My brother’s Soccer Net

 

My brother’s Soccer Net

 

               It was a cold and joyful Christmas morning. One of those in which my younger brother and me raced down the stairs to see what Santa Claus had brought to us. My brother’s gift was a little envelope, as he read it he began to sprint towards the backyard, there was his present, two real size soccer goals. Huge white posts with a brand new tight net, that made the ball bounce immediately back to your feet. This was what he wanted since he was little. After that day, there is no other object that can describe him better. Every single afternoon, walking through my backyard after practice, I could see him taking shots. I summer days, rainy days, and even in early mornings he was there shooting. No matter the distance scored always great goals from many different places. Those nets really made him happy. He constantly changed the net for a new one of tightened the old one. He was always asking my mom to get them painted as he didn’t want them to loose their bright, winter, white color. Years after, my brother went to boarding school away from home. I was weird getting home and seeing no one taking shots. I every went outside and used them for a bit, as I felt bad they were so useless. These goals were a constant reminder of my brother not being home. As time passed, the goals began to rust and the net  started breaking apart. No maintenance was given to them. The goals, had a very strong feeling for me as they represented my brother. It was hard to think of my brother being away from home and then looking at the rusty, old nets abandoned in the backyard. My brother came back from boarding school, talking about how much he liked rowing and saying he did like soccer any more. All of a sudden, I realized I had more feelings towards those goals than my brother did. The abandoned, rusty goals had more importance for me this time. After hearing that, my mother was more than happy to send the goals away. Days after, as I saw the goals being carried away from my backyard, I felt as if I had lost something, a part of my childhood, a memory. I felt as if my brother had grown older than me for a moment.

 

 

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