Lightning crashes a new mother cries
Her placenta falls to the floor
The angel opens her eyes
The confusion sets in
Before the doctor can even close the door
Scene One:The confusion of life.
Off Camera
New York, New York
5 Years Ago
It was a horrible day. Not just in emotional feeling but also the weather and mood. The black clouds hungover and opened up pouring rain. Black clad figures stood around an open grave. The casket sitting above it ready to be lowered as the priest read his words slowly from his gilded bible. But the words all drowned out. They were hollow, empty in meaning and impact. The rain got a little harder as he finished, a black umbrella over his head to protect the precious religious text.
He felt numb. Like something was stolen from inside his body, ripped out and left bare. A gaping hole. His bright brown eyes looking over the casket as it started to set in, he was never going to see her again. He was never going to hear her laugh, see her smile. Feel her give him a hug. That had all ended. It was never going to return. The emotion welled up, a tear slid down his cheek as the sadness turned to anger. The anger swelled and turned in his stomach filling the gaping hole If the love he had was gone and empty he had now found something to fill it.
His hands closed into fists, almost everyone else had started to separate and walk away as the casket lowered into the ground. Then, a hand clasped down on his shoulder. ”Man, I’m so sorry Landon….” Austin sighed as his hand kept on his friends shoulder. Landon McMillian had trained with Austin, they had attended the same private school and had become close friends. But now, they stood together and watched as Landon’s sister Emily was put to peace.
”I just, I don’t get it. She was so happy when I last saw her, why did she do this?” His voice trembled as the anger seemed to wash away and give way to something else. It wasn’t sadness, it was guilt. Austin knew the pitch and tone very well. He turned and looked at his own sister Amy, she looked at the casket getting lowered and leaned down to throw a red rose into the grave. ”If she’d only talked to me...I could have stopped her…”
”No...no you couldn’t” Landon slowly turned to look up at Austin who shook his head with a deep sigh. ”You said it yourself. Last time you talked to her. She sounded happy. She hid it from you. She wanted to be set free. You can’t blame yourself.” He shot a small smile at his friend. Landon gave a nod and even though it wasn’t much, even though Austin could still see the guilt in his eyes it had gone down from where it was. Austin had been able to alleviate some of his pain. The two men embraced and Landon turned to talk to his mother. Austin signalled to Amy as the two walked back towards the car.
”Thanks for being here. Emily didn’t have many friends, she was really introverted. You helped show support” They moved between different tombstones and statues getting to the road heading towards the small parking lot out the front of the cemetery.
Amy took a deep breath and stopped as they walked through the gate.”Did you ever think you’d be doing this?...burying me?”
The question caught Austin off guard. He stopped dead in his tracks and slid his hands into his pockets while raising his eyebrows. ”Honestly?. I don’t know. There was a time, just after I got you out of the hospital. I was afraid.” His voice lowered as he stepped closer to his sister. ”You were so hurt and shut off. I was scared that I would wake up to find you dead in your room…”
”I thought about it…”
The moment of honesty shook him, Amy swallowed hard and continued. ”You got me out, but the world was weird to me, different. I sat in there and thought about just, ending it. But you were there. Always there.” She smiled and leaned forward hugging her younger brother, squeezing him tight. Austin let out a sigh of relief and gave her a pat on the back.
”You don’t have to feel that way anymore. You have a family Amy.” She smiled and gave him a nod as they both started moving towards the car, and the sun peeked through the dark clouds.
A good run.
On Camera
Aruba
Present Day
”Well, it’s never good being proved wrong or being beaten”
Austin's voice boomed out, his long hair was wet with sweat and clung to his exposed shoulders and down his sleeveless tapout shirt.
”Vinnie did just that, he proved me wrong, he stopped me from reaching a goal and honestly. I applaud him for it. He brought the fight to me, he stood in the ring and he showed that he belonged and that he deserves to be the SCW world champion. He deserves to be talked about in the same breath as myself, as Fenris, as Kristopher Ryans. He deserves to be counted in that world title class. In that area of greatness. See I walked into that match knowing that Vinnie COULD beat me. But I had confidence in myself and my abilities, in the end though Vinnie showed that the strengths he had and his gameplan were on point and he was more than good enough to be the champion.”
“But winning a title and keeping it are two different things.”
“And I know, I know that SCW has a habit of having a former champion get a rematch. Fenris gave his up because he wanted to go after Caleb Storms, it was a noble thing to do because I think he had nothing left to prove. But me?. I want to wave my right to an immediate rematch for another reason. I want to earn my way back up to it. I want to prove to the roster that I deserve the shot by going through the entire company.”
“I want to reclimb the ladder back to the top…”
“You know, the exact opposite of people like Jake Raab.
“So before I get into this promo and talk about my upcoming match and my opponent Ty West I want to take this time to really truly congratulate Vinnie. See, I was never unbeatable, that myth is just that, a myth. No one is unbeatable. Fenris wasn’t, I’m not, hell Kristopher Ryans wasn’t. No one is. But, I was a hell of a champion. I proved it each time I stepped in that ring. I proved it by not just who I beat and how but also how I carried myself. And I will continue to do that until I earn the right to call myself a champion once again...but Vinnie...you are the best in the world. No one can take it from you. No one can say otherwise until they beat you for that title…”
“Congratulations brother..”
Austin smiles wide, almost as if he’s happy someone was able to beat him.
”But this week, as we get to Climax control 246 I am faced with someone who, well I seem to be forever entangled with. Ty West. And you know those “fight forever” chants that happen at smaller shows?. I have a feeling that is myself and Mr West. And it’s honestly been interesting watching Ty climb back up to the world title scene. And trust me, I knew it would happen. See Ty is a champion…”
“He might not have had the world title to be able to physically prove it. But the guy has heart and the guy never stops, he never backs down and a few weeks ago on the very same show I lost my title on, Ty was victorious in beating Jake Raab to secure himself a title shot against the champion. So the eventuality of all that leads me to do two things.
“The first is easy. Congratulations Ty. I’m proud of you and I’m happy for you. You never let anything people have said stop you or impact you as a person and you showed that heart and soul in beating Jake. And I took pleasure in seeing it and when you hand was raised, I smiled, I applauded and I felt proud to know that someone as talented and strong willed as you was lining up to go for the world title.”
His smile faded, a sigh came up as he seemed to look a little uneasy.
”The other thing I need to do is apologise. I’m sorry Ty. I’m sorry I couldn’t defend the title against Vinnie so you and I could fight for it again. I’m sorry that I couldn’t stay on the path. See, I know you’re looking forward to this match, I know you would love to beat me but I also know that wrestling me for the SCW world title would have meant more to you than facing Vinnie. Cause we’ve done it before. One on one you weren’t able to beat me.”
“And that would have meant so much more.”
“But now you have a chance. A chance to beat me and keep momentum going towards the title shot you have and the chance to finally become champion and reach the top of the mountain. For you this is a moment in time to be that guy, to beat me and go on to Vinnie. For me though?. Well for me this is a chance to prove I’m still one of the best and to show that I will climb my way back to the title. And what better way than beating the number one contender and a man who despite not holding the world title is still right up there…”
“You know I respect you Ty, that won’t stop, I see you in the ring and I know how good you are. I’m looking forward to us facing again…..and I wish you luck.”
