Looking through the net, the sound around me begins to fade. As the first whistle blows, my purpose in life has been altered. My existence here on Earth is now being evaluated through a single struggle: Staying between the ball and the floor. Through a constant struggle, it is a struggle I love to win, and will win. I achieve this through stealing victories from a floor that doesn't know limits to greed. In a game of anticipation and quick reactions, I cannot allow the ball to hit the floor. I drum up all of my will and energy to get every ball, remembering that saving a ball is like keeping a dream alive. I push my body to reach as far as it can reach, jump as high as it can jump, dive as far as it can dive, reminding myself that this is a small price to pay for a game that has given me so much. And when my body hits the floor so the ball does not, I realize I have won the battle. As the last whistle blows and the game has ended, I glare back at the lonely ball, grateful that it will soon join me again in my dreams on the court.