Hope and Nightmares

                Reynaldo was a boxer that called it quits.  He was someone with potential but that potential never materialized. He was winning most of his fights but one fight hurt him financially. It was the fight he lost due to a knock out and it was a title fight. His promoters withdraw. His sponsors are not supportive. His luck went downhill from that point. Soon he became a homeless man living in the allys of Brooklyn.

                He lived in a box as his house. His situation was always the same until a man in a black car drove next to him.  The man came out of the car, dressed properly but with a hood that covers his face.  Reynaldo can’t see the man’s face. The stranger pulls out a bag with $20,000.00 inside.

The stranger said “You can have this but you must fight in my gym“

Reynaldo remarked “What’s the catch, No one just hands 20 grand just to fight”

“There is no catch” the stranger said

“There has to be one, what happens if I lose to the fight? Will I get no money? You will put me in more misery than I could even bare if I lose. I will be in pain in this same box with not even a bloody first aid kit nearby”

“Win or lose you can have this 20k all for yourself but you must fight under my name”

“Why should I trust you?”

“You don’t need to trust me, you have no choice, Stay here and live in a box or fight with the chance of earning something. 

“Why pick me? I don’t think I am in condition and skipping meals have left me skinnier than a twig.” Asked Reynaldo.

“You will know soon enough” said the stranger.

                The next day Reynaldo came to the gym. Only one was in there and it was the stranger. The stranger still wears the hood that covers his face. He saw the hooded man standing at the corner about to hand him a pair of gloves.

“Ok so who is the one that I will fight?

“Me”

“You? Is this some revenge that you want from me?”

“Not revenge but I need to know if you are still good for a fight”

“And who will be the referee? “ Reynaldo asked

“No one will referee us I just want to test your skills.” replied the stranger

“What is the purpose of this fight?” he asked the stranger

“Like I said I want to test your skills, I can offer you redemption in a way you never expect,. Are you tired of living in that smelly box?”

                He realized that the stranger may be offering a comeback. And this comeback might change his life. There is a chance he will no longer live in a box in an alley. A chance he will no longer have to scavenge food in the trash.  He now have a chance to live properly again. 

                 He wore his hand wraps with care and the stranger assisted him with the gloves. He wore a mouth piece given to him by the hooded man and he was handed a head guard.          The hooded man never took of the hood and never wore a mouthpiece, just hand wraps and gloves.

                They meet in the middle of the ring and he gave his first jab. The jab missed the stranger as the stranger sidestepped. The stranger countered with a hook that hit him hard. He recovered and tried to give the stranger a jab/straight combination but the stranger keeps dodging Reynaldo’s punches. All the blows the stranger gave hit Reynaldo in the face while all the punches Reynaldo released never lands.  The punches the stranger gave were solid but controlled and Reynaldo realized the stranger was toying with him.

                He was getting tired and the stranger noticed this. The hooded stranger decided not to hold back anymore. The stranger gave a hook that shook Reynaldo off his feet and he kissed the canvass.  Reynaldo took a lot of time getting up. He looked up the stranger and replied 

“You’ve beaten me now can I get my money?”

“ Are you giving up?  I know you still have some more to give.” Replied the stranger

“You promised me my 20 grand to fight and now you have it. I lost. What more do you want from me?”

“ You barely even made me sweat and you call that a fight? You have more in you that you even realized. You’re not getting this money until you show me what you’ve got.”

                Reynaldo became furious. He was cheated of money and that made him get up and unleash a flurry of blows to the stranger . The stranger just dodges every hit and nothing landed. However one blow connected and it removed the hood. He now saw the man’s face.

                He saw a face that he was familiar with.  He saw a set of eyes that was his own. He saw  what few men see. He saw himself …

“Who are you?” Reynaldo asked

“I am you.  I am another version of you.”

“How can you be me?”

“I am the man you always wanted to be. All those years you wanted to be someone made me real.”

                Reynaldo realized that this man is truly him and a bad feeling of regret started to hit. He know this is the man he can become if he avoided drugs, prostitutes and alcohol. This Reynaldo that stans before him was not another Reynaldo in the future nor his past. It was the Reynaldo that can exist in the present.

“YOU!  YOU DO NOT EXIST!!!”  He screamed

“But I do exist.  I stand her before you.”  replied his counterpart.

“YOU’RE NOT HERE. YOU CANNOT BE ME. I GAVE UP. I CANNOT HAVE THE THINGS YOU HAVE. “

“Its never about that the things that you may have. What I have is will to stand up. I can assure you I am you but you are not me. I really do exist but I am you that never gave up. You gave up when you lost that title fight.  I on the other hand is the part you that persisted”

                Reynaldo was now sobbing in the corner as his counterpart look at him with pity. The counterpart approached him and said

“Are you tired of this crap where you scavenge your food and sleep in paper box as your shelter?”

