Dear Austin, Part Two

you always wanted to play football. there was a brief flirtation with basketball in the fourth grade, but you always dreamed of royal blue helmets and cheering fans, making these four years your glory days.

maybe it was the fame of it all. the night sky, stars above your head as you run down the field, screams from the concession stand all the way to the deafening bleachers.

you would shine, you thought. that was it, wasn't it? everything looks better under the lights, everyone can drown out the screams of others with admiration and blind patritotism.

so you launched your plan. you got yourself a cheerleader girlfriend the summer before high school and worked out in the old gyms that nobody else dared to be in because of you.

and then, suddenly, you had power. a girl under your thumb, a keg of beer split between you and the rest of the team. and that was the moment, I think, when everyone realized you were so far gone that you would never return to the mortal world.