08.25.21 | Monsters are Real

[Lochlyn Cade]

Monsters Are Real The scene opens in a dream like state playing for the viewing audience. It was a cool fall day where the leaves had just begun to change colors, floating to the ground upon the gentleness of natures breeze. He was nearly six, his hair bright red, and freckles upon his nose. The only son of a mother whose love was brazen and protective. It had been a day like many others filled with school, homework, and a few hours of play. It was nearly dark when he heard his mothers voice calling out notifying him that it was time to come home. He said his goodbyes to his friends and scurried on his way. Lochlyn Cade is shown standing in the center of an old dusty wrestling ring, a character with a hatchet printed across the center, and the ropes tapped in fading black and white tape. “Hey, Champ, it looks like we’ve been placed on the opposing sides of the ring. I’m going to venture a guess and say you’re a bit surprised by this. Me, being the lowly newbie to Norther Pro, and you the established Champion. It’s that situation that often times resembles a company placating the Champion. The appearance of competition when in reality the relative new guy is expected to lose as the Champ gets the easy night.” The dream like sequences once more begin playing. He rounded the block and made his way up the drive of the two story house. It was there, just behind the big tree in the yard, that he first saw the dark figure. His feet stopped moving, frozen in place, as he began to hear the moan that quickly grew into a ghastly scream. He was unsure of where the sound came but he knew that it was real, terrifyingly real. “I’m not that guy and Northern Pro hasn’t booked you for that kind of match, Champ. This is something entirely different, out of the norm, and you’re gonna have to throw every move in your repertoire at me. It’ll take those submissions you’ve perfected. That classic ability you’ve shown. I’m not an easy victory by any means. You may have never believed in monsters, then again, you didn’t believe that you deserved the title you carry around your waist either. Yeah, I saw that post match presser. The Champion who accepts the title and reluctantly acknowledges his reign that he never wanted in a tarnished way.” It’s with the closing of The Promethean’s words that the dream sequence plays once more. We’ve all experienced that which we cannot explain nor comprehend. His mother, years later, explained that it was him who was screaming though he didn’t remember making even the slightest of whimpers. His mother stated that nothing, or rather nobody, was there when she ran out and scooped him into her arms. “I know that you don’t believe in childish monsters nor the shadowy figures that plagued the mind of a young boy. Don’t be so naive Champ. Sometimes those eyes that lurk in the shadows, that stalk their pray, and hunt the weak; are more real than you’d imagine.” Lochlyn Cade’s arms are draped across the ropes but he steps back into the center of the ring. Slowly bringing himself down upon his knees until he’s relaxed, comfortable. “I was a child once lost in the fear of my own subconsciousness. I know the dangers that lurk in the shadows. I saw that demon though nobody else ever believed the story. I knew it was real Jay. It was very real. Much like that of the devil now at your door. This threat isn’t a perception nor a make believe story of youth.” The camera begins to shakes as it approaches the ring zooming past the ropes onto the face of Lochlyn Cade. The shadows appear to give him a grim and gloomy look but his eyes appear like pearls in the night. “You wanted to bring prestige to that belt you carry around like a security blanket. Well, Champ, that opportunity has been granted to you by the Northern Pro brass. You want to know why you’ve been booked against the new guy? It’s because I don’t require a golden affirmation. I don’t need that belt to validate what I’m capable of doing.” His weight shifts to the ball of his feet as he raises himself back into a standing position. “Champ. Sometimes there’s the monster that we deserve and the ones we hope to never encounter. You, yourself, asked for that beast and that validation. Now. I’m here.” His mother tucked him into bed that night pulling the covers up to his neck. She looked in the closet, behind the door, and under the bed. She assured him that the monster was only his imagination playing tricks upon is mind. That sometimes people create their own monsters but they can’t escape our thoughts or off the pages of a book. She kissed him on the forehead and turned out the light. “You’ve paid your pittance Champ. You represented Norther Pro on SWAT at the Anzac Cup 2021. You lost but you promoted yourself and Northern Pro. You’re the fighting Champion that goes that extra mile that you don’t have too. I’m not the kind of guy to disgrace you for a loss, those happen. I commend you for the effort Jay.” It was that night in those few quiet moments that the little boy told himself in a whisper. “Monsters aren’t real. Monsters aren’t real." It was the fighting and the screams that he heard coming from his mother that told him the truth about monsters. Not only are they real but they are human and sometimes you call them dad. “Champ, monsters are real and the greatest monster will forever be that of man. They say that the monsters we make are the monsters we deserve. I’ll see you soon.” The lights begin fading as the scene ends.

© 'The Promethean' Lochlyn Cade