The High Life

There are two notes of interest I would like to bring to your attention before we begin.

The first is this: high jumpers of Wesley Methodist School, please be informed that Lee Ju Hann is your God. He is a man not taller than myself, but he broke the 153 on his way to becoming the form four gold medalist. And did I mention he's in green house too?

This is Ju Hann. Well not really.

And the second: from what I've seen of them so far the form four dancers are really good. They were having concert auditions today and I watched them for a real long time cause it was hard to look away. The girls are pretty good, I noticed Ain, Carmen and Sandra, but the star of the show has to be Deepaq.

The guy mixes his indian moves with hip hop steps that make a solid if not unbeatable combination. From what I saw, looks like he's been watching You Got Served alot too. I recognized at least three sets from the movie.

I'm really nervous about how good they are since I don't wanna be in anything less than the best dance during this year's concert.

I can imagine how last year's form fives felt when the best dance wasn't by the form fives but the form fours and I would hate to have to go through that.

When I say that I mean this.

Last year when Keangston made his end of year speech he mentioned his experience in "the best dance in the concert" and I was like no Keangston you weren't in Grease... then it turns out he was talking about America and I was like yeah right get real man but I didn't say anything cause he was leaving school and everyone knew he was wrong anyway.

I don't want to say I'm in the best dance we've got unless that's really true.

We haven't got Brian, Sanjay or Jon and now that Brian's watched Stomp The Yard he's on fire with ideas for his African dance. And it's gonna be tough to one up him cause that movie was seriously good.

Screaming, hollering and awesomeness.

If we're the third best dance this concert I'm going to jump off a bridge.

Well not really.

That's all I had to say about stuff right now.

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So you step back and breathe in. You loosen up, you stretch and you bounce a few times to make sure everyone knows it's you they should be watching.

And you feel their eyes on you as you're given the all clear and you run towards the bar, slowly for effect, and you feel their eyes on you, and you're starting to get a little nervous.

But as you draw nearer, the pressure evaporates, along with the crowd, and all that matters is you and the bar. Your mind frees itself of distractions as the bar looms ahead, and you speed up, already smiling because you've done it before and your body automatically knows what to do.

And your legs lift and you soar through the air.

The launch is perfect. The whole world slows down around you as you ascend, and your back arcs up and your head falls back.

For a moment, you're vaguely aware of the crowd again as their excitement reaches its peak. They're waiting to see if you pass, and you smile at their uncertainty.

In your mind, it's already done. And the truth is it was over long ago, the truth is it was over as soon as you made the decision to jump. All that remains is to clear the bar. And you do. Bright lights flash in your mind as every image burns a snapshot into your memory to savor over and over again.

Then you land intact, your back to the mat, and the crowd roars. The song of their applause and their cheers reach every fibre of your being. And your heart soars, flying even higher than you did just seconds ago. Then you rise, head held high and arms outstretched, savoring every moment. The moment lifts you on high as you run back to the starting point. You feel like their praise could give you wings.

They're still cheering.

It feels even better than being on stage. All those times you were an entertainer, but this time you're a hero.

The bar is raised. The others don't do so well but you're still brimming with confidence. You've cleared this height before and the audience has you pumped.

Your turn comes and you do everything the same, your mind working to remember all the steps and all the angles. But the bar draws closer and something's definitely wrong. But there's nothing you can do about it so you try anyway.

The launch is... less than perfect. The world slows down again but it doesn't last very long. You clear the bar but some part of you strikes it and it falls, and the crowd's disappointment is obvious. You shake your head slowly as you get up. It was close. You've cleared this height before. You can do it again.

So you try again. This time you scrape past the bar and for a moment you think you've made it, and so does the watching crowd. Then the bar shakes and falls, and you've got one more try.

You don't quite make it.

You could give any number of reasons why you failed, but somehow you feel like it was just bad luck. You're disappointed, but not devastated.

You gave it your all, though it wasn't your best. And that might not make sense to anyone else, but it means everything to you.

"Glory, Brian. One word. Glory." - Sanjay