Friends(4)

"Well, I was thinking about how to make fun of your skill in playing poker, but…"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Hold on. Let me finish. I was gonna ask a serious question." Dan chuckles, "I wanted to ask…are you a lefty or righty?"

"What?"

"Yeah. Out of curiosity. Are you a righty or lefty?"

"Why…Are you asking this?" Matt wonders.

"Just…Something Josh and I talked about today."

"Right. Why?" Matt stares at his cards and replies.

"Nothing." Dan shakes his head. "I wonder…That…You bat in the right box, and you eat and write with your right hand but…Why do you throw with your left arm? I've never seen someone like you before." Dan asks.

Matt glances at Dan, "Oh, that? It's not a big deal." he shrugs, "I can't throw with my right arm, so I use my left arm."

"You what?" Dan wasn't expecting the answer, "Could you say it again?"

"Uh…I don't understand which part you didn't get. I can't throw with my right arm, so I use my left arm."

"Wait. What happened to you?" asks Josh.

Matt sighs, "Ok…You really wanna know?" Dan and Josh both nod. "Fine." says Matt, "I had a car accident when I was a kid. The doctor said I would never be able to play baseball again cuz my right shoulder was a goner." Josh and Dan stare at him and can't believe what they heard. Matt sees their reaction and laughs. "What?? Come on. Why are you two so surprised? It's nothing."

"It's nothing? What are you talking about? It's big!!" Dan says. He turns to Josh. Both of them don't know why Matt can act like losing his right arm was a small thing. Matt laughs because the reaction on their faces is funny to him.

"Why so surprised? Guys?" asks Matt.

"I…Ok…Ok." Dan's doing his best to recover from the unexpected information about his friend, "You had a surgery, and it cost you your right shoulder, ok…I get it. So…How did you recover from that?"

"How?" Matt stares at Dan, "Well…Hard to explain."

"Try me." Dan looks Matt in the eyes.

"Haha. Wow, you're serious."

"I'm not kidding. What happened after that?"

"Ok…I'll tell you. Gosh, I didn't know my story would be so interesting to you two." Matt laughs. He sits straight and tells them the story after it; Matt was really depressed when it happened, but it didn't take him too long to bounce back. He realized that he would never give up baseball because he loved it so much and he also had a promise to someone who was important to him. If the right arm didn't work, then he would switch to his left arm. Baseball was his passion and everything, and he couldn't lose it.

Dan and Josh listen to Matt's story and are impressed by his passion and determination for baseball. "Wow. I don't…I don't know what to say…" Josh grunts. Dan looks at Matt and stays silent.

"It's really nothing." Matt smiles. "Come on. Let's continue playing poker." He picks up the cards and tells the other two to move on and go for one more round, "I'm gonna win this one, at least once."

Dan looks at Matt and stays silent for a moment, then he smiles, "Let's do it."

The other two are both ready for another round, Josh looks at them, "Ok. Let's do it." They play poker and talk about baseball all night. During their conversation, they all agree on one thing. They are in Taiwan together because they have the same passion and they will never let it go. They are lucky to find their passion at a very young age. Baseball gives them the chance to meet each other and become friends.