since i was young,
people would always ask:
"what do you want to be when you grow up?',
a natural ice breaker,
a question all grown ups asked children.
it seemed every time i was asked that question,
i came up with a new response.
soon enough,
grown ups turned into peers,
and the more times I was asked the question,
it appeared the more significant it became.
and it evolved into:
"what do you want to be?"
then:
"where are you going to go?"
and
"what are you going to study?"
sometimes, i sit and think,
maybe there was a countdown,
of the number of times people would ask me that question,
and as the number got closer to zero,
the questions seemed to hold more pressure.
and eventually, that number would hit zero,
and I would have to come up with an absolute, definitive answer.
that same question,
repeated over and over,
is like a ticking time bomb.