The Final Attempt

There was once a girl in her school’s jumps team. She having been less than five foot tall was no doubt a petite athlete. She could have been a better jumper but she faced a problem. She simply was not living each day to the fullest. Yes, there was a time when her life was worth living but she had become a living corpse (this is another story for another day). She thought she was living her life fully but in fact the decay of her motivations in life had come without a warning.

She had entered the school’s jumps team in her second year. She could jump, but somehow she performed better during practice instead of competitions to the fury and frustration of her coach. However, being a living dead, these failures did not motivate her as how it would to another individual. However, her coach was understanding and believed in her up till her fourth year though her performance was still infuriating.

One day, the girl woke up. Yet, upon waking from this nightmarish state of being half dead and half alive, she found herself in a quagmire. It was as if she had come to her senses and found her self standing in a pile of filth. Only just after a few days following her awakening was she told the news. It seemed to be only the day before when her coach told her.

“On Wednesday I will be conducting a trial for you and Vera for long jump.”

She thought, “all right… that’s interesting…” Her coach seemed to have read her thoughts.

“We will see who can jump further and she will be in the Nationals. Okay?”

No wonder. No wonder her intuition told her that Vera had been told something related to her self when she walked past. No wonder Vera had looked down when she passed. No wonder she felt a sense of foreboding when she was called to the coach. One could never mistrust intuition.

The girl finally saw the truth behind everything. Why on earth had Vera started doing long jump? She never contemplated that. She finally realized that Vera was up for replacing her as one of the three long jumpers. The school had had enough of her mediocre achievements and minimum improvements. They would wait no longer for the day when she would perform the long-awaited miracle.

                                                                                  *

I walked onto the running lane. Vera had already landed a great four point seven meters, something I had never achieved. It was my turn. It was my last attempt.