Ballin'

The ball is bounced multiple times on the ground as it begins to come alive. As it is tossed out of the hand of the player, it is literally air-borne into the world. Suddenly, the impact of a racket is felt as the ball quickly leaves the safety of the player. Almost instantly, 6 years go by as the ball courses through the air, remembering that just yesterday it was tossed into play. All is going great for the ball, but soon it faces the direct blunt force of an opposing racket: school. Back it goes over the net, spinning with monstrous speed, overwhelmed by the sheer pressure from the opponent. One year passes and the ball, mentally prepared now for what comes next, gets shot back towards the opponent with what seems like even more velocity and pressure: second grade. Backhand. Bam. Third grade. Years slip by in seconds. The ball begins to question more and more. Why is it constantly under pressure? As soon as it assimilates to the speed and conditions of its previous stroke, everything it believes in is turned 180 degrees, coursing faster and faster. Forehand. Boom. Eighth grade. It has gotten used to the unexpected, existing with the only expectation that the next stroke will be harder, faster, and stronger. Backhand. Blam. Eleventh grade. It makes realizations about its life and every other tennis ball around it. It learns lessons like the fact that dreams are constantly abandoned as soon as hardships arise. As soon as a harder stroke sends them flying back, those dreams become nightmares. It relates to the pain Gatsby felt after living a majority of his life in pursuit of Daisy just to be shut down in an explosive confrontation with Tom that left him with "words that seemed to bite physically into Gatsby" (132). All of a sudden, a new stroke sends the ball through the air with a spin unlike anything its ever felt before: college. The stroke completely shakes the ball from its roots, takes it to new life experiences and allows it forget, for just a millisecond, the fact that it still has responsibilities and the worries of studying and keeping grades up and its own aspirations. Through life the ball travels, constantly smacked back and forth in a banter between opposing players. It enrolls in and finishes medical school, but is thrown right back into residency. It gets a job, but is volleyed back and forth everyday between mortgage and student loans. Throughout the mayhem, it reaches enlightenment and chooses, however, what it wants its own purpose to be: to become a doctor and save lives. Eventually the ball rolls out of the court, with the realization that there won't be a stroke to send it back into play. Its life has passed, it has served its purpose, and the point is over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLDm254jtZA