“I hate every minute of it”

“Then stop dreaming about me and be me”

                In that instant the stranger disappeared with the Gym and nothing was there but a bag filled with $20,000.00

                Three days later Reynaldo can be found in an apartment. He rented the apartment based on the money he got from the fight.  He looked at the mirror and fixed his tie. He was getting ready for a job interview. He looked at himself and smiled.  He said “Thank you”. It was a smile that he had long forgotten.   

He lost the fight but it’s a fight that changes him. It surely was the greatest fight of his life

I dreamed of a rock that was talking to me.

“Hello” said the rock

‘Hi there” I replied. I was perplexed to see a talking rock but then again it was a dream.

The rock requested “I need you to do me a favor since you will help me in my dream”

“What dream?” I asked

“I have a dream to be part of something large. I am no insignificant rock. One day I will be great. “

“Great? Are you planning to be a part of a monument or a foundation of a building? You’re too small for that. Those pillars that you see in buildings need large stones of marbles. If you want to be a foundation of a building you will need more rocks to support a building.

“ “No. I plan on something bigger than that. You will see what I will turn into. Please throw me as far as you can. “

Being skeptical I look at the rock with question

“Why do you want me to throw you? Falling to the ground will shatter you to pieces.” I asked.

The rock pleaded “Look at me closer you can see from my side a shoot is growing out from me and that means I can give life. This is no ordinary plant. This tiny shoot comes from baobab tree and baobabs are large plants. Please throw me as high as you can.”

I then humored the rock to do its wishes. I threw the rock but it did not fell. Instead it arose to the skies never slowing. It started spinning. It grew larger and larger until it turned into a planet. Somewhere in its surface lies a lone sapling of a tree.

I dreamt of a rock but it was not my dream.

               He chance upon an old misery. Old lady in the desert city is near the end of her life.  She lived near the edge of town since her social stature was low.

                 He hate people since they are creatures of fire as all genies do. Surely creatures of fire must be greater than the creatures of clay. For all the eternity they pretend to give favors to mortals in order to trick them to their downfall. However this Jinni wants something else. He wants to devour the woman. He wants to eat her flesh and absorb her life.

                He moved near the old lady by the hut.   “My lady I am here to grant your boon but you must trade me your memories, your past and your service.”

 The lady looked up at the tall ghostly figure and smiled.  “Please go away I am about to die.”

Baffled the Jinn asked “You are sick and about to die. Why do you turn me away? I can grant you Immortality and youth. You can even be rich while you are young again”

The old woman replied “I have lived this life and I am content, and I will die with a smile on my face. “

The Jinn was displeased

”Content? Why you can have more. All this time you’re alone. You have been an outcast and your without luxury why do you not want anything“

The woman looks at him and smiled “I have power”

                 Irritated the evil jinn said “Power?   You have no riches to control anyone, you can’t control other people and you call that power? Power by definition is the ability to control another”

                The old woman replied “Yes I have power. All these time I have ask for nothing and wanted nothing. All these years I never envied another creature. For all my simplicity I am content. I am happy with what I have.  The sheiks can’t buy me my decision and can’t control me. I am never influence with the new trends. I was never a dog that will do tricks for a treat. The fact that I am no one’s master means I can control myself. I cannot be controlled and in case you’re not aware, that is a power that no one can take away from me. “

The Jinn left her at once, never to return. ..

As I swing the ax, her head rolled down to the basket. My next step is to hold her head to the crowd but when I look in the basket she was smiling at me. I muster all my courage to pick her head up and hold it up but as I lift her temple she turned her gaze towards me. Before I was able to react, she said “I will do the same thing to you in hell”

Excerpt from Collected Nightmares

I stalk the lady in red. She turned to the corner of the alley and I gave chase. At last she is now in a dead end alley and all I have to do is trust my knife to her belly.

When I stab her, no blood came out. I opened her wound to find the kidney but all I found were maggots. They crawl up my arm like flame spreading on dry wood. The maggots reached to my ears, nostrils, eyes and mouth. I got engulfed in a swarm of maggots devouring me as they do. From afar I could hear their squirms forming a voice.

 The voice said “It’s your turn ripper. It’s your turn”

  Excerpt from Collected Nightmares

My eyes are closed but I was aware. They placed me on a table and lay me naked. They wash my body with a detergent I never used before. Someone took a something sharp and cut my belly open. They took some parts inside me. I could hear weeping from across the room and it was my wife. I wanted to scream to her but I can’t. I wanted to say I am still alive but I was not. At last they suit me up with the last thing I was going to wear. They now placed me in a coffin.

In my wake I could see the visitors. Some of the visitors are people that are dear to me while others are pretending they know me. This went for a week and finally it was time.

They now covered my coffin while I could hear the mourners crying. My box is now pitch black and the sounds of cries are now muffled. I am now here for all of eternity and I wonder what happens now.

Excerpt from Collected Nightmares