EMBER MOON
The sky illuminated with the candescence of the Ember moon, and like every other night, it was filled with beautiful and shining stars. The soft breeze of the night also moved through every window, whisking fine tunes created by the clash of the wind with the lofty buildings on the streets. From the window of his room, Jamie sometimes stared at the distant beautiful sky, and would immediately return his gaze to the screen of his computer. He was surfing the web for no other reason than the country he would head for the following day. He scrolled through the options that the search engine had provided for him and concluded with a heavy sigh.
He always had a love for skiing and right now, having to choose a country he could be fast becoming a journey into his childhood. Jamie remembered the day he started skiing at about the age of twelve. Then, he was young and naïve, always looking forward to ski races that were broadcasted during the snowy time of the year. He remembered the heavy breathing that accompanied him home from school, all in the name of not missing a single race. Eventually, Jamie decided that he had seen enough from the television, he wanted to ski too.
Afterward, he did nothing else but try his feet with a skate, a board, until his butt was on the floor countless times and he was sometimes bruised on cold ice. Eventually, Jamie could ski conveniently, then there came the goal and the intention to pursue a career in it. Jamie liked to think that his established career with skiing wasn’t because of the money he got from it as a teenager but more because of the passion he had for it and of course, the attention that reeked from those that saw him race.
The first problem Jamie faced was his Dad, who was never exactly in tandem with his skiing inclinations, and for a long time, Jamie would always wonder why no one would understand the love he had for the sport. But being like every teenager, Jamie was too stubborn to hang his boots because of the lack of a little support from his father. He consistently told himself that he should be allowed to do his sports.
When his father finally had the career talk with him, Jamie wasted no time in baring out his heart to his father.
“Dad. This would make me happy for a long time.” Jamie told his dad who looked on, confused and disappointed.
Jamie never understood why his dad felt disappointed until years later when the old man died and willed his firm to his only son, Jamie Williams. It was a shame to build a career, expecting that your only child would take over the rein of the company, only to have him become an enthusiast for something entirely different.
Thinking about it now, Jamie was sure that not even the inheritance of the whole world would make him make an entirely different choice. Skiing was his life, and making a career with it was one of the best decision any teenager could have made. Perhaps his dad finally understood that, for after a while, he said nothing against it and supported in the few ways that he could.
As time went on, Jamie proceeded in his academic pursuit and yet, skiing was still the objective. Subsequently, students and almost everyone nicknamed Jamie "Jameskii", which is because of his many skills with ice skating. Being nineteen and at a University was a big deal for every teenager, but this was bigger for Jamie as he became the first ever ice skater for his alma mater and his tremendous and rather dauntless skills became the talk of the town. Of course, this had always been the dream, but like a flash, it happened too fast that Jamie was too shocked as he bagged away trophies at the annual inter-state skiing tourney and the school's annual scholarship award was given to him. On the 22nd of November, 2010, there was a skiing championship organized for veteran skaters. Jamie applied out of the simple will and of course, there were teases from friends at school. Jamie once again pulled such stunts that were quite phenomenal and spectators from by and large couldn't help but cheer in utmost curiosity. “That’s Jamskii!” Someone lauded from the crowd, while another screamed “Go man!” from the spectators.
Jamie remembered how glad he was to be on the focus point. He always wanted to show to the world how good he was and then, it was exactly the right time to do it. He would embrace his gift and there was no going back.
Just before the last lap of the entire skiing event, Jamie pulled a stunt in mid air and a muscle pull made him crash to the ground like a bag of ice on a floor made of concrete. Because of the downward slope of the area where he landed, he rolled over like a log of wood hitting a congregation of trees and ended up passing out lifeless. The entire resort became extremely calm like some Oasis, as not even a single hush could be heard from the spectators. It seemed like the day Olympus fell and the entire world froze at its fall.
Soon, Jamie made headlines of news platforms with such headings like "Jameskii in a coma" and "Jameskii gets worse". As time went on and with different waters welling across Jamie's condition, he resuscitated from his pitiable state of coma and was given a keen attention by his fans and family. His life suddenly took a new dimension when upon discharge from the hospital, the doctor told him that if he should ski any longer, he’s at a risk of dying untimely. For Jamie, the news could have been the most impossible dream since his childhood. He thought everything rather too swift to be happening. He was this close to being worldwide famous for what he loved doing.
“So, what went wrong?” Jamie asked himself for years.
