Post by axelshaw on Dec 17, 2023 23:20:18 GMT -5
As he strolled deeper through the vastly long yellow brick road, things were getting worse. John Blade was to his left in the open field, talking to himself. The words he mumbled could not be translated into human speech. He knew exhaustion could cause hallucinations, but this was surreal.
Reaching out with his right hand, he tried to grip his surroundings. It was nothing but dead air and space separating him from reality and fiction. Snapping his head back as if he were being followed out of instinct. The sounds of steps were echoing behind him, giving him that ill-gotten feeling that something was there. When he saw nothing was there he let out a sigh of relief. Now, in a paranoid state of mind, he was reluctantly walking a little slower.
The skittering steps he heard had now turned into a shadowed image crawling. Who or what could this even be? He questioned himself. With the shadowed image crawling closer, the sound of ice particles crashing echoed loudly.
He blinked again, hoping it would erase the shadow from his vision. As the shadow approached, the image grew in size to scale. Whatever it was, it definitely had some weight to it. His head snapped back in the forward as his adrenaline filled his veins and pumped his heart. His heartbeat was louder as the sweat trickled down his forehead. Panting and breathing heavily, he picked up the pace at which he walked, hoping to escape the shadow that was chasing him. It seemed like no matter how fast he moved, it was just a little bit quicker.
Dropping down to both knees, he was unable to keep walking. His legs and mind had become overbearing, and his eyelids were heavy. With both knee caps pressed against the cold concrete of the yellow brick road, he pleaded endlessly.
“ Take me home NOW.
WORDS OF WISE < PROMO BREAK >
I sit here as an honest man who speaks the way I wish to speak. TPW put ink to paper to acquire my services as a professional wrestler. That's right, they paid me an undisclosed amount of money to come over and compete.
I didn't waltz my way into this organization so I could be welcomed with open arms. I didn't stroll in here so I could shake hands with other superstars and exchange pleasantries. I came here looking for a fight, and that's my sole intention.
This battle royale is nothing more than a glorified scrap match. The bits and pieces leftover that didn't make the initial card are now left to survive. You may think you have the will to survive until the cold air pierces your lungs.
BACK TO THE STORY.
Still resting on his knee caps, everything that was happening had become a whirlwind of emotions. The temples located on the side of his head were beginning to pulse, driving him up a wall. Using both hands as a grip for strength, he continued to drag himself along the yellow brick road.
In a true testament to his willingness to push himself, he inched closer and closer. He didn't begin this journey to give up halfway through just because it became tough. The sweat was beginning to burn his forehead and soak into his eyes. He left beads of sweat along the yellow brick road as he slowly shifted his body forward.
The shadow that was once cast has returned, and this time he couldn't escape it. What appeared like an arm had reached out to grab his legs as he closed his eyes. When he reopened them, the shadow was gone. A deep breath was let out into the cold air, as you could see it rising. Now shivering instead of sweating, the cold air was freezing the moisture on his clothes.
Still crawling near the end of the yellow brick road, he could see the finish line. An enclosed glass box glowed in the distance. What was inside you, you asked? Not even he knew the answer to this question, but he was going to find out.
Before he knew it, he felt an unusual and extraordinary pain shoot down the left side of his leg. Looking around the surroundings, nothing was around. On his left leg was a small gash that was momentarily bleeding, ever so slightly. Still unsure of how it happened, the salt from the sweat amplified his pain and punishment as he applied pressure to the wound to stop it from bleeding. His willpower was slowly depleting as he waged on to make it to the end. Every so often, he would stop and reach out his arm, hoping he would grab whatever was at the end, but he came up empty-handed.
With little to nothing left in his gas tank, he took a moment to lay on the road effortlessly with a lack of motivation. With his chest barreling up and down with every deep breath he took, it wasn’t looking good for this mighty warrior. On the edge of giving up, he managed to limp his way back to a standing position, but the gash made it difficult. Every single step he took felt like a thousand heated blades penetrating his skin, causing him to wince. Doing his best to not apply as much pressure to his left leg, he limped forward in one last ditch effort to reach the end.
He had finally accomplished what he had set out to do, but just as he reached out to grab the glass enclosure, his hand went right through it. Was this not real? He had to ask himself several questions. He didn’t understand what was happening and was having a hard time trying to put the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together. As he kept on trying to grab the enclosed structure, he was beginning to become frustrated.
At this point, his eyes shot open, and he shifted in the bed he was sleeping in. After being confused and dizzy for what felt like hours, but only a few minutes had passed by, he took a sip of water from the nightstand. For something that felt so real, he was unsure if it was all a dream or if this was a message from a previous life.
He got off the edge of the bed and made his way into his personal bathroom, where he was now standing in front of the mirror. Touching his face, cheeks, and forehead this time, he knew this wasn’t a dream as his hands pressed against his skin. Reaching down with his right hand, he turned on the faucet as the cold water flowed from the tap. Dipping both hands inside the stream of water, he splashed his face to help jar himself awake. He wasn’t mad about the dream but certainly was disappointed, as he wanted to find out what was in the glass enclosure.
He would never find out.
Story over.
