“Life Is A Tightrope”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: Tightrope.

It’s all about balance.

At least, that’s what I’ve heard. Have I ever achieved balance? Hah, no. That’s a good joke. The most balance I’ve achieved was that one time when I decided against eating another ice cream sundae and had more fruit instead.

So if I can’t even balance my diet, how am I supposed to balance the rest of my life?

Let’s take a step back for a moment and consider the extremes. On one hand, I could work hard and get a well-paying job and never have to worry about finances and be alone for my entire life. On the other hand, I could slack off and find the love of my life and raise a beautiful family with them in a little cardboard box on the side of the road.

Yes, I realize that these are extremes; in fact, I even said that they were. And yet, isn’t there some truth to them? Most people can have one or the other; having both is very rare.

So here we are, back at balance. There’s tons of metaphors about life and balance. Balancing on the edge of a knife. Balancing a scale.

But I think that the best one, by far, is balancing on a tightrope. Everyone has to balance. Some people have safety nets. Others don’t.

I have a safety net. As in, at this very moment, I have a safety net. $50,000 from Dad to make sure that I start off my life on the right foot. The same $50,000 I’ve got clutched in my hand as I stand in front of this shady man who says he can change my life.

I honestly still don’t know if it’s worth it to give up my safety net. After this, if I fall, maybe I’ll survive. Maybe I won’t. Is that really worth it?

I’m not sure, but I have a feeling I’m about to find out.

Final Comments: This one was a bit weird. I had no idea what I was trying to write about and then the story morphed as I went.

Overall Rating: 🥴