The Locker Room

     Everyday I come in here, trying to get pumped for the game. I feed off of the energy of my teammates, the excitement palpable. Today I will be the reason that we win the game... I walk into the locker room and over to my assigned cubby, strip off my outdoor clothes and pull on my uniform. Today woll be different. I will thrive on the field. Iwill do my job to the best of my ability. I will be a contributing member of the team. I will make a difference. Everyday I come into this room with the same goal, the same drive, the same eagerness. Today I will be the day that I break out of my shell and come into my own. I am here, today, and I have a job to do. The crowds will cheer, women will scram my name...
          "Eddie!"
     Iturn around and stare into the eyes of the muscle bound man that is the assistant couch of our highschool football team. His eyes are filled with hate and disgust, not at me personally but for anyone younger than him that is healthy and active. The envy, clearly eivdent in his eyes as he looks around at the football equipment haging from the pegs on the walls. He wants to be out there, playing. instead he is assistant coach to a highschool football team, assistant to a woman head coach. He had been a big time contender for the NFL at one point in his life. He was a contender until he got drunk one night and drove his car into a tree, killing the prom queen, who was his girlfriend at the time in the accident. His shoulder was completely destroyed by the car crash, and his football prospects right along with it. Five years later, after some time in jail for causing his girlfriend's death, he is here with us. This was the best he could do at this point in his life.
    "Get the water bottles filled, water-boy. Practice starts in ten minutes and those boys need their water!"
     Any remaining inkling of the dream faded with his words. Reality returned with a swiftness that left me shaken. I was not the big-time football star of my daydreams, Iwas nothing more than the water-boy.