It’s Star Wars Day…again.

Went for a walk cutting through the park when I came across a cosmic coincidence. The park’s path is neatly lined by backyard fences though not all fences are equal.

Two brothers were lightsaber dueling in their backyard. And the older taller brother (with his hoodie’s hood up no less) is smoking the younger kid. Junior’s red lightsaber constantly falls rattling on the ground as if protesting its current predicament. You can hear it clatter as they’re on a stone path and the kid cannot fight well.

Normally that’d be the end of this nerdy moment; perhaps a commentary on Star Wars’ influence on our pop culture and on our children.

However this…this is the powerful end of the story: “Again.”

Every time he’s disarmed; every time he drops his red lightsaber The Kid snatches it up from the ground and yells out: “Again.”

His hooded brother lunges forward thrusting and parrying with his green lightsaber and in a few strong moves, The Kid’s red lightsaber rattles to the ground. “Again.”

You can hear the plastic on plastic crime. In the absence of the suburban symphony, it sounds louder: no wind; no cars, no lawnmowers. You can hear the lightsaber as it meets the stone path: an undignified fate for a literally brilliant weapon.

And you can hear the kid yell out…louder this time: “Again!”

That Kid…that Kid is steel.

Our vast mythology celebrates people who get back up after viciously getting knocked down. Real life biographies and fantastic fictions. We rarely recognize that gap though: that time period of being on the ground to “Again.” The shorter you can make that gap; the faster you can get back up is the sooner you can get to where you want to go. That undaunted Kid is going places. Dude sucks now (“Again!”) but good gravy: in a few years that Kid is gonna handle his business.

I pity his enemies.

-28-

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