman with money. His Dad died chasing his dreams, and he wasn’t the same idiot as his father. 

But something was wrong. He looked up from the radio and saw a car speed in front of him. Tom had no time to turn his attention back to the wheel and soon the clash of metal on metal was ringing through his ears. He looked up to see his windshield smashed and his arm bloody. He immediately touched a gentle hand to his face and realised it wasn’t just his arm that was blood-stained.

Tom died that day. Chasing dreams could be risky, but avoiding them could be fatal.