Everything’s a blur: nothing is still and a split second has past; that’s the time I have to react. I see the shuttle fly past the net, react to go for it, and tense up my forearm as I flick my racket to hit that shuttle as hard as I can. He’s faster than me and gets behind it. He whips his wrist and fires it down my right side more than a hundred miles an hour. Instinctively, I dive towards it; praying to hit it hard enough to get back over the net. It does and all I can do is watch it tumble over the net slowly. Dropping my head to the ground, a smile creeps upon my face; more of laughter than relief…


I open my eyes and lay there sweating in my bed. Looking at the clock, I usher a sigh of disgust… 3:44 am?? Can’t believe it… I’m not supposed to be awake for another three hours at least… I close my eyes and try to find the one place where I can be myself and nobody could care more or less about it.