Dreamland

Three Ball Players

I'm standing in the middle of a vacant lot. The ground is mostly hardpan dirt with some weeds and dead grass, the type of place where kids might play sandlot baseball. The are two other guys with me, one is a foreigner, I think he's an Israeli.

We are here for a competition, but we have to decide what game to play. I want to play volleyball; there is a net at one end of the lot. The Israeli wants to play soccer. The third guy is undecided at first, then the Israeli convinces him to vote for soccer also. I'm not happy with this.

We set up a triangular field with three goals, then begin to play. It is soon obvious that the competition is between the Israeli and me, the third man can neither score nor defend his goal. He soon quits and stays on the sideline, cheering us on and retrieving balls kicked out of bounds.

The game is very intense. Although I'm able to block some shots, and actually manage to score a couple goals early on, my strength is starting to fade. The Israeli scores and gains the lead. He’s younger and in much better shape than me. I don’t think I’m going to win this game.