He became depressed throughout his final year in school as he felt all the cheers that encouraged him to keep up to his game and the long years of practice had gone down the drain. Overtime, Jamie got over the feelings and devoted more time to his academics as a revenge for his loss.
However, Jamie finally woke up with a new dream to dare his past. He felt that he would rather die than stop skiing. He sure wouldn’t get the fame he wanted badly but he could still ski temporarily as a daily or weekly exercise. So he did ski but this time around it was just for minutes around his home.
Jamie sighed again and returned his gaze to the screen. The whole time he thought about his childhood, without noticing, his gaze had returned to the illuminating sky. For a short period, he wondered why he was up late until the landline on his desk buzzed aggressively.
Jamie lazily picked the call and sighed tiredly into the receiver.
“Jamie Williams.” He whispered.
“Mr. Williams.” A familiar female voice whispered back from the other end.
“Goodness Mary! It’s late in the night.” Jamie muttered, unable to believe that his secretary was calling him so late in the night.
“Actually sir, it’s 5:30 am already.” Mary ushered back.
Jamie couldn’t believe his eyes as they rested on the wall clock. He couldn’t believe that he had stayed up all night thinking about his childhood.
"Your flight is for 12 pm, sir." Mary said again.
It was then that Jamie remembered that his company recently gave him a transfer letter to Vancouver BC Canada where the head office is located. It was the more reason for him surfing the web because even as time went on, he neglected the doctor's advice and his obsession for skiing grew more intense. He sometimes would boast about his expertise in it to his friends and that he would rather die than have the skiing part of him dead. It was the truth and he alone knew it.
“Okay Mary, thanks for waking me up.” Jamie managed.
He hung up the call and fell on the chair, thinking about how much he was going to miss skiing around his home that naturally had iced rocks and sliding grounds. At exactly 12 pm that day, Jamie was already in the plane headed for Vancouver. He had heard tales about ice skating in Canada and how cool it is that the snow falls on a regular. This made him even more excited at the thought of exploring Vancouver lingered in him. He kept smiling to himself, exchanging silent pleasantries in his head, which expressed how happy and anxious he was to ski on new ice.
But Jamie got the shock of his life at Vancouver; for some reason, the snowfall was rather infinitesimal. Glaring anxiously about, Jamie couldn’t believe the snowless curves, rocks, and trees that hung about. He looked on quite disappointed as he headed over to the Company's staff apartment. Tired and disappointed as hell, he slept in no time. For the next three months that Jamie resided and worked in Vancouver, the snowfall was but twice, the environment was quite hot and the always-melting ice did disappoint him as he became more depressed and his attitude to work dropped immensely. His boss had queried him on several occasions and everyone was beginning to wonder why the somewhat jovial Jamie became an epitome of solitude. The day Jamie got dismissed from work, he accepted the letter, quite unconcerned with anything. To him, he was fast becoming a failure as he had lost his job on one side and his passion on the other.
Things became quite worse as Jamie developed a strong attachment with shots of rum and Green bottles of alcohol. He would sometimes drink to a stupor and lament on how unfair it was that he was born the way he was. Life seemed tiring. All these happened over the next one month until one day, he was at the Bar just like any other day when he saw some athletic looking guys discussing all forms of sports and taking up skiing with deep interest.
Jamie listened as they talked about snowfall in Washington and how privileged it is to be proximate to it because the state had a good resort. On hearing this, and without thinking, Jamie moved towards them with the last energy of a sports enthusiast.
"Did you say Washington State?" He asked, puzzled.
The men all looked more puzzled as they turned their heads uniformly towards him. The dark one amongst the men was the first to shake off the surprise he felt at the sight of a rough-looking man interested in the game of sports.
"Yes." He managed to utter.
Jamie cared little about the expressions on their faced. He drew out a chair and started talking. After an hour, it became clear to the men that Jamie was a man after the only sport that could make him whole again. It was after his tale that the athletes made Jamie their friend and encouraged him to join one of the skiing teams around. He was quite reluctant at first considering all he had to go through but he did give it a try and his skiing skills became more rooted.
Today, Jamie Williams has totally forgotten about the discouragement he got from his father as a young boy, the accident that almost crippled him in the university, the dismissal letter he got from work, and the one-month life he spent as a drunk. He became one of the best-awarded skiing champions in the world and at the sound of "Jameskii", his opponents tremble at such credit and enormous attention.
