Once upon a time, a group of friends was graduating from school. They sat together during lunch, talking about their ambitions.

Ralph, who was exceptional at Physics and whose teacher believed he would be a scientist, finished his cheese-topped cheese and bacon sandwich while he unwrapped a chocolate bar. "I want to be an athlete," he said, spitting crumbs. "Mum says I can be whatever I want to be. I'll win gold in the one hundred metres."

"And I," said Jenny, an award-winning tennis player with a very tiny voice, "will be a pop star. If I can dream it, I can do it."

They both turned to Stephen, who'd been listening to his friends thoughtfully.

He shrugged. "I'll try a few things to see what I'm good at, and decide from there. I like writing, so there's that."

"You have no drive," said Jenny. "You'll never succeed like that." Ralph nodded his agreement, saluting the others with a sticky doughnut.


*****


Ten years later, Stephen looked for his old friends at their high school reunion, excited to tell them about his new screenplay, which he'd developed while working a normal office day job to pay the bills. His wife was so proud!

"Oh no," said the receptionist when he asked. "Ralph fell into a fit of depression when he couldn't qualify for any running tournaments. He died of a burger overdose without a penny to his name."

"And Jenny?"

"She's not here because it's karaoke night down at the Queen's Biscuit. She never misses it."

Dispirited, Stephen decided to go home and start work on a sequel to his screenplay.

And the moral of the story is; enjoy your gifts, because sometimes a small dream is better than a massive delusion.