That’s it! I have had it! I give up. Just given up! There is no way this comes out as a good thing. So, I give up. I give up on life. It just too hard, you win, life. You have beaten all hope and optimism out of me. This is all that’s left: a broken man. Beaten into giving up. Nothing will ever go my way. One defeat after another. There is no point in ever trying anymore. Hence, I give up. Hope is a funny thing. Without it, what are we? The human race needs hope, all of us. Hope that tomorrow will be better. Once that hope is gone, so are we. Every day it is the job of humanity to be hopeful. Depression helps no one. Hope is not a hard thing. It is the small things that provide hope. The simple smile, a kind word, or bright beautiful sunshine; that’s how the world changes. The world changes through the small unnoticed events that grow to massive improvements. Think about it. Seriously, you need to think about it. What? Me? Yes you, I know who you are. Psh, no way this dude knows who I am. Man, he is out of his mind! I know who you are; you are the reader. Now I challenge you as the reader to think of a moment in your life when you changed for the better. The change was mostly likely subtle and then one day… poof, you noticed. When did that happen? When did this change occur? Real change, good change happenes when we are not thinking or looking. When we need change in our lives, we hope.

But life is funny that way. Life can take a guy with all the hope in the world and beat him into submission. I have dreams. Real dreams that can be obtained quiet easily, but they are un-realized. No matter how much I try I am unsuccessful. They fall just out of my reach. Life has taken my hope. Disappointment is common and all I get. When I started not to long ago I had a full head of steam. Filled with optimism and hope. Bit by bit I feel apart. I have no reason for this. There was no one event in my life to take me out. Unnoticed I fell apart bit by bit. Slowly but surely my hope was taken from me. Then one day it hit me, I have none left. I feel like a Charlie Brown field goal.

Anyway this line is pretty long at the bank. For some reason in the line at the bank is when I get philosophical. Hmm… Peanut butter tastes good. Did I go to Wendy’s twice yesterday? Shoot. I think I did? Wait, I’m good, I went to the one near my work for lunch but I went to the one near my house for dinner. Two different Wendy’s, good. Now, the people that work there will not think I have a problem. That’s pretty loud…

The glass doors shattered to oblivion as the bullets went flying.

“Down on the ground! This is a hold up!” Shoot. Shoot. That guy has a gun, better listen to him. Shoot. This is the worst day this could happen. What if they kill me? I have never seen Paris. I mean I have never had the want or urge to go to France but still? If they kill me then I can’t. Besides, seeing Paris is like the thing people want to do before they die. I wonder why? My guess would be that it is beautiful. I mean, it can’t be for the company. Ha, French people are stupid. No ssh, don’t think like that. That’s mean, even if they deserve it. Whoa, they opened the bank vault.

“Out of our way!” The meanie-head with the gun shouted loudly as he was pushing people away. He had two people with him, all had guns. Why did I have to stop at Orange Julius before coming here? I have to pee so badly. If I pee my pants would they kill me? That would be a headline, “Man in bank killed because he tinkled.” My parents would be proud of that one. I could hear them now at Christmas parties when everyone is bragging about their kids. “Mine’s a doctor. Mine’s a lawyer. Ours tinkled in a bank robbery and was shot in the face.” Is everyone coming?

In walks a man in a leather trench-coat and ski mask, “This is Muenster-ous!” He bellowed. Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a wheel of cheese. The dairy product flew through the air. As it hovered over the robbers, it exploded in a fury fashion as little puff balls came raining down.

“Gerbils!” The three bank robbers scrambled as the tiny little dudes crawled all over them. The super hero turned to his utility belt, cheese sticks. With the fast fury of a ninjas throwing stars he quickly emptied the belt of its contents. As midair the solid piece and cheese stick turned hairy and latched on to the face of the gunmen.

“I can’t see!” The three screamed as the man in the trench coat slapped the guns to the ground and put cuffs on the robber’s hands. The super hero stood triumphantly over his arrest,

“You guys need to put all this Cheddar back, because you are dealing with the big cheese.”

“Boo!” one of the hostages said.

“Well, the puns can’t all be Gouda.”

“Oh, boo!” “Stick to your day job.” "Did he just turn cheese into gerbils?” “I know you just saved our lives and whatever, but just leave. That pun was awful.” These were the murmurs of the crowd as that day, I got my hope back. Hope that one day things will turn around. Because if one man can save a group of people with a stupid power like turning cheese into gerbils then get dissed by that group of people for a misplaced pun, then maybe my life is not that bad. As he turned back to us, his parting words were,

“They're hamsters, not gerbils.” Go. Save the lives of millions. Go give hope to those who need it. Be the hero that you are… Gerbil Man.