Jamie made a name for himself through his undying passion for the skiing sport, despite everything he had been through. Like the Ember moon, he was ready to illuminate the world with his passion.
Check out www.bragOut.com and you can meet other enthusiasts like Jamie share their true passionate stories.
He always had a love for skiing and right now, having to choose a country he could be fast becoming a journey into his childhood. Jamie remembered the day he started skiing at about the age of twelve. Then, he was young and naïve, always looking forward to ski races that were broadcasted during the snowy time of the year. He remembered the heavy breathing that accompanied him home from school, all in the name of not missing a single race. Eventually, Jamie decided that he had seen enough from the television, he wanted to ski too.
Afterward, he did nothing else but try his feet with a skate, a board, until his butt was on the floor countless times and he was sometimes bruised on cold ice. Eventually, Jamie could ski conveniently, then there came the goal and the intention to pursue a career in it. Jamie liked to think that his established career with skiing wasn’t because of the money he got from it as a teenager but more because of the passion he had for it and of course, the attention that reeked from those that saw him race.
The first problem Jamie faced was his Dad, who was never exactly in tandem with his skiing inclinations, and for a long time, Jamie would always wonder why no one would understand the love he had for the sport. But being like every teenager, Jamie was too stubborn to hang his boots because of the lack of a little support from his father. He consistently told himself that he should be allowed to do his sports.
When his father finally had the career talk with him, Jamie wasted no time in baring out his heart to his father.
“Dad. This would make me happy for a long time.” Jamie told his dad who looked on, confused and disappointed.
Jamie never understood why his dad felt disappointed until years later when the old man died and willed his firm to his only son, Jamie Williams. It was a shame to build a career, expecting that your only child would take over the rein of the company, only to have him become an enthusiast for something entirely different.
Thinking about it now, Jamie was sure that not even the inheritance of the whole world would make him make an entirely different choice. Skiing was his life, and making a career with it was one of the best decision any teenager could have made. Perhaps his dad finally understood that, for after a while, he said nothing against it and supported in the few ways that he could.
As time went on, Jamie proceeded in his academic pursuit and yet, skiing was still the objective. Subsequently, students and almost everyone nicknamed Jamie "Jameskii", which is because of his many skills with ice skating. Being nineteen and at a University was a big deal for every teenager, but this was bigger for Jamie as he became the first ever ice skater for his alma mater and his tremendous and rather dauntless skills became the talk of the town. Of course, this had always been the dream, but like a flash, it happened too fast that Jamie was too shocked as he bagged away trophies at the annual inter-state skiing tourney and the school's annual scholarship award was given to him. On the 22nd of November, 2010, there was a skiing championship organized for veteran skaters. Jamie applied out of the simple will and of course, there were teases from friends at school. Jamie once again pulled such stunts that were quite phenomenal and spectators from by and large couldn't help but cheer in utmost curiosity. “That’s Jamskii!” Someone lauded from the crowd, while another screamed “Go man!” from the spectators.
Jamie remembered how glad he was to be on the focus point. He always wanted to show to the world how good he was and then, it was exactly the right time to do it. He would embrace his gift and there was no going back.
Just before the last lap of the entire skiing event, Jamie pulled a stunt in mid air and a muscle pull made him crash to the ground like a bag of ice on a floor made of concrete. Because of the downward slope of the area where he landed, he rolled over like a log of wood hitting a congregation of trees and ended up passing out lifeless. The entire resort became extremely calm like some Oasis, as not even a single hush could be heard from the spectators. It seemed like the day Olympus fell and the entire world froze at its fall.
Soon, Jamie made headlines of news platforms with such headings like "Jameskii in a coma" and "Jameskii gets worse". As time went on and with different waters welling across Jamie's condition, he resuscitated from his pitiable state of coma and was given a keen attention by his fans and family. His life suddenly took a new dimension when upon discharge from the hospital, the doctor told him that if he should ski any longer, he’s at a risk of dying untimely. For Jamie, the news could have been the most impossible dream since his childhood. He thought everything rather too swift to be happening. He was this close to being worldwide famous for what he loved doing.
“So, what went wrong?” Jamie asked himself for years.
He became depressed throughout his final year in school as he felt all the cheers that encouraged him to keep up to his game and the long years of practice had gone down the drain. Overtime, Jamie got over the feelings and devoted more time to his academics as a revenge for his loss.
However, Jamie finally woke up with a new dream to dare his past. He felt that he would rather die than stop skiing. He sure wouldn’t get the fame he wanted badly but he could still ski temporarily as a daily or weekly exercise. So he did ski but this time around it was just for minutes around his home.
Jamie sighed again and returned his gaze to the screen. The whole time he thought about his childhood, without noticing, his gaze had returned to the illuminating sky. For a short period, he wondered why he was up late until the landline on his desk buzzed aggressively.
Jamie lazily picked the call and sighed tiredly into the receiver.
“Jamie Williams.” He whispered.
“Mr. Williams.” A familiar female voice whispered back from the other end.
“Goodness Mary! It’s late in the night.” Jamie muttered, unable to believe that his secretary was calling him so late in the night.
“Actually sir, it’s 5:30 am already.” Mary ushered back.
Jamie couldn’t believe his eyes as they rested on the wall clock. He couldn’t believe that he had stayed up all night thinking about his childhood.
"Your flight is for 12 pm, sir." Mary said again.
It was then that Jamie remembered that his company recently gave him a transfer letter to Vancouver BC Canada where the head office is located. It was the more reason for him surfing the web because even as time went on, he neglected the doctor's advice and his obsession for skiing grew more intense. He sometimes would boast about his expertise in it to his friends and that he would rather die than have the skiing part of him dead. It was the truth and he alone knew it.
“Okay Mary, thanks for waking me up.” Jamie managed.
He hung up the call and fell on the chair, thinking about how much he was going to miss skiing around his home that naturally had iced rocks and sliding grounds. At exactly 12 pm that day, Jamie was already in the plane headed for Vancouver. He had heard tales about ice skating in Canada and how cool it is that the snow falls on a regular. This made him even more excited at the thought of exploring Vancouver lingered in him. He kept smiling to himself, exchanging silent pleasantries in his head, which expressed how happy and anxious he was to ski on new ice.
But Jamie got the shock of his life at Vancouver; for some reason, the snowfall was rather infinitesimal. Glaring anxiously about, Jamie couldn’t believe the snowless curves, rocks, and trees that hung about. He looked on quite disappointed as he headed over to the Company's staff apartment. Tired and disappointed as hell, he slept in no time. For the next three months that Jamie resided and worked in Vancouver, the snowfall was but twice, the environment was quite hot and the always-melting ice did disappoint him as he became more depressed and his attitude to work dropped immensely. His boss had queried him on several occasions and everyone was beginning to wonder why the somewhat jovial Jamie became an epitome of solitude. The day Jamie got dismissed from work, he accepted the letter, quite unconcerned with anything. To him, he was fast becoming a failure as he had lost his job on one side and his passion on the other.
Things became quite worse as Jamie developed a strong attachment with shots of rum and Green bottles of alcohol. He would sometimes drink to a stupor and lament on how unfair it was that he was born the way he was. Life seemed tiring. All these happened over the next one month until one day, he was at the Bar just like any other day when he saw some athletic looking guys discussing all forms of sports and taking up skiing with deep interest.
Jamie listened as they talked about snowfall in Washington and how privileged it is to be proximate to it because the state had a good resort. On hearing this, and without thinking, Jamie moved towards them with the last energy of a sports enthusiast.
"Did you say Washington State?" He asked, puzzled.
The men all looked more puzzled as they turned their heads uniformly towards him. The dark one amongst the men was the first to shake off the surprise he felt at the sight of a rough-looking man interested in the game of sports.
"Yes." He managed to utter.
Jamie cared little about the expressions on their faced. He drew out a chair and started talking. After an hour, it became clear to the men that Jamie was a man after the only sport that could make him whole again. It was after his tale that the athletes made Jamie their friend and encouraged him to join one of the skiing teams around. He was quite reluctant at first considering all he had to go through but he did give it a try and his skiing skills became more rooted.
Today, Jamie Williams has totally forgotten about the discouragement he got from his father as a young boy, the accident that almost crippled him in the university, the dismissal letter he got from work, and the one-month life he spent as a drunk. He became one of the best-awarded skiing champions in the world and at the sound of "Jameskii", his opponents tremble at such credit and enormous attention.
Jamie made a name for himself through his undying passion for the skiing sport, despite everything he had been through. Like the Ember moon, he was ready to illuminate the world with his passion.
Check out www.bragOut.com and you can meet other enthusiasts like Jamie share their true passionate stories.