Summary
The story starts with Rick giving a bright and powerful description of his lover: “She walks with a certain gentlessness”, Her eyes were blue and calm. It had something in them that I couldn’t describe “She walks as if she was a patchwork of streams… so delicate and fragile”.
Then the next line of action comes up after a night class where Rickie and Sarah pledge their love to one another again. The scene is intense although skilfully concealed but yet obvious.
A symbol to depict the intensity of their love and the emotions that flows through the scene is their “Heart beat” which till the end of the scene and story continues to beat fast;
“My heart raced…
“Rick” She called again, puncturing my soul
“Does it hurt anywhere?”
She gave no response, she only held me tighter.
Chest on chest, we felt eachother’s heartbeat.
“Chest on chest” then seems like a covenant, rather than a covenant of blood, we have a covenant of hearts. Then Rick reminds Sarah about his football competition. She promises to be the first to arrive.
During the competition the next day, Sarah motivates Rick with her weak screams.
Unfortunately he sustains an accident where he loses his balls. However, Sarah leaves Rick without any explanation when she needed him the most. Rumors have it that she walked about with another guy but no detailed information is given about the guy.
The story ends on a very sad note where Rick describe himself and Sarah as ghosts walking through life and hoping to drop dead someday.
Analysis
The story addresses the themes of love, uncertainty, human frailty and also tries to show the weakness of human mind. It finds it root in theories such as pessimism and philosophical scepticism, a philosophical school of thought which states absolute knowledge is impossible.
Through contrasting ideas such as beauty and fear, love and pain, happiness and sorrow, the story depicts that everything is fleeting and nothing lasts forever. Hence, love is fleeting, happiness is fleeting and time is fleeting as well.
The story doesn’t try to separate the idea of love and pain, sadness and happiness. It blends these ideas together.
It tries to give a sense of idea that love is pain and sadness and happiness exists at the same time just like it exists at the same time in the human heart.
Love is portrayed in the story as magical and powerful, almost having a spiritual dimension.
Sarah’s Dillemma and my intention
I read through the comments on the post and nobody seemed to noticed anything about Sarah.. First of all when we encounter Sarah through Rickie's description “She is strange, mysterious and like a character in a fairy tale” Hence, all is not at ease with Sarah.
Although, it is very subtle and the reader can barely see it but Sarah is indeed mysterious as there is a psychotic part to her existence. Take for instance, her movements are very mechanical, dull and lacking vitality.
Rick says “She had something in her eyes that she couldn’t describe”.
Also, more instances of her psychotic behaviour, read Rick’s lines below;
Rick says “Familiar with such actions, I sniffed along with her, three times. She never did it less or more” Hence, Sarah suffers from an obsessive compulsive disorder.
Another instance to back up my claim of Sarah’s sick mind is her persistent tears which continues till the end of the story. With her sick mind, she is unable to decipher when to cry and when not to. Hence, when she is happy she cries and when she is sad, she still cries:
“I would never leave you” She swore happily, chuckling a bit…”
“Promise me that you will never leave me” She added before her tears stained my cheeks.
The reader could interprete it as tears of joy but I intended it to serve as symbol for her sick mind. Although shown subtly but she is totally out of her mind.
Sarah’s physical appeareance is also a representation of her failed health.
Rick says “She threw her arms slowly around my neck like the fragile girl that she was.
Also, Rick team member says “She walks like she would fall any second”
Hence, her weak physical appearance is a methaphor for her weak mind.
Sarah’s ill health is also depicted through her constant coughs. Of course, a cough comes associated with different things could be associated with health problems such as cold, asthma and other heart related problems.
Sarah’s constant cough goes beyond the physical to represent her sick heart and mind.
The story is a very tragic one which explores diverse themes about life and love… However, it has this message.
Sometimes, we never know what is goes on in the heart of others… Really, something gigantic and very dark is eating up everyone. Hence, the least we can do is make every moment count.
The football field is indeed where their powerful love story ends because after the incident and when Sarah leaves the hospital, she suffers a memory loss and she is unable to recognize Rick even when he resumes school which explains why she did not return to the hospital to visit him:
“Sarah!” I called out.
“She turned almost immediately and stared at me with that same eyes but she stared as if she had never known those eyes she stared at. I saw her move her lips to say something but those words, whatever it was never came out despite how I craved to hear it”.
Tragically, Rick never truly knows that Sarah is unable to recognize. He has a lot of questions but sadly he would never get answers.
Finally, he says.
“I realized I had never truly known her. Why did she cry so much? Her coughs?... I had never really known or met her yet I adored her with the strangeness of her beauty, her form, her nature”.
Finally, love conquers all. Although, Rick walks away with the mindset that Sarah gave up on him yet he forgives her, he pities her and he hopes they would be united again someday.
“We were leaving without saying goodbye. We became ghosts of love walking through life, hoping to drop dead someday”
I hope I have been able to answer some of the questions asked in the comment box. The analysis above is what I intended while writing the story.
Here is the link to my story:
https://steemit.com/fiction/@mimy/the-football-match-where-i-lost-my-balls-and-my-ghostly-love-story
Image source: Google
Works cited
@mimy. "The football field where I lost my balls and my ghostly love tale": Steemit, 2018
You should come and do a review of one of my stories. I would like to see another pair of eyes looking at my work as I'm my own worst critic and wouldn't do it any justice as much as you have done. I did not notice the psychopathic part of Sarah. I just thought this is something that happens in life at the time. Boy meets girl. The boy is super in love (lust?). Boy did everything for the girl. The girl is probably in love with another but may stay out of pity or just loves the attention (it's human to like the attention). Later, the whole things head to the predestined rocks. Bam. Love is gone. The same could be applied to the boy; where the boy behaves like the girl. I'd like to call it the way of the world.
The magician is here again! .... Lol.
It would be an honor to analyze your works.
Yes, I also agree with your way of the world.
Thank for reading!
Magician? Lol. That was nice :)
The blood in your pen never finishes right!... Lol. ... Thought it would take you longer to complete the story
I like this analysis! It clarifies! I read the first story and found her to be fickle. Your analysis reveals clearly that she had lots of issues but it shows the huge divide between a writer and the readers. It's necessary to dwell on certain details to draw all readers in and not just some. I guess we are all learning. Kudos sis
Yeah..... There is always a huge divide between a writer and the readers.
A writing style can either be complex or simple. I agree this is a complex one and it was intentional.
Now I am feeling like one wole soyinka... It hard to understand his works but when analyzed by literary critics, it turns out to be very rich in content, themes and devices.
Thanks for reading.
Rightly said.
Wow, i never thought of it like that. I did sense that something was wrong with Sarah... Something just seemed off about her. I will be more analytical to get it next time... Thanks for the insight... 👍👍you are my number 1 writer... *winks
Ok, this is my first comment on your blog after secretly just following you from Jan 5th.
How can something so sweet and enjoyeable becomes that which ends in pain and heart breaks.
I believe in love, yes, but one thing I don't understand is why we fall in love and then fall out of love.
Call me a 'Jew', it's no problem, but like I told my friend, I don't want to have an 'ex'.
If we break up, doesn't mean we can't still be friends or go see a movie together.
I don't want to sound like a preacher, but what if the creator falls out of love?
That would be something deep.
@jasladin, come see what you were telling about, on the life of Vincent papali.
My pen doesn't bleed, though my heart skips a beat.
Great reading this
Now, this analysis puts things into perspective. Sarah and the memory loss, that part was totally lost on me.
Prowess at work. I'd love to see more of this in the coming days
yeah keep bleeding lol