Open My Eyes

Twenty-Four: Petting Zoo

Nine Years Ago

        She picked up the rolling ball from the ground and placed it in her lap. Placing her hands on the wheels, she moved forward, quick and precise, dodging every opponent with practiced skill, and propelled the ball through the hoop. She scooped up the basketball and rolled back over to me, smiling.

          I hopped in excitement, raising my hands in the air. "That was amazing! You're my hero."

          With a chuckle, she helped me down from the bench and instructed I sit down. She explained humbly, "I've just been doing this for a while. Trust me, in the beginning, I failed a lot. I had to practice for several hours a day before I even got anywhere close to an okay basketball player."

          Shaking my head so my hair would whip about me, I protested, "No, you were born like that!"

          She lifted the ball and spun it on her finger. She dropped it so it'd bounce on the ground before passing it to the group of boys playing on the court without a basketball. She raised her head to the sky, closing her eyes. She murmured, "I guess so. But it was only through determination and perseverance that I got to this point."

          I watched the sunlight play off her strands of strawberry blond hair. Then, without thinking, I inquired, "Why do you play basketball?"

          Her eyes flashed open and they fell to me. She smiled in understanding and told me, "The sport has always intrigued me. The thought of going from one end of the court to the other with a ball in hand and trying to shoot it into a hoop appealed to a girl like me. With no legs, running was foreign to me, but the sport changed that. It was a mystery that I had to solve. The more I practiced, the more I fell in love with it."

          "So you play because you love it?" I paraphrased so I could grasp the concept better.

          Her grin broadened and she nodded. Her eyes serious but her tone light, she informed me, "When you find something you love, you can't give it up just because it gets too hard sometimes or you find yourself against an intimidating challenge. When you love something, you fight for it, no matter what. You don't let go of it, even if that seems to be the only option. You keep trying until, suddenly, it's not so hard anymore and the obstacle is gone. Then it's just you and what you love, and you're finally, completely happy."

          I smiled, because that was what she was doing. I didn't quite comprehend what she said or what it meant. I did understand never giving up, because she always told me that.

          She ruffled my hair, getting a small yelp of protest from me, and she chuckled shortly. "Sometimes, you just have to smile despite the odds."

          "Smile despite the odds," I echoed, eyebrows furrowing in concentration. I nodded once. "Got it."

          Silence fell about us as we watched the activity in the park: a group of boys played a clumsy game of basketball, children ran about the playground, mothers pushed strollers, and another small group of young boys sat in a circle in the grass. My eyes trailed after the butterfly that flitted into my line of sight while Vanessa seemed focused on something else in the distance.

          When a breeze passed by, she tapped me, tearing my attention away from the butterfly. She pointed towards the circle of boys in the grass with a playful grin and teased, "I bet you that boy will be a heartbreaker."

          Brows drawn, I glanced around her at the five boys. Confused, I asked, "Which one?"

          She continued to point as she answered, "The one with the blond hair."