Be Somebody

A week later a warm front wandered across Ohio and into Pennsylvania. I called Josh to see if he wanted to go fishing. I thought it would give me a chance to convince him he needed help for his gambling.

“You don’t get it,” Josh said as we stood on the bank of the Allegheny, casting lures past disinterested bass.

“I truly don’t,” I said.

“I don’t want to be ordinary. I’m so damn average it hurts.”

“Nobody has to be average,” I said. “The average person doesn’t walk dogs at the shelter, volunteer at the food bank, help the homeless.  You could do any of those things.”

“You really don’t get it.  I don’t want to be just more than average, I want to be somebody. I want to win big, write a book about my system, and be noticed.   Is that too much to ask? Not to be just another body shuffling through the world?”

I shook my head. “Very few of us are going to be famous, going to be somebody to the whole world.  Try being somebody to somebody who needs you.”

He shook his head.  “You still don’t get it.”

Today I’m going to be somebody to somebody who needs me.

Dogged Determination ©2018 by Ken Montrose

Dogged Determination is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/