Defining Momentum

I wrote this last year for Digital Visual Arts

The score was 109-110. There were 30 seconds left, and we had the ball. “Manny! Carry us to victory!” yelled the young and hot-blooded President as he passed the ball to Jesus’ younger brother. With 25 seconds left our team marched forward, crossing the half court line and confronting the gigantic alien team. As we waited for the clock to tick down to 8 seconds, it felt like the entire team had finally united with one purpose. Manny stood there, just outside the three point line, ball in hand, holding the hopes and dreams of the entire team—ready to fulfill or destroy them. The rest of us stood in front of him, ready to pave the way to our own victory. We four teammates were relying on Manny to score, but we knew that he needed our help as well. As Manny was ready to score for us, we were ready to stop the enemy for him.

The President stood in front of him—exhausted and weak from the great efforts he had put into defending against the leading scorer of the other team and with the weight of his entire country resting on his shoulders. Despite this, his spirit burned with patriotic fire, and the heat of the competition. “You know, Manny,” he said, “even if you don’t make this shot, I won’t see you as any worse than Jesus. No matter what I will still believe in you. Just focus on the ball. I’ve got your back.”

The Vice-President stood there as well, shoulder to shoulder with the President. Finally he was working with the team, instead of against it. Motivated by his extraordinary devotion to the President, he defied his old age. Even though he had no personal reason to fight this battle, his bright eyes illuminated his flabby face with his commitment to the dreams of his friend and leader. “I’ll protect your path to the basket Manny. Just remember that I’m not doing it for you.” He declared.

I stood to the right of the VP. Although I had been an observer the whole time, even my spirit had been ignited by this team. Even I wanted to fight, for the dreams of my teammates, and just to take part in this great phenomenon that was occurring right in front of me. Turning around, I looked Manny in the eyes and nodded.

Finally, to the left of the President stood the Gorilla. What this mysterious person wanted was anyone’s guess, but he had stuck with the team through all of our losses and through all of our victories. He may have been just a Gorilla, but he had a strong will, and was a great team member. As the clock ticked down to 10, the Gorilla raised his arms and beat on his chest and roared. The clock hit nine and Manny tensed up, nervous, but ready to finally succeed. And then the appointed second arrived.

Bulling ahead, the Gorilla blocked out the first obstacle. Behind him, the President drew off the second of our opponents. The Vice-President got the third opponent, and I took the fourth. “Manny! The road is open! You just have to go down it and score!” yelled the President, as the fifth second ticked off the clock to the sound of the Gorilla's war cry.

Manny now stood alone; ready to cast off the shadow of obscurity and failure that he had always felt. He stood there with the ball in his hand, ready to distinguish himself from his older brother. He was just 3 steps away from leaving behind the name “Jesus’ little brother” and becoming truly himself. But there was one more looming darkness he had to leave behind. The enormous power forward of the enemy stepped forward casting his shadow over Manny’s figure. Manny could have never beat this enemy alone, but unlike his brother, he was accepting the help of others, and letting his teammates bear some of the pressure for him. With our power pushing him on, Manny took the ball, and jumped. It was incredible. Manny seemed to walk through the air, as he ascended into the sky. At the apex of his leap, by some random coincidence, or by divine inspiration, the huge arena sized video screen exploded, illuminating Manny's powerful silhouette. As Manny flew forward, glowing, he palmed the basketball in his right hand and wheeled it around, bringing it down into the net in a monstrous slam dunk. As Manny hung from the rim, it seemed that it made a halo, hovering over his head. He looked up to the heavens, and saw that it was good. The score was 111-110.