Marvin’s Trophy

Marvin Wellington inched out of bed at 2:30 am. He knew it was early but he wanted a head start on this years games.

Last year he’d come in second and every year prior to that, for the past six years, he’d come in third.

Marvin had an unfettered determination to change his destiny.

This year he wanted that trophy more than anything he’d ever desired in his life. “Except for Sophia” he sighed to himself.

Sophia, with her long full sleek beauty. She was different than the others.

Sophia moved through life with a smooth sophistication the others lacked.

Each time he accidentally bumped into her he would get so nervous that he would pray to disappear or to burrow himself into the ground before an awkward rush of babble fell from his mouth. “no matter” he thought “I am just a spineless mutant to her anyway.”

As Marvin made his way through the hallways of his complex he made a solemn vow to retrieve this years trophy and win the heart of Sophia. He knew that with the attention he would receive from fans and media, she would have no other choice but to take notice.

The games were complex but not impossible to win and with his prior years experience he felt he had a real shot.

All the long hours of practice would finally pay off.

Marvin drastically changed his strategy this year. Rising this early, before any of the other contestants, was the biggest chance he was taking. Although there were no steadfast rules against it, most gamers tended to delay in order to conserve energy. “I know there’s a saying my great pop pop would say about rising this early, but I can’t remember what it was.”

Marvin made his way to the front door. After a brief warm up he started out towards the finish line. The blast of fresh air filled him with excitement. A burst of focus and elation went rushing through his body, the adrenaline was pumping fast as he made his first moves toward victory.

Before he could make his second move, a crushing, annihilating pain quickly overrides his elation. He feels his skin being viciously pierced by an unknown enemy.

Frantically he looks around for the assailant.

A murderous scream escapes through his pores as he realizes he’s been stabbed.

A looming dark shadow envelops his torn and puncture riddled torso.

Dizzy and afraid he feels his body being jerked from the earth and suddenly he is flying but he knows it is not by his own accord.

Before the dust of eternity closes in on him he remembers the words of his great poppop. “the late worm misses…”

Death does not allow him to complete his thought.

Marvin Wellington, is dead, the latest victim in the neighborwoods of Wormleysburg caught in the beak of the Forrest’s Master Hunter, Robin P. Thwarter.

Or as her friends affectionally call her “Early Bird.”

Moral of the story: The Early Bird catches the Worm; but the late worm misses the Early Bird.