13.

He locked himself in his room and then proceeded to hit himself on the head repeatedly till he couldn’t help crying out in pain. He sobbed, stopped to savour the throbbing in his head, and continued beating himself up. He needed the pain; it helped keep away the frustrations that had built up within. Who’d ever guess that cheery ol’ Jason beat himself every night?

That saying he had heard, like most other sayings, he thought wryly, was true. There truly was no greater burden than great potential. He had been the star of his family- star student, star athlete, star kid. All his relatives had predicted greatness in his future. His job did not match that definition at any level. Neither did his friends. Sure, he had a job that paid decently, and a life that was comfortable, if not cushy. But what that meant was that he was merely treading that dreaded path to ordinariness. Where were the great things destined for him? Why was he in this rut of obscurity?

Why didn’t he quit? He was scared. What else could he do? He lived in the hope that his job would get better. It never did, but as long as there was that glimmer of hope, why take chances? He tried to accept the circumstances gracefully, but this was not what life was supposed to dish out to him!

This unfortunate mix of fear and ambition did him no good. Pent-up energy converted itself to productivity only when left alone by frustration. He hated not being able to take responsibility for his situation, and self-loathing got added to the mix.

There was a knock on the door. “Jason?”, his mother called. There’s someone I want you to meet. Mrs. Robinson, this is Jason, my son. He works in a software company as a manager, and we couldn’t be prouder of our wonderful little boy”.