You all matter ||Reflective Short Stories||

Better

"You can do better" his father's comment wiped the smile away from Jerry's face. He was just five marks away from a perfect hundred. That in itself was a big achievement, he had thought. But that's not how his father saw it. He could have done better. He always could have. But no matter how better he does, it doesn't get better.

Jerry shut the front door behind him and walked towards the playground across the street. He sat on the swing lazily and watched the children play, shout, run, scream and do whatever they felt like doing. All those happy faces made the corners of his lips twitch up. Life is not all about a race to win, he thought to himself. Sometimes you have to go off track and ditch the scene. Jerry was so busy playing mental conversations that he didn't realise when he got hit by a rubber ball which came his way and swept him off of the swing, only to be landed on the cold hard ground.

.

"Are you feeling better son?" His father asked looking at him intently. Jerry twitched his eyes open with a grimace.

"I am fine" his hoarse voice spoke.

"Better?"

"I am just fine" he shut his eyes and sighed.

"Have this energy drink and you will feel better" his dad said, trying to reach the glass on the bedside table.

It was like something inside him was triggered because Jerry spoke to his father in an unusually raised voice. "I don't want to be better dad! I am fine being me!"

His father, unable to comprehend the sudden outburst, knitted his eyebrows and looked at his son in disbelief.

"Better. Better. Better. When will it ever get better?" Jerry asked frustrated, his eyes heating up. All his emotions were having a sudden outburst.

"One day when it turns into best son" his father answered. "You can't reach anywhere in life if you don't strive for better and aim for the best"

Jerry chuckled at his father's philosophy. He smirked and asked "and what then? after I become the best?"

"You will be proud and satisfied with yourself" his father shrugged.

"What if I already am?" He asked, much to his fathers amusement.

"You are just a child, Jerry" he laughed out loud. "You haven't done anything yet in life to be satisfied with".

"I helped grandma to the hospital, I bring groceries for mom, I get straight A s in almost all subjects, I adopted a street dog and am taking care of him, I can play guitar..." he was cut off by his father's hysterical laughs. Wiping the tears of mirth, his father spoke "That's not the idea of being proud and satisfied is son"

"That is the the idea, dad" Jerry said sternly, silencing his dad. "A perfect hundred doesn't always describe how successful a person is in his life, being the best of all people doesn't mean one is satisfied in life, landing a heavily paying job and holding a valuable position in society doesn't always make one feel proud about oneself."

His father had no answer to this. He sat there staring at his son blankly.

"In this race of doing better and better everyday aren't we missing out on a lot of happiness that comes our way? Aren't we forgetting to smile at our little accomplishments? Failing to give ourselves credit for whatever we have earned by working our butts off? "

Clearing his thought, his father got up from the seat, pushing the chair behind. Even though he knew his son had made a valid argument, he wasn't the one who would easily concede.

"I will check upon you later " he said

"To see if I am better?" Jerry snorted.

"No. To see if my son is doing good" his father smiled and walked towards the door.

"Dad?" He heard Jerry's feeble voice. He turned around to watch his son, still holding the door knob.

"Having a black dot doesn't make the sheet any less whiter. You just have to be open to see it" Jerry said. His father smiled at him and nodded.

"And some people need others to open their eyes" he said before shutting the door behind him, leaving a smiling Jerry behind.

That was the moment when it all got better.