Now and Then- Fight Night

Everyone was there. If they weren’t, they were watching, somewhere. All eyes were on him. He didn’t know why; neither did they. They just were. Chanting and screaming. The stranger’s hands tickle parts of his lean body as she conducts her tests. A twitch here and there as a natural reflex to her constant muscle manipulation and pressure administration. “Stand here please”, “hold this please”, she said in a voice that soothed his ears and prevented his trembling, all whist making measurements and recording information. She smelled nice. It was all to document his fitness level. It was also to ensure he hadn’t taken any drugs that could affect his performance. That was written down to later be sent in a sealed envelope to the W.A.D.A (Word Anti-Doping Agency), the real place that actually determines whether you won or not. I know this because he knows this.

Slowly, he is realising what’s about to happen. The air conditioned atmosphere dried his eyes; each foot laying a gentle kiss upon the ground, while he tightens the fabric around his knuckle one last time. The beads of sweat having a competition of their own, seeing who could fall the fastest. Into the eight cornered hell where he’l see if the prior weeks were a waste or not. The calluses that still hadn’t healed gave him a healthy dose of reality as he stepped. Dopamine wasn’t something he was lacking. The shield goes in the mouth.

Aroma of leather in the air, doused in relentless effort. A hundred names given to the smell of him, none of them pleasant. He wonders why he keeps doing this, then remembers he doesn’t care and that to stop and think about it would be a mistake in itself.

Stopping is reminiscent of waking up from a dream. The very physical feeling of being tossed back into reality; you must pick up your sister from school, and on the way you have to visit the bank. The breeze that complements his moist skin levels out his thinking and assures him there is enough time. No longer was the sound of bodies hitting the floor and clenched fists cracking through the air as they flowed.