The trick I can’t pull off

Alex Harbort

by Alex Harbort

Story

The skateboard rolls against my ankle as I collapse onto the rough, gray ground beneath me.

“You want me to keep recording?”, my friend asks, holding up my phone.

I push my tongue against the inside of my cheek as I think for a moment.

“No, I need to practice some more.”, I then answer “You can try though.”

But my friend just laughs it off, denying my request and leaving to drink something.

The ramp seems to be staring at me. But not in a creepy way, no. It was more of a welcoming smile it threw at me.

The way it bowed to the glistening light of the sun, the way it carefully invited me to go for another try. It was utterly beautiful. The opposite of scary and I should know.

Right next to me a kid manages to easily pull off the trick I had failed miserably before.

The sun. It literally prickles at my skin and a wave of sweat hits me and rolls down my arms and legs.

There isn’t much to think about, really.

Just the way the sweat leaks right over the parts of my body that etched with sadness yesterday and today and a few minutes before I came to the skate park.

I try that skateboard trick again and I fail. And I fail for another three times before my friend comes back with my phone in her hand.

“Wanna film now? Did you manage to learn the trick?”, she smiles.

Before I answer we both see the kid doing my trick again and my friend almost wows out loud.

“Nah.”, I say and my friend cocks a brow.

“Anyway, I think it’s getting too hot. We should head home.”

“What’s up with you, Alex? Aren’t you upset you didn’t manage the trick?”, she asks in a worried tone.

I shake my head. “No, it was great still.”

At those words her jaw almost hits the floor, and she reaches for my arm as if to make sure I’m actually here and not just coming from our terrible headaches.

“You’re usually so sad when something doesn’t work out. You sure you’re okay? It’s okay to fail sometimes, you know!”

“Yeah, I know that.”

“But how?”

I take a disturbed breath. “I’m depressed.”

She lets go of my arm and stays very still.

© Alex Harbort 2023-07-04

Genres
Novels & Stories, Self-help & Life support
Moods
Emotional, Hopeful, Tense