Desperado!

I looked into his eyes, feeling their steady gaze fixated on the red ball in my hand. My fingers nervously fidgeted with it, knowing I could finish this smoothly—yet a strange urge told me to savor every second, to face my opponent with pride and honor.

 Then, just like that, the ball slipped through my grasp and tumbled to the ground. Laughter erupted around me. They probably thought I was just nervous, wondering why I was so tense.But they didn’t know this was more than a game to me. 

It was the moment I’d dreamed about all my life. I tried to outthink my opponent, guessing his moves, twisting the ball different ways in my palm. But nothing made a difference. My years of practice suddenly felt useless; my mind went blank.No time left.

 I summoned all my courage and charged forward. The wind rushed past my face, dust kicked up behind me, and my opponent readied himself. I reached the point I couldn’t cross—a final moment of truth.And then, I tripped, falling face-first into the dust. My teeth cracked, blood flowing. The laughter intensified—even my friends joined in. I raised my head in shame just in time to see the ball roll slowly toward my opponent.

So much for my debut. Years of practice, gone in an instant