SO CLOSE
Prompt - So Close : Write about coming close to reaching a goal.
Dan Marino's arm. Dan Marino's charisma. They were responsible for bringing Pete and his dad together at last, and for where he was sitting now. He and his father had always had a difficult relationship, Pete never living up to the standards expected, but when he was sixteen Channel 4 started showing American football, and they discovered some common ground, a shared interest. And then Mr Marino came along.
The new Miami Dolphins quarterback was an immediate hit with both of them, and that shared interest became a joint passion for for the Floridian team in aqua and coral. With the game gaining some ground in the UK, Dad encouraged Pete to have a go. And while he'd never be Dan, his bulk, short range mobility and good peripheral vision made him into a half decent defensive end. Pete loved his football. They vowed that one day they'd make it to Miami, take in a Dolphins game together.
He'd had no idea what he wanted to do with his life, and had always rebelled against the life his father had chosen, but their new closeness made him give the shop a go, and he found he enjoyed it more than expected. To his surprise he found that he and dad were now best pals.
So what happened next was the more difficult to deal with. Leukemia. Terminal. Six months at best. The diagnosis was brutal. The end came soon after. Dad insisted Pete keep the shop going, so he wasn't even by the bed when his father passed away. He closed the shop for a week, then threw himself back into it as if nothing else mattered.
He gave up playing, but still watched the Channel 4 shows faithfully, still cheered on the Fins, still absorbed all he could about the game. Thought that he should still make that trip one day, in dad's memory.
His mother's death was even more sudden, the proverb brought to life, and death. She was hit by a bus. Pete was twenty four, alone, and all he had was his shop, and Dan Marino. An old friend, trying to get him out of himself, arranged for them to go on a double date, said he could choose which one he liked. So Pete went for the taller, darker of the pair. They got on well, and a year later they were married. It took Pete another couple of years to admit to her that he hadn't chosen her because he thought she was the most attractive, but because her name was Claire. Like Mrs Marino. By then she knew, and even shared, his love of the sport, and his dream to get to a Miami home game one day. They could go together, planned it for Pete's fortieth in 2006.
They didn't. In '01 Claire started to find herself getting tired too easily, her vision became blurred at times, and there were some strange pains. It took time, but eventually there was another hammer blow diagnosis. MS.
Within a year Claire was unable to work, needed a lot of looking after. The shop suffered. Pete took on Gary, the guy who'd brought him and Claire together, recently redundant and happy to take on the running of the place. Gary had ideas, like bringing in DVD rental, and soon the shop was doing far better than it ever had under Pete's direction. They talked about expansion, got bigger premises, than another shop, then another. Gary worked hard. Pete did the finance. Claire's condition got worse. And worse.
Claire died in 2020, covid the final imposition her wasted body was unable to withstand. After the NFL had vanished from their screens they'd not followed what was happening with the Dolphins much, but once Claire found it hard to leave the house Pete had found out where the internet could fill the gap, and they companionably watched a lot of matches together. Pete was still a fan.
In time he got back to working more closely with Gary, the business recovering well from pandemic times. Claire had once told Gary about Pete's long held desire to get to Miami, so he was the one who suggested that Pete should treat himself for his sixtieth.
And that's why he was sitting in a hotel room in Miami Gardens, a short taxi ride away from the Hard Rock Stadium. Tomorrow was the day. He checked his ticket for the forty third time. Miami Dolphins versus New York Jets, 1:00PM on November 24, 2026. His ticket. To finally see the Fins after a four decade period of anticipation. He wished his dad was here. He wished Claire was here. He wondered if Dan Marino would turn up.
Too early to sleep yet so he turned on the TV. Local news. There was a storm warning. Storm Georgina had veered slightly from it's expected path and was now headed straight for Miami. Everyone was advised to stay indoors for the next forty eight hours, and the Mayor of Miami had ordered all sports and cultural events cancelled for that period.
Pete looked at his ticket.
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