Leonard

Leonard was given hundreds of second chances in his life. In grade one when he would fail his spelling test because of not studying, in high school when he “accidentally” cheated on his long time girlfriend. Even last week at the office holiday party when he told his boss where he could put his piece of cake. Whether it was not studying or maybe having a little more jack then he needed; Leonard had made lots of mistakes. Just yesterday he forgot to forward the memo to the rest of the office to inform them that today was the day the office was to be fumigated, and as Leonard lay awake on his bed wondering if all his workmates were meeting the same fate as many cockroaches had before them, his phone began to ring. Leonard checked the caller ID as he always did, “unknown number” “what is the point in caller ID when people can have unknown numbers?” He wondered. Leonard reached for the phone reluctantly as he had made it a habit not to answer calls before noon. “Hello” he murmured “hello! You have been randomly selected as today’s big winner!” said the voice on the other line with the type of tone that is instantly filed to telemarketer in one’s brain. “Oh well lucky me then” sarcastically remarked Leonard as he tossed the phone back on to its receiver. Leonard lay back down and placed one pillow over top of his face and opened his eyes and stared into the dark abyss and pretended that this is what it felt like to drown. Leonard grew up seeing little of his dad; all he really knew was what he could over hear his mother say to her friends about him. “What a royal fuck up!” “The man is a waste of time.” “Why did I ever marry him?” These words came back to Leonard as his face was pressed against the soft pillow. The fact he never knew his father never quite bothered him, especially not now in his adulthood. It wasn’t because he didn’t care but he had bigger worries as a kid; bullies, girl’s, so his mind was far from the thoughts of the failure of a father. Plus Leonard’s mother was able to replace his father quick enough so that Leonard never really missed out on the manly life lessons that a father passes down. But as Leonard lay on his bed he wondered the fate of his father and what mistakes he had made. Did he fail his spelling tests too? Was he unfaithful? Did he have punctual work ethics? All these question’s floated through Leonard’s mind, he was becoming “the failure”. That guy who is always being told about his potential, and how” if he just put forth more effort...” His life up to this point was a failure in his eyes and those around him; he never actually tried in life. Just floated by, turning down opportunity one by one due to pure laziness. Leonard threw the pillow off his face and took in that first fresh breath off air that cooled his whole body. He picked up his clothes and got dressed. The engine sputtered alive and Leonard was off, to where all men go who feel like losers. The hummer dealership.