Riley was born into a good family. Later on, in his young adulthood, he would try to poke holes into how he was raised. Still, nobody gave his sentiments the validation because everyone knew he had a great childhood and adolescence. Even he had to admit in his own heart - as he grew in age - that he did in fact have it really, really good. That he grew up in about as well adjusted and safe an environment as one can wish for. Riley had been told since he was young that he would do something great. He was encouraged to do whatever he wanted. He was free to choose whichever career path or life goal he wished to pursue. He was reassured that whenever he found out what that thing was, he would be great at it. He would be great at it and he would be fully supported in every which way one can imagine. Nevertheless, Riley grew up and never did anything that Riley found to be great. All through high school or college, he felt he was above average to average. For instance, he had a variety of artistic interests but never could apply himself fully to any specific one. Riley would never admit to this, but he found it odd that he wasn’t famous by the time he was 21. He was handsome, he was in plays, open mics, short student films, art galleries, talent shows, YouTube videos, etc. Still, he did nothing that was attention-grabbing or noteworthy in the eyes of Riley. Riley began to feel the pressure of time. Relationships and routines were beginning to cement themselves. Riley started seeing everything in his life come into focus and it didn’t match his desires. It didn’t match the big promise he had envisioned receiving. Remember the whole poking holes in the childhood part earlier? He started doing some of that to validate his own emotions. So what did Riley do next? He made big, huge, giant changes. He dropped the job. He dropped the friends. He dropped the girl. He dropped the zip code. Hell, he even dropped the haircut. He said he was sick of everyone acting so normal and not being themselves. He said he was going to apply himself to the arts - for real this time. So Riley applied himself to inconsistently creating art that looked like art. He made comments to the world about how he was exploring this new space or thinking about taking up this new methodology. Riley liked the feeling of looking as if he was exploring all the crevices of the artistic world. He liked the idea that people must’ve had of him in their heads. The deep and expansive artist. It made him feel deep and expansive when it was all happening. People supported him, were there for him, gave him the same care they always did. He felt this big red balloon inside of him finally grow. It felt so right. Some time went by and the balloon remained well-fed. It wasn’t until deep into the winter that Riley noticed that something or someone was letting the air out of his big balloon at night. It was as if only at night was he punctured by the realization that he really had nothing to say. At least nothing that spoke to the human emotions which are the cornerstones of artistic expression. The balloon would deflate badly at night. Still, he kept at it and the air kept getting pumped in during the day and taken out at night by this dodgy nightcrawler. One day, he said that he felt as if his biggest, most important piece of art would be created soon. He said that he had empowering promises to keep. He said that he was going through a transformative spiritual change. He said that he was growing into something bigger than anyone could ever imagine. He said that he was going to blow everyone away with how special, and unique whatever the thing he was creating was. The balloon grew for 3 whole days and three whole nights. Finally, Riley thought it was time. It was time to bring his highly anticipated piece to life for the world to see. He still hadn’t created it but he had to go big or go home. It had to happen now. He had to just go for it. He said it like that when it happened. He said he was living his truth and that he was happy and that everyone should be happy for him. That the details and the timeline and the actions didn’t matter because, at the end of it all, the people in his life would have to love him for it. So he went for it. He went for it big. He drank it all in for about 3 seconds then...pop. Someone popped his stupid fucking balloon. Broad daylight.