BAM! Ouch, was the first thought that came into my mind before this blazing orange comet raced towards me and struck me directly on my nose, forcing tears out of my eyes. No, I was not crying, tears just happened to fall and this was my very first experience. In fact that day was a day with many new coming experiences, starting from the first swish noise, as this fierce comet goes through the gentle clear white net; to the first time I rejected someone else shooting this comet into the net. Feeling like a champion who just won the championship, these moments of ecstasy will always last in my mind when I come visit this place. Although there are many other places like this one, with a hoop and a net, this was the first place where I actually wanted to play basketball. At day time when the sun glazed into the hot dry air, I would enter this vast building with tinted windows. Standing tall and heroic like a superhero stands before his people, there it was the police station resting next to the vast building. Behind this building, would be a gigantic park with a basketball court in the middle, soccer field on the right, volleyball court on the left and a baseball field at the far right corner of the basketball court. This is where I would play at six PM when the sun would say his farewells as the light crawls away from the scratchy pavement of the basketball court. But when the sun is still sublime I would walk through the automatic doors into the vast building and feel a mixture of the devilish heat and the heavenly frost of air colliding against each other. As soon as I walk in I hear the pounding echoes of basketballs hitting the smooth gym floor. The squeaky noises from the bottom of the shoes grinding on the floor sounds like excited mice all around the gym. Pulling out the thin slip of plastic that holds my identity the automatic tinted door closes behind me. I greet the workers while I scan the piece of plastic across the machine. After two hours of this beautiful paradise I would then go outside where the wonderful dream still continues on.

The gorgeous dream continues as the loud white light reflects the scarred pavement of the basketball court into your eyes. Like yin and yang the court is covered with the strong white stadium lights and the black sky is dark as a nightmare. When I approach the basketball court I hear the loud cars cutting through the wind. The court is empty for now until I imagine a fade image of all my friends that come around seven pm and think about how amazing yesterday was. Attracted by the light I watch the little crickets jump around as I get ready to warm up a little bit. Then I examine the court and observe the faded yellow lines that mark the three pointers and the free throw. I burst into little giggles when the flow of memories comes into my head about my friends who would argue whether they made a three pointer or not because the lines were barely visible. I stopped giggling, fearing that someone would see me and have an impression that I would be insane just laughing at the ground. As I shoot the ball to warm back up people around me are having a picnic or just outside walking their dogs and enjoying the halcyon days of winter. The sound of the dogs gives me the memory of my dogs when they were on a walk with me as they stick out their tongues and gasp for air from the heat. The basketball court outside always give me a vivid memory of when I first came out to play basketball.

The clear memory of when I first came out to play basketball seems like it was only yesterday. It was a gloomy day where the sun was not present and the trees were not dancing. The place had no presence of any living creatures, as I walked through the jungle of grasses where bugs would jump around when I took each step. Kids were playing soccer and the elderly were taking a peaceful walk, moving their frail body and enjoying the outdoors. I soon came up to the court and started to shoot around. At first the court seemed like a graveyard during midnight, until people started showing up with the moon showing off its ostentatious glare. The stadium lights were on and a great amount of college street players came. Like a royal wedding people were dressed in their Nike, AND1, or Jordan’s. The night went on and the stench of sweat filled the air after about two hours of competitive basketball. The players sat next to the light poll where some took off their shoes to get ready to leave and some were just gazing at the magnificent moon. Noise was dead, the wind was gone and the moon was brighter than the sun that night. I drank my water like one of the Gatorade commercials. After, I strolled back home making new friends that glorious night.