I was fast asleep when I heard the piercing sound of the whistle. “Oh no” I thought as I suddenly realized it was Sunday and I would have to spend another afternoon being thrown and kicked around the field. Being thrown wasn’t that bad, but it hurt being kicked and being scared of heights didn’t help. It could have been worse if I ended up a practice ball since I would have been used six times a week instead of one. Being a football isn’t all that bad but all footballs dream of the day they can retire and end up with a fan or perched on a shelf in a sports bar. I suddenly realized I was being set up for kickoff by the kicker and then the game began as I was launched into the air by the swift foot of the kicker. Instantly, I couldn’t tell what the names of the teams were but one was blue and black while the other was white with some purple. There was multiple other footballs being used as we were switched on and off. It was hard to really concentrate with the stadium full of 50,000 cheering fans. While being carried by a ball boy, there was a roar from the crowd and one of the teams had scored a touchdown. I was suddenly full of a mix of jealousy and anger, as the football that had scored the touchdown, got tossed to a fan in the stadium. The best I ever got was spiked into the ground or dunked through the goal post. When the game had finally ended I was being put into the bag where they keep all of the footballs. I felt myself keep sliding down further and further down the bag. Then I was suddenly falling and was met by the cement and started to roll. We were already outside and I felt myself rolling over gravel. I kept rolling and eventually rolled under what seemed to be an old abandoned car where I was stopped by mud. At first I wasn’t worried that much and told myself that they would realize they were short a ball and they would look for me. A couple of hours went by when it turned dark and it hit me. The league makes millions if not billions of dollars and why would they care if they lost one ball? I wondered how long it would be until someone finally discovered me. It’s not like I was in a practical place that people would ever look at. “I always wanted to be left alone” I thought looking at the better side of thing “Now I won’t have to be kicked around and will have some peace and quiet.” Even still I was right out in front of the stadium and shouldn’t be too hard to find. If I was lucky the car I was under would be sent to a junkyard and they would find me under it. All I was capable of doing at the moment would be waiting and I had a lot of it ahead of me.

Time went by and fall turned into winter and winter turned into spring. I began to wonder if it was really all that bad being a game ball. At least people liked me for what I did. I started to miss my old life and wondered if I was destined to lay here for the rest of eternity. I would fall into slumbers where I would wake and months could have passed and would have no way to know. Once, I heard a noise that was louder than all of the footballs game I had been to put together. It sounded like a shattering and destructive noise and lasted for a while and there was the sound of vehicles and machines churning away. It lasted for multiple days but eventually ended. Days began to pass by like cars on a highway and I even had time to begin to stink horribly and then get used to the stench to where it bothered me no more. I was running out of things to think about and was stuck spending my time replaying songs I heard in the stadiums in my head when I heard voices.

“This is an old one. Looks like it’s been sitting here for 30 years.”

“Yeah, let’s get going though. Hook it up.”

There was the sound of an engine starting up and wheels churning trying to pull the old car through the old mud. It didn’t seem like it was going to budge until it suddenly slipped through the mud and then there was light. It seemed so bright like the sun made it impossible to look at anything. It took a while before I could see anything but the first thing I noticed was that the stadium was gone. There was only cement left there and it looked like something was about to be put there. It astonished me that something so big could have disappeared, like it never even existed.

“Hey look a football. I haven’t thrown one of those around in a while. I think I’ll take this home and I think I will be able to find someone who want it. ”
There was only one man left as the other one presumably towed the old car away. I was suddenly picked up by the man as he climbed into his car and then placed me down in the seat next to him. He had a thick beard and dark brown hair. He seemed decent enough and sang along to the music that was being played on the radio. The ride seemed to take a while but after what seemed like an hour and a half he pulled up to a house. There was a lady standing on the front porch with a baby that couldn’t have been older than a couple of months. The man walked up to the porch and kissed both the lady and the baby.
“Johnny!” The man called out “come here I have something for you.”
A boy walked out who looked about 5 or 6 years of age. He ran up to the man and hugged him at his waist. The boy had a beaming smile and seemed happy to see the man.
“What did you get me, Daddy?” The boy asked.
“It’s a football. Let me get it out of the car and then we can throw old pigskin. What do you say?”
The man went back to the car took me out and then started throwing me around with his son. The dad would give instructions to his son on what to do when throwing but mostly they were just enjoying themselves and having fun. The dad would chase the boy around and he would shriek with laughter. It lasted what seemed to be hours but I didn’t mind at all and for once I wished it would never end. That night the boy went to bed with me in his arms and I knew at that moment while I was looking up at the ceiling that I would always have someone who cared about me.