Post by shawnwarstein on Nov 5, 2022 22:48:59 GMT -5
**Bzzzzz**
**Bzzzzz**
SLAM!
“Ugh.” Shawn slowly opens his eyes. As he rolls over to his side he gently rocks Kasey. He leans in and gives her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to need a new phone.”
“Again?” Even half awake the tone within Kasey’s voice was one of disbelief.
“Yeah. What can I say? I’m not a morning person.” Shawn rolls back over onto his back and then sits up quickly. “Oh shit!”
“Whaaa—-” Kasey didn’t even finish the one word question before she was interrupted.
“Them.” Shawn points directly at the camera. “I totally forgot they were here.”
“Shawn.” A look of dread pours over Kasey’s face. “It’s very important that you don’t lie to me right now.” Kasey takes a deep breath. “How long have they been here… exactly.”
“You mean were they here when we…” Shawn raises his eyebrows a few times.
“Yes. Exactly.”
“Oh they just got here…” Shawn pauses for a moment and counts on his fingers for a second. “Yeah, the math adds up. They didn’t get any of that.”
“Great. Now if they could get out of the room now. Neither of us are ready to have guests.” Kasey points towards the door.
Shawn lifts up the blanket and checks under then turns his head to get a peek at Kasey. “Yeah. Y’all should get out of here.”
The camera suddenly goes black. Slowly the words
“Dawn Of The Last Day: 12 Hours Remain”
Fill the screen and fade out. The sounds of a treadmill whirring and the pitter patter of running shoes on the mat. It’s almost melodic. A hip hop beat is heard slightly in the background. As the camera comes back into focus it shows the feet running. Then as the camera slowly pans out you can see Shawn sitting in a chair with a video playing on YouTube.
“Gotcha.” Shawn smiles. “Did you do the Majora’s Mask thing?” A slight bit of mumbling is heard off camera. “Dope. Okay so when it comes to getting ready for a match, any match, you need to stay focused. You can’t go blowing all of your energy this early in the morning. All of these meat heads are wasting all this time and energy this early, it’s pointless. Sure they say they feel good afterwards, but seriously think about it. Have you ever once on your life felt good after working out? No. If you’ve worked out hard enough you should hate yourself. If you can move without looking like an eighty year old Alzheimer's patient, then you didn’t work out. You galvanted around the gym for instagram pics. Pathetic.”
The camera swings around and despite the appearance Shawn and Kasey are in fact inside of a gym. Kasey however isn’t taking the same lazidical approach as Shawn. She runs on the treadmill and scoffs at Shawn. Shawn stretches and yawns as he stands up from his chair and walks up behind the machine Kasey is using. “Yeah but sometimes it’s necessary to get the blood flowing.”
“I guess, but you saw first hand the blood flow first ha….”
As Shawn gets ready to deliver the poorly planned punchline the treadmill stops and Kasey smoothly rides the machine to the ground. Standing face to face with Shawn, albeit looking up at him, she then pokes him in the chest. “Not the time. I’m just saying you’ve been on a bit of a downward trajectory lately. Maybe…”
“What’s that?” Shawn raises an eyebrow and tilts his head like a confused dog.
“What’s what?”
“A downward trajectory.” Shawn pauses and then slowly nods. “Right. You mean all the losses that I’ve been taking lately, right? It’s that isn’t it? I knew it. Well dear, you know just as well as I do that everyone in the industry goes through times like this. There is no such thing as a person who never loses. The people like that are more flawed and ripe to be exposed. It’s the brutally arrogant that think they can coast through life and have everything handed to them. Those people, those are the ones that will fall and boy they will fall fast.”
“But sweetheart, you’re clearly not working out.” Kasey said with an I gotcha look on her face.
“That or I’ve been at this for two decades and I know my body better than anyone. Well maybe you’re in the running, but I know my limitations. I know what this body can go through and what this body doesn’t need is constant work. It needs its rest, and plenty of cardio. Also thank you Kasey, you played your part perfectly.”
“It wasn’t hard, you wrote it out on my hand in sharpie.” Kasey holds up her hand that has a smeared black ink blot in the center.
“And I told you no one would notice it with all of your tattoos.” Shawn grabs ahold of her hand with his and grasps it firmly. “Now are you done working out? It’s time for lunch.”
The camera fades.
**The Last Day: 2 hours remaining**
Shawn’s eyes shoot open. He sits up from the leather couch. We are now in a private locker room. Shawn is already in his wrestling gear, which if you know Shawn you know it’s a tee shirt and Adidas pants. A pair of crisp Jordan’s and both hands taped up. Kasey is on the other side of the couch playing her Nintendo Switch.
Kasey doesn’t come to many of Shawn’s matches anymore, she has her own things going on, but on the rare occasions that she is there it’s a blessing for Shawn. He lets out a cough and clears his throat.
“One thing I like to do before all of my matches is get in a nice quick car nap.” He rubs the inside of his eyes.
“If you think four hours is a quick cat nap, then yeah.” Kasey chimes in without looking up from her game.
“Come on, you know there isn’t anything about me that is quick.” Shawn gives her a wink and she just shakes her head. “But fine. I took a nice nap. I like naps, sue me.”
“Sorry but that would be a frivolous lawsuit.” She once again doesn’t look up. “But given your own admission on tape, I think I could win.”
“Nah. Not with the teams of lawyers I’d assemble to crush your hopes and dreams.” He slams his fist into his palm and grinds them together.
“Really feeling the love. You’d think after over a year together it would begin to dwindle, but not with you. Always about crushing people's hopes.”
“Come for my money and that’s what is going to happen.” Shawn replied snidely.
“Are you forgetting the time when Inwas the one with the job and I was your sugar momma?” Kasey then calmly sets the game console down. She turns towards Shawn while crossing her legs. “Or are we going to just forget that?”
“I—- I love you?”
“Mmhmm.” She playfully smacks him on the shoulder. “One of these days that isn’t going to work.”
“Well until that day comes, I’m going to keep using it.” Shawn then looks at the camera. “But seriously. I could’ve gone on a mythical journey of self discovery. I could’ve put up a false front about what I do to get ready for a match. And just think for a moment how that would’ve played out. It would’ve been disingenuous at best and a pure mockery at worst.”
Shawn stands up from the couch.
“And that’s the real point I’m trying to show. That’s what I want everyone to see when they go back and watch this. This wasn’t a rose tinted look at a day in my life. Things are how they always are. Kasey and I wake up in the morning after a night of only god knows what. She works out and I watch her.”
“Because one of us clearly cares more about this relationship.” Kasey half jokingly says.
“Please. You know that I would take a bullet for you. I mean not like one to the chest or head, but definitely a meaty section. Like my butt or shoulder.” Shawn smiles at Kasey before turning his attention back to the camera. “Some people won’t get our relationship and that’s fine. I love her more today than I did yesterday. She gives me hope. She gives me my motivation. She is my North Star. When I’m with her, I am just Shawn. I don’t have to pretend to be anything that I’m not.”
“The day of a match is just like any other day of the week for me. There isn’t some special ritual that I go through. I don’t have to get myself psyched up to go out there and do my fucking job. If you have to do that, then you’ve already lost. You’ve tripped over the first hurdle and there is no coming back from that when I’m on the other side of the ring. The truly greats of this industry know that. They know what to do to prepare, and everyone's different. Mine has been the same for so long that I couldn’t lie to you about what it is if I wanted to.”
Kasey hops up and grabs Shawn’s hand. “It’s time. They need you at gorilla.”
Shawn lifts her hand to his lips and kisses the back of her hand. “Now if you would please excuse me. I’ve got to go out there and reset the clock.”
Shawn walks out of the room and it shuts behind him, before he bursts back in like Cosmo Kramer. “You understood that reference right? It’s the resetting of the clock like in Majora’s Mask….”
“Yes babe. I’m sure they understood it but you coming in here and explaining it doesn’t really help as much as you think it does.” Kasey sighs and face palms.
“Oh. That’s mah bad. Y’all will just edit that out then right?” Shawn slowly backs out of the door and it shuts again. This time the door creaks open slowly and he pops his head in. “Right?”
As the camera fades to black.
**Bzzzzz**
SLAM!
“Ugh.” Shawn slowly opens his eyes. As he rolls over to his side he gently rocks Kasey. He leans in and gives her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to need a new phone.”
“Again?” Even half awake the tone within Kasey’s voice was one of disbelief.
“Yeah. What can I say? I’m not a morning person.” Shawn rolls back over onto his back and then sits up quickly. “Oh shit!”
“Whaaa—-” Kasey didn’t even finish the one word question before she was interrupted.
“Them.” Shawn points directly at the camera. “I totally forgot they were here.”
“Shawn.” A look of dread pours over Kasey’s face. “It’s very important that you don’t lie to me right now.” Kasey takes a deep breath. “How long have they been here… exactly.”
“You mean were they here when we…” Shawn raises his eyebrows a few times.
“Yes. Exactly.”
“Oh they just got here…” Shawn pauses for a moment and counts on his fingers for a second. “Yeah, the math adds up. They didn’t get any of that.”
“Great. Now if they could get out of the room now. Neither of us are ready to have guests.” Kasey points towards the door.
Shawn lifts up the blanket and checks under then turns his head to get a peek at Kasey. “Yeah. Y’all should get out of here.”
The camera suddenly goes black. Slowly the words
“Dawn Of The Last Day: 12 Hours Remain”
Fill the screen and fade out. The sounds of a treadmill whirring and the pitter patter of running shoes on the mat. It’s almost melodic. A hip hop beat is heard slightly in the background. As the camera comes back into focus it shows the feet running. Then as the camera slowly pans out you can see Shawn sitting in a chair with a video playing on YouTube.
“Gotcha.” Shawn smiles. “Did you do the Majora’s Mask thing?” A slight bit of mumbling is heard off camera. “Dope. Okay so when it comes to getting ready for a match, any match, you need to stay focused. You can’t go blowing all of your energy this early in the morning. All of these meat heads are wasting all this time and energy this early, it’s pointless. Sure they say they feel good afterwards, but seriously think about it. Have you ever once on your life felt good after working out? No. If you’ve worked out hard enough you should hate yourself. If you can move without looking like an eighty year old Alzheimer's patient, then you didn’t work out. You galvanted around the gym for instagram pics. Pathetic.”
The camera swings around and despite the appearance Shawn and Kasey are in fact inside of a gym. Kasey however isn’t taking the same lazidical approach as Shawn. She runs on the treadmill and scoffs at Shawn. Shawn stretches and yawns as he stands up from his chair and walks up behind the machine Kasey is using. “Yeah but sometimes it’s necessary to get the blood flowing.”
“I guess, but you saw first hand the blood flow first ha….”
As Shawn gets ready to deliver the poorly planned punchline the treadmill stops and Kasey smoothly rides the machine to the ground. Standing face to face with Shawn, albeit looking up at him, she then pokes him in the chest. “Not the time. I’m just saying you’ve been on a bit of a downward trajectory lately. Maybe…”
“What’s that?” Shawn raises an eyebrow and tilts his head like a confused dog.
“What’s what?”
“A downward trajectory.” Shawn pauses and then slowly nods. “Right. You mean all the losses that I’ve been taking lately, right? It’s that isn’t it? I knew it. Well dear, you know just as well as I do that everyone in the industry goes through times like this. There is no such thing as a person who never loses. The people like that are more flawed and ripe to be exposed. It’s the brutally arrogant that think they can coast through life and have everything handed to them. Those people, those are the ones that will fall and boy they will fall fast.”
“But sweetheart, you’re clearly not working out.” Kasey said with an I gotcha look on her face.
“That or I’ve been at this for two decades and I know my body better than anyone. Well maybe you’re in the running, but I know my limitations. I know what this body can go through and what this body doesn’t need is constant work. It needs its rest, and plenty of cardio. Also thank you Kasey, you played your part perfectly.”
“It wasn’t hard, you wrote it out on my hand in sharpie.” Kasey holds up her hand that has a smeared black ink blot in the center.
“And I told you no one would notice it with all of your tattoos.” Shawn grabs ahold of her hand with his and grasps it firmly. “Now are you done working out? It’s time for lunch.”
The camera fades.
**The Last Day: 2 hours remaining**
Shawn’s eyes shoot open. He sits up from the leather couch. We are now in a private locker room. Shawn is already in his wrestling gear, which if you know Shawn you know it’s a tee shirt and Adidas pants. A pair of crisp Jordan’s and both hands taped up. Kasey is on the other side of the couch playing her Nintendo Switch.
Kasey doesn’t come to many of Shawn’s matches anymore, she has her own things going on, but on the rare occasions that she is there it’s a blessing for Shawn. He lets out a cough and clears his throat.
“One thing I like to do before all of my matches is get in a nice quick car nap.” He rubs the inside of his eyes.
“If you think four hours is a quick cat nap, then yeah.” Kasey chimes in without looking up from her game.
“Come on, you know there isn’t anything about me that is quick.” Shawn gives her a wink and she just shakes her head. “But fine. I took a nice nap. I like naps, sue me.”
“Sorry but that would be a frivolous lawsuit.” She once again doesn’t look up. “But given your own admission on tape, I think I could win.”
“Nah. Not with the teams of lawyers I’d assemble to crush your hopes and dreams.” He slams his fist into his palm and