Stumbled onto dVerse the other day, a great place for neat poetry prompts! This time they would like to see a haibun using the word sport. So…thought I’d give it a go…

Don’t try this at home
My sporting days were in my youth, probably because it was useful tool for burning off the boundless energy children seem to have. Another thing children have, in bounty, is naivete. One such moment sticks in my mind, when I challenged (see, it’s always challenges that get me into trouble) another kid in my primary school to keep a basketball up in the bright blue playground sky by punching it into the air above our heads with our fists, kind of like a weird version of net-less volleyball, where we each took turns trying to keep it up in the air.
It seemed like good sport in theory, but we both realized with that first startling swing that basketballs were not meant to be hit this way, with their nubby surfaces meant for gripping, and although you got some impressive heights to exclaim and laugh over doing this, it really freaking hurt! I was shocked at this revelation, and I’m pretty sure he was too, but once the challenge was accepted we couldn’t lose face and admit it, so we gritted our teeth and laughed too loud and swung away anyway, skinning knuckles and doing our best to ignore the insistent burning pain that just got worse with each next swing, turning the challenge into a game of chicken. I was no chicken. Unfortunately, neither was he.

Uh-oh.
I think, in the end, we called it a tie, just so we could finally agree to stop. We may have been saved by the school bell, I don’t quite remember. What I do remember was the strange feeling of kinship and respect that lingered afterwards as I walked away, trying to ignore my throbbing hands. And maybe just a wee bit of pride that I was able to not only hold my own, but had found a crazy equally stupid worthy opponent willing to try to go the distance as much as I would, to win.
Ah, kids.
Squinting through sunlight
Skinned knuckles raw and bleeding
Smiling through the pain
__________________________________________________________________________
This weeks challenge update:
- Blog post 41/52 – Only eleven now!
- Writing in the screenplay – Sigh, nope…
- Drawing – Double sigh…
- Feet writing & drawing – Did this one!
See you all again soon…
~Liv
I love this story. Your knuckles may have been skinned but your pride was intact, which is much more important. 😉
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Thank you! 🙂 Exactly! It was definitely a stupid idea, but somehow I managed to walk away feeling like a warrior. It was a good day.
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I love that comraderie was the real winner in this, and that you realized it even at that tender age. Great write!
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Thank you! It was kind of a weird thing to bond over. It’s funny the things that stick with you.
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oh the dares we take when we’re young…. This made me smile and brought back some crazy memories of my gradeschool playground! It seems our dares always centered around the jungle gym!
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Lol. Glad it made you smile. 🙂 Ooh, jungle gym dares sound like a hanging good time! I would probably have been all over those. 🙂
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Great! Loved the story, and the pictures were awesome. How on earth did you find flaming basketballs!!
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Thank you! Lol. Completely by dumb luck, actually. I like going to Gify and poking around under different key words. As soon as I saw it there I knew it had to be in this post. 🙂
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See now, as a middle school dean, I know of kids who would never have learned this lesson and would still be trying it… well on their way into high school. Nevertheless, your Haibun nicely brought the pain to the fore. I am glad you saved me the attempt!
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Ha ha! Yeah, it really hurt way too much to consider attempting again. Glad I was a quick learner or I might have lost the use of my hands! Thank you! If I can be a horrible example for someone (well, hopefully just that one time, anyway), I’m happy to oblige. 🙂
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Tenacious! I’m not surprised you remembered this episode.
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Yeah, it’s possible my school picture can be found beside that word in dictionaries. 🙂 It was a hard one to forget. Maybe a gang of rogue pain sensors seared it into my brain with a big flashing sign that said “Do not do this again!”. Perhaps that’s why I started to steer clear of sports as I got older…
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It was the getting hurt part that always put me off any sport that meant my body was off the ground for any period of time. I’m such a coward!
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Lol. I think I understand, Sports can be scary! You probably are just being prudent. 🙂
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That’s the way I choose to look at it. Life’s dangerous enough without inviting trouble 🙂
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Ouch! Pain and pride … a likely pair. Thanks for sharing!
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Too true. 🙂 A much better twosome would have been brains and humility, but it took a bit longer before I stumbled across them. Thank you for reading!
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Oh.. how you could hurt yourself with balls… still remember how my fingers almost broke from trying to stop a handball… balls and me are incompatible.
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Yikes! Yeah, they could hurt pretty good even when used appropriately! I was never particularly great at sports that had them. Seemed like no matter what game we were playing they were always somehow gravitating towards my face (Although perhaps ducking all the time played a part in that). 🙂 So, yeah, I’m with you on that one.
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Okay that’s one of cutest thing I read all day! Just kids, standing for their pride, it’s a good virtue. Still, you could have chosen a different ball, but you might have missed a lesson and a post. Great write!
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Aw, thank you! 🙂 Ha ha yeah, a different ball would have been a smarter idea! I think in the end it was worth it, but I don’t know that I felt that way the next day. Ouchie.
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You are welcome! Haha!
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I liked the ending about the pride in keeping up with someone else but finding that someone else to keep up with.
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Thank you. 🙂 Yeah, competing is that much better with a worthy opponent. 🙂
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Big smile here. I can’t begin to imagine the pain that would cause. You describe it well. Love where you crossed through words.
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Thank you! I find word crossing kind of fun, the extra meaning you can sneak in with it is kinda neat. So happy you liked it. 🙂
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