Hey folks. It's been a LONG while since I've updated my blog and for THAT, I apologize. As usual, I've been buried under work but, this time, a big reason for my prolonged absence has been my complicated, insane, movie-like personal life. I'm still trying to decide how much of it, if any, I feel comfortable sharing. I'll just say that I found an old love again, and before I had a chance to really embrace it, old, familiar issues between myself and a woman I really did love deeply caused me to end things. Sometimes you grow and evolve but, not nearly enough to rekindle old flames into anything sustainable. As the saying goes, "You shouldn't water dead flowers." Eh, I'll probably write about it in a book. Some of the highs and the lows I experienced feel as if they belong on the pages of "Time Doesn't Stop for Broken Clocks" which I plan to release for my birthday in January which makes me feel like everything that happened...actually happened for a reason. I figured out early on how to balance being a full-time dad with being a full-time author but, finding a way to manage my love-life while putting the energy I need to exert to make things work with my career has always been a challenge. I always feel like I have to choose and THAT frustrates me. Anyway, enough about me. I am going to share the opening scene from one of the books I hope to release before the end of the year. I hope you enjoy it and I'll try my best to get this blog poppin' again.
PROLOGUE
I AM A GOD
Before the bell, I am
not afraid, and then I am but, I welcome the fear because it’s that fear of
failure that keeps me sharp. There are thousands of eyes on me here in the
arena and millions more focused on me through the lenses of these video
cameras, watching intensely via pay-per-view television screens with all of
their hopes and dreams rolled up tightly in MY fists. Some of them have wagered
everything they own except their souls that I will win…again. Most of them
still hate me and pray that I will lose but didn’t have the nerve to foolishly
bet against me. Above the thunderous music booming from the arena’s sound
system, I can hear the serenade of hateful words the mob spits at me as I walk
towards the ring where a giant will fall tonight. Although he outweighs me by
at least twenty pounds and has a much longer reach, I do not fear my opponent.
He is a large man indeed but, he is ONLY skill and training, wrapped in flesh
that I will bruise and bones that I will break. He is only a student who has
studied me diligently, searching for weaknesses to exploit. No matter what he
thinks, he will find none. I will destroy him because the truth is, he is only
a man…but I am a god. Even those that hate me will roar my name, even if it’s
only to curse me when he is unconscious, face-down on the canvas and they
realize that I cannot lose. They will watch the recordings of this fight long
after I am dead. I am immortal.
I step into the ring.
I see my challenger bouncing gracefully from one foot to the other for
confidence and to settle his nerves. I stand perfectly still with my feet
planted firmly beneath me. We stare each other down and I peer into his soul
for the truth that he is trying to hide behind his eyes. He has trained hard
but still isn’t sure if he’s ready. That doubt alone lets me know that he is
not.
After the ring
announcer dramatically shouts our names and our fight records into the
microphone dangling in front of him, the referee summons us to the center of
the ring. He gives us a speech about the rules of the fight and what he expects
of us. I don’t listen. None of it matters. I am a god. Everything else that
happens feels like a dream with muffled background noise until the bell sounds.
Then I see red, everything slows down and the fight begins.
Round 7, and I’ve taken his best shot. He doesn’t know
it but he nearly broke my jaw before I opened up that cut above his eye. I
watch his cut man trying desperately to seal it up. That was his best shot, his
only chance to win and as the blood flows into his eye, he knows it. From his
corner, he can see in my eyes that I’m laughing. He doesn’t want to be knocked
out…not yet. For pride and honor, he has tried to avoid the inevitable. His
children and his woman may be watching so I’ll grant him that and let him
survive another round. I am merciful. I can finish him as soon as the next bell
rings but I’ll wait and let him have his pride before I end it. Besides, the
ravenous, ringside mob wants a good show…so I’ll toy with him. I will show them
style and flair combined with deadly skill. That’s why they love me. The smart
ones, the experts, will see that I am holding back. It will feel as if we’re
sharing a secret and they will love me for it. I feed off their energy and
become stronger. For tonight, I am their deity, their false idol to worship…but
I am not just GOOD at this. I am the BEST at this. Inside this squared circle,
I am unconquerable and unstoppable.
The 9th round is the last round. This is
where this battle comes to an end. In the 8th round I punished his
body with body blows and I’ve broken at least two of his ribs. Another shot to
his body will make him drop his hands and then I will put him out of his misery
with some of his dignity. He has fought bravely…with honor. I almost change my
mind about knocking him out until I remember his brazen bravado at the weigh-in
and all of his foolish, arrogant chatter in the media for weeks about how he
would kill me in front of my weeping family. Blasphemy!
Everything…slows…down. One crushing punch to his body followed by an
uppercut that nearly lifts him off the ground and his eyes roll back until his
pupils disappear until only the whites remain. He is broken, cast down from the
self-made pedestal he stood upon. He hits the mat, limp and lifeless. He stays
down for more than the referee’s count. He is no more and I am still
undefeated. I raise my gloves, covered in blood and bask in the glory.
From the corner of my eye, I see that my opponent is
still motionless on the canvas. His trainers are frantically trying to revive
him while a woman ringside with a baby cradled in her arms weeps hysterically
for her fallen husband. I step out of the way as EMTs rush into the ring.
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