Character description: James is a UFC champion that didn’t take a deal he was given by some powerful people to take a fall in a fight and ended up in the middle of the Mojave Desert barely alive. His biggest challenge yet is to survive the elements. He has never faced an opponent like this before.
Opus I
I never heard a liar sincerely apologize for his actions when confronted with his bullshit. It’s always the same ole song and dance. Like when a father beats his son to teach him a lesson and then explains why he beat him after.. because I love u son.
The sweat dripping down my face enhances a heightened sense of madness as the heat has taken its toll and I came up a few cents short. The balance is ongoing. Remain calm or let the fertility of frustration take control. The mountains act as bullies. Repeating the same line of I told you so.
Destined to fail or just ketch a lucky break. A lucky break. It has avoided me like a distant cousin. I need water and I need it fast. Someone once told me I would be a great composer, but I couldn’t play myself out of this nightmare. The desert.
The only arrangement I saw getting produced was one part coyote and one part of human flesh.
Keep moving. Don’t die. Don’t give up.
Keep moving. Don’t die. Don’t give up.
Keep moving. Don’t die. Don’t give up.
My memory started to drift as the desert sand lay abound. I thought about it when I was a kid. I thought about her. Am I the villain of my own story I wondered…
Goddam it’s hot. Relentless beams of death that bake the flesh of my will.
I am a turkey cooked, well done, please. It seems like only yesterday I was toasting to a future of hope. Now I feel like someone crossed their fingers as I made that toast. Haters.
Who was it?
I am the only shade from the light that I see. A path that conquers me. I follow my shadow drunk with delusion. Death only waits till my legs break. I have come to this conclusion.
A road. I need a road. Everything I ingested the day before has dissolved. My thoughts are the only fuel now that carries me. One step at a time. If I make it tonight I will definitely die. I wish I could see Neon City. As much as I hated her, I needed her now more than anything. God, please help me!
Famous last words. Trust me it’s a sure thing. Spoken like a true asshole. Who am I to be trusted? My credit stinks. Why the fuck did I say that?! There comes a point in time where every man must admit when they are wrong. And my friend I have sinned. A lot.
Sometimes you don’t know what you got until it’s gone.
All I wanted was to find a road. A trail. Fuck anything man-made. Desperation has taken solace in the salt I tasted from my upper lip. Conversations with myself kept the distance I traveled seem like it hasn’t taken place. This whole concept of who was right or who was wrong played out between two men struggling to come to grips with the inevitable. Death.
I say two men, but it felt like a jury of people ready to convict me. Really it was I losing touch with reality. I knew it wouldn’t be long before my eyes started seeing things. I wished for a mirage. I wished. At least I would have something to look forward to.
If I had wings I would fly let me contemplate. I am not the source of food those vultures want to peck at. Poison be the dressing in which my blood is laced.
Dare tempt to come close. I will snap its neck and feed off the bone and become one with my advisory. I am growing tired and impatient. Even the wind has forgotten my name. All I can hear is my footsteps slush against the sand, each one heavier than the next. Justice played a hand in this. Don’t lose focus. Don’t give up.
Any sign of survival? No, nada, nothing.
Just has time was playing a twisted game of how long will he last. I saw her standing by a pool. A crystal clear vision of freedom. I had a slight fear of letting her down before, but this time I was gonna make things right.
This time things would be different.
I remember I was a man. A great strong man. A beast. They called me brother. They feared the bone-crunching force behind my fists of rage. Even a sharp glance could make the fair piss their pants. I never intended for my victims to smile gracefully, especially after I knocked every tooth from their wondering jaw.
Medics respected the fact that I always wanted to revive my opponents after they fell asleep upon my feet, but really I just wanted a continuous breath to flow, weary and steady of the punishment I intended to inflict. The mat lay a ring of hell to pay if you dared to step inside my prison.
I was a champion. A ruthless murderer of man’s dreams.
Grind the teeth, grunt, and spit.
Who shall take? Who will quit?
The cage in which I devoted my life and the reason for my anger. Justice. I knew the odds were always stacked against them when it came time for role call. Can you hear it? Echoing from the hall that leads to the valley of hate.
Destroyer! Destroyer! Destroyer!
Spoken from men in many languages. The chant of thousands waiting for my arrival. Wrap my fist tight, tighter. Even the air in which I box bows to the speed in which my hand delivers. Pain. I do not fear death. Death has copped a deal and the winner takes all. I am the destroyer. The one you fear and call brother.
Brother… BROTHER!!!
Don’t you remember?
I am your brother.
How many times I have spit water from my mouth during a fight. Curse the day I’d be stranded in a desert with regret. Water. I wish I could have that bucket of spit to quench my thirst. I will soon submit and fall from a dry tongue that has mocked and slandered his opponents for too long. Regret.
Pride has betrayed me. I am not invincible. Justice has brought me to this desert against my will because of a broken arraignment. I am too weak for anger.
I want revenge! Water. Revenge… Water.
I cannot stand and walk straight anymore. Please help me, God! I am not in control. Rubber gels have penetrated my thighs, knee, and ankles. I am going down, hard and fast. Forgive me!!
QUICKLY a sharp pinch has infused a PAINFUL sensation of consciousness, OUCH! Frustration is instantly modified into tears, but it has awakened me briefly. How can I produce these tears? A drop that stimulates the taste of the tongue, but dissolves too soon to savor. What the hell bit me.
It appears I have fallen into a cactus tree. A cactus tree?
