Can bet your bottom penny every drunk or degenerate you see was once a starry-eyed overachiever dreamer with fire in his chest. Straight A’s, accolades, win championship types. It’s fate’s favorite prey to beat the life out of. Very slow. One disappointment at a time. Till they realize that nothing is guaranteed but nothingness.
The biggest optimists tho were are always born in the mud. They rose from it. Built castles outta dirt. They’re still naked but everything they have built is made of black matter. They can’t lose anything.