Impotent (adjective): powerless; lacking strength

Not a single word of “congratulations.”

Not on any college admission letter. Not from any friend or family member during the graduation ceremony. The closest thing to a blessing for him were the enormous posters hanging around school and the principal’s speech before caps were tossed; the beautiful words addressed all of the senior class but mocked him ironically as an individual.

When he returned home on the final day of high school, he slowly made his way up to his bedroom and shut the door, exactly as he’d done every other day. Among the ocean of failed exam papers and half-completed homework assignments, the young man’s body sank down dejectedly like a wrecked ship.

The air felt solid.

As he spiraled further into a whirlpool of defeat, he could only feel the growing pressure of hopelessness. Academics were never his strong suit, yet he was equally talentless in sports. Some of his classmates called themselves the jack of all trades, and some others excelled as the master of one. It would seem that a miniscule amount of people were neither; a poor, downcast merchant that had no skills to practice and no goods to offer.