Two of a Kind

Effort

Alex had been working at the ice cream stand the whole summer. Days went by without a single customer, and Alex was worried he wouldn't be able to support his family. Even worse, fall was coming soon, and Alex didn't know what to do for school. He was going into junior year, and he would need to start applying to colleges so he could get out of the house as soon as he could. But Alex was not smart, athletic, or rich. He didn't know how to pay without a scholarship, and he knew he couldn't get a scholarship without being able to get high grades, or from playing a sport. Alex realized he needed to do something, and learning how to play a sport was probably the best option.

The next morning, Alex walked to the beach. He put on his favorite blue tee shirt, and spiked up his hair with some gel. He picked up an old gridball he had from when he was a kid, and started walking.

Alex had never done this before. He never spent peaceful mornings alone, he always slept in as long as he could, the weight of his problems keeping him in bed. But for the first time in a while, he set an alarm for dawn, and watched the sunrise while he got dressed. He had never appreciated the sunrise like he did now. When waking up for school, he always was reminded of how dark it was outside, and how long it took to actually get light out. Now he appreciated it, giving him a reminder that the morning isn't all useless.

His mind was racing as he strolled to the beach. Even if he did make an effort to workout, what would the effort be for? Most people playing in high school had been playing their whole life, and Alex hadn't played since seventh grade. He was strong, even given an MVP award for leading his team to the championship. When his mother passed, everything changed.

Alex stopped eating. The little food left in the refrigerator went to waste. He stopped playing gridball and baseball at school, and he had no motivation for anything. He almost dropped out completely, but he couldn't be with his dad all day. His friends cared about him, they knew he wasn't doing well. Alex stopped hanging out with them, and sulked in his room, going to bed at only 9:00 if paranoia filed thoughts didn't keep him up.

Alex knew he had to go however. If he didn't get into college, he would waste his life away, like his father. So he went, every day for the next week. He tossed the gridball to himself, and when he was done with that, he would do push-ups and sit-ups on the fishing pier. On Wednesday, he found a rusty old fishing rod, and started fishing. It was a win-win. He got some muscles from reeling the fish in, and food for him and his dad.

It seemed like a success, until his birthday three weeks later. He woke up early, as he did, on the thirteenth of August. He tried to sneak out, but his dad stopped him. Alex thought he wouldn't have anything nice to say today, as he knew his dad wished he wasn't born.

His dad already knew about him working out, so Alex thought he wouldn't be in trouble. He had no idea what his dad was going to say.

"Alex, can we talk?" his dad asked, gentler than usual.

Alex nodded, unsure what he was going to say.

"I know you've been working hard with gridball, and I can tell you want to make the team. But you can't without actually practicing your skills. So, why don't we go throw today?"

Alex was taken aback, his dad had never noticed anything about him, but he said yes, and had the best birthday since his mom. But as all good stories go, the best was yet to come, as Alex still had a huge surprise waiting.