The Waiting Game

*This item is not autobiographical (134 words)

"Sacrifice now, enjoy later," is all I have left from those years. "If you work hard, you'll have the money to buy all the toys you ever wanted."

For years, I waited for my childhood to begin.

When other kids collected birthday gifts, I waited. When they went to the cinema to see their heroes, or spent hot summer days at amusement parks, I waited. I missed Halloween, trading trick-or-treating for studying, all for the promise of a golden future.

One day, I woke up, and the child was gone. Robbed of simple days.

A man stared at me in the mirror instead.

A man handed a new waiting game: a degree, a promotion, a mortgage.

A man with a little less patience as the goalposts keep moving.

A man who's tired of waiting.