Court Predator

Johnathan sat on a bench staring at the night sky, his hospital gown was the most eye-catching thing outside of his skinny body, he didn't know what he wanted any longer, his eyes void of hope. 

For a sportsman, having a condition that doesn't allow you to play is like killing you, especially when you have your eyes set on something far greater, a stage where the great stand. 

So like any person in his situation, he sought solace through the starry sky, wishing something would change. 

Soon it would mark the 2nd year since he touched a ball, and every day was agonizing, he tried distracting himself through video games, books, anime anything really but there just wasn't a definitive way to satiate his hunger, the feeling of something missing. 

Life had never been easy for Johnathan, he is an orphan the usual never seen nor knew who their parents were, and he never had the interest in knowing either. He was worried about fending for himself and focusing on things he could change. 

He had been abandoned but who cared, it is better then having abusive parents or just living with people who don't care, his sense of responsibility and commitment wouldn't be the same otherwise, if anything he was thankful he never regretted the person he became. 

What was there to cry about, what he saw was friends he made through the year having issues and complaining about theirs and it seemed quite the handful. 

John for short, was quite tall as he grew up, he tried many sports and fell in love with basketball, there just was something about the sport that drew him in. He went from being one of the tallest kids around to an average-sized one as people grew, but it didn't matter his love didn't dwindle if anything overtaking taller players was a pleasure of his. 

He is around 173 cm which for a basketball player isn't particularly high, especially with how things have evolved through the years, he was extremely athletic and explosive with his moves. Solid reflexes and nimble. 

His style of basketball isn't very normal either, since he played mostly in the streets and it was the place he could train the longest and gain experience. Streetball and then the fundamentals he learned, he was amidst of developing his thing. 

Mixing everything and creating the recipe for success. Unfortunately, life threw him yet another bolder, this time a bigger one. As he was playing in the middle of a match he suddenly passed out. 

And the moment he woke up again he found himself in a hospital bed. He spent months in the hospital as the doctors tried to understand what had happened to him, heart, lungs everything was tested. The day he was going to be discharged he once again passed out. 

How and what was happening to him he didn't know, never had this happened before after all. So he was confined in the hospital for the past years trying to figure out what was causing this, in hopes of playing again but the longer he stayed in the hospital the worse his condition grew, his muscles began weakening, and his eyesight got worse. 

But staying in a hospital for so long, without doing what you want is depressing, you deteriorate, your confidence fades and slowly you feel yourself becoming different, unrecognizable if you may say. 

Whether you like it or not, these tough times shape you, through these hard moments you can either evolve or crumble. 

Everything happening to him was unfair, he felt repulsed, and angry he wanted to vent all his feelings but he just couldn't who could he blame? God? It was pointless to point his fingers at anything, he was unlucky but he did what he could every day.

Threading and thinking back at his life. There were many things he could have changed. He had always been conservative in everything outside of Basketball. 

For instance, he lacked money, and although he did some part-time jobs as a youth the pay was low, and most of the time it wasn't even worth it.

He was handsome, so modeling was a great option he had always thought of, but then again the industry rumors are very weird if he could say so. But it wasn't like he was reliant on it like many others who needed to sell themselves, he could sightsee get his gigs and just go away, or even ask shops if they wanted a model to take pictures of their current clothing sets. 

Using the internet to his advantage would be another answer. 

But then again what could he change? Nothing because time doesn't flow backward. There is no such thing as a second chance. 

Listening to music while staring above, because it was so soothing. Slowly he stood up and was going to walk back before the nurses came to get him. 

As he took the first step, he fell on the greenery. What was even there anymore, his body didn't respond how he wished, everything seemed so hollow. 

''If only I could go back, If I had a better body... I could achieve so much more. I don't want to go nameless... Fuck.'' His unfocused eyes lay staring into the distance, silhouettes approaching him but everything seemed distant, hazy, here he realized that everything was completely different then the other times this lucid period signified just how little time he had. 

He resigned himself to fate. ''At least treat me well in my next life. Ahhh I wonder what is there on the other side.'' 

His eyes closed as he passed away. 

Meanwhile, nurses and doctors soon crowded where he lay, trying to revive him. ''His condition was stable an hour ago how...''