[FIC] The Substitute Player
This is a story of a friend of a friend, who I met during a party. I never caught his name, perhaps because he never threw it, or perhaps he did, but I simply had forgotten. But matter not; I shall refer to him as The Substitute Player.
The Substitute Player, as I recall, was a fairly well-built man, an ordinary man, one you would never take a second look at on the street. He told me he used to play a sport in high school, but I couldn’t remember what sport. When I asked him what position he played, he said “Oh, I was a substitute player.”
“Yes”, I said. “But even substitute players have positions, no?”
“Oh no, not me. Because I am just that, I’m just a substitute player, nothing more, and fortunately, nothing less.”
He told me that he was a decent player, but not the best. He practiced with the rest, he hung out with the rest, and the rest always had been friendly to him, every game, he would be there, but he would be on the bench. Now, because he was decent, but not the best, they only called on him if there was no one else. He was always there, he told me, rain or shine, he was always there, he was always ready to be called, but he didn’t get called upon that often.
“Only if there was nobody else”, he said. “If there’s simply nobody else, I would get called upon.”
The second semester was worse, came two new students, he said. They too, were not the best, but they were better than him, and he gets called upon even less often now. Only, when there was nobody else.
“Didn’t you try to get better?” I asked.
“I did”, he said. “But they too, got better. Those underdog films are inspiring, but untrue. The bad can get better, but the good, they too will continue to improve.”
The Substitute Player said in the very end of the year, no one ever called upon him. But he was always there, he said; rain or shine, he was always ready to be called.
“How do you feel about your teammates?”
The Substitute Player smiled with nostalgia. “They were good to me. They were nice, but I wasn’t a part of them, I was a substitute player, not like them, they’re the regular.”
I had more questions to ask The Substitute Player, but after that, he asked me if he could be excused, but before he took his leave. However later, I learnt from my friend, that he works at his parent’s business, because his older brother didn’t want to inherit it, and that he married the woman one of his teammates used to date.
He was The Substitute Player, and my friend agreed, will he remain that way for life? Or will he finally be a Regular? That will be a story that I shall find out, the next time I’m to meet The Substitute Player.
A short ficlet, about 500 words, one-shot, entirely fiction.