But he had a mop. He had a bench. He had a team of broken parts that had held together when no one was watching.
Sal smiled, revealing a missing tooth. “It is now.”
He dipped his mop into the bucket and started cleaning the bleachers, slow and steady. “You know what a loser is, kid? A loser is someone who stops showing up. That’s the only definition that matters. You showed up. Every single day. Rain, shine, losing streak, winning streak—you were here.”
It was three minutes to midnight when Leo’s sneaker finally punctured the sludge at the bottom of the pond. The water was the color of old tea, and it swallowed his foot up to the ankle with a wet, sucking sigh. He didn’t pull it out. He just stood there, knee-deep in the muck, and stared at the sinking reflection of the scoreboard.
Christopher Laird Simmons has been a working journalist since his first magazine sale in 1984. He has since written for wide variety of print and online publications covering lifestyle, tech and entertainment. He is an award-winning author, designer, photographer, and musician. He is a member of ASCAP and PRSA. He is the founder and CEO of Neotrope®, based in Temecula, CA, USA.
But he had a mop. He had a bench. He had a team of broken parts that had held together when no one was watching.
Sal smiled, revealing a missing tooth. “It is now.” loossers
He dipped his mop into the bucket and started cleaning the bleachers, slow and steady. “You know what a loser is, kid? A loser is someone who stops showing up. That’s the only definition that matters. You showed up. Every single day. Rain, shine, losing streak, winning streak—you were here.” But he had a mop
It was three minutes to midnight when Leo’s sneaker finally punctured the sludge at the bottom of the pond. The water was the color of old tea, and it swallowed his foot up to the ankle with a wet, sucking sigh. He didn’t pull it out. He just stood there, knee-deep in the muck, and stared at the sinking reflection of the scoreboard. Sal smiled, revealing a missing tooth
