A lone figure at the court

In the sweltering heat of the 4 o'clock sun, a lone figure came from under the shade, walking slowly towards the court. In the distance, those hiding below the roof of the bus stop were thinking: "This fella must be crazy! It so damn hot and he's going out to play?! He must be brain damaged." Well it was a hot day, from a room looking out towards the courts, the thought of playing basketball was way to tempting. Especially after being unable to play after an accident almost a month ago. Watching people play back then was really hard to control.

Now after being healed, the temptation was to great and he had to go and play. Even though there wasn't anyone else at the courts, he walked alone to practice his shooting skills. It was rather painful in the beginning, the hot sun blaring mercilessly upon his skin, pain shot through his nerves as he stood there shooting the ball. It was incredible that anyone could continue standing in that heat, but he kept at it.

In his mind he kept telling himself: "I wont leave till it starts raining, and if it does, I'll wait for it to stop then go out to continue playing." "This is good for my health, I played on Sunday and I felt great afterwards, I sure I'll feel much better than staying in that stuffy room in front of the laptop!" With that in mind, he continued playing even though people thought that he was crazy.

In the beginning, his shooting was way off target, but not dejected, he continued on practicing, knowing that "more practice makes perfect". After about 25 minutes, he began to feel his stamina leave him. He strove to continue on, reminding himself that he was not a quitter and would only leave if the rain came pouring down upon him. Even though his stamina was leaving him, his aim became better and better. He did some lay-ups and shot some more. He was happy that his aim was getting better and hoped that it would not rain so soon as he had just got back his shooting form.

This carried on for 5 more minutes, and as though the heavens wanted him to take a rest, they summoned the rain to fall, he then held his basketball in his right hand then slowly left the court. Warning droplets of rain, indicating a huge downpour was to come, splashed here and there, dropping on the parts of his skin which were still stinging from the rays of the sun.

The fresh breath of country side air, makes breathing easier, thus enabling any person to breath easily, keeping their body oxygenated. Storms from the hills, carried downwards to the valley in which he resided, once it began, it would be hours before the rain let up. Remembering this, he sat down quietly in front of his laptop in his stuffy little room and began writing.

Thinking of the short exercise which he just had, hoping it would have lasted longer. But the rains wont permit him to continue. He thought to himself: "If I went and took my bath, I'm sure the rain would stop! It's always like that." But it was better than nothing, at least he had played for half an hour.

After the practice, he was supposed to do some jogging around the court while dribbling the basketball. He had planned to do so, because he wanted to practice controlling the ball. He knew that even before his injury, he was a poor dribbler. He shot well when he was in form but on average, 4/10 shots in was the best he could muster. Though during practice just now, he managed to get 7/10, "Well at least I've got form today, but these isn't anyone out here to play with me. Practicing alone doesn't really reflect to how good I am...", he thought.

It's tough sometimes, when you think your in form but when it come to the real game, you find that you just can't get the shots in. Well its down to 3 things that matter in a game. First is experience, second is how much practice you've put in, third is luck(whether you have form or not on that day).

Basketball is a high contact sport and is a rather dangerous game if you don't know how to play. You may be injured after being slammed into by other players. Some of those who do play basketball, may have endured broken limbs, twisted joints and other minor or major injuries. Or maybe even broken your glasses. He has an average of a pair of glasses broken when playing basketball per year. So he knows about this very well.

If you know the game and do like sports, it's a very good game, but if your neither, then congratulations, you can continue to stay in your room. Playing games on the laptop wont cause you any physical injury besides the fact occasional sore wrists after a long while. Anyways, being outside and active is very good for the health. Seriously, after playing, he felt so great. He was tired, but he knew afterwards that he would feel much healthier and more energetic. Exercising is good, you don't always need someone to accompany you while playing. you can do it yourself. Though it's not as fun, on the bright side, you get some exercise, no?

"Darn... I hope the rain stops soon... I don't want to go and take a bath only to come out and see that the rain has stopped, now that would really suck!!" said he. Looking out towards the sky, the grey clouds slowly moving away, a patch of pale blue sky a little way out. Birds are in the air, but country side weather is crazy, the sun can be way up there yet there is a thunder storm, you cant see the clouds, but it's raining like a storm, with the sound of thunder shaking the foundations of his home.

Looking out, it seems that the rain has let up. But listening to the pitter patter pitter patter of the rain on the roof, looks can be deceiving. Better not risk it. "Well I guess this isn't my lucky day is it." Time for a bath. Already cooled down... maybe next time.



Author's note:
Well it's a bit short, but this is all i can write about for now. Hope you like it. =) Crap...looks like the rain has stopped....Jeeezz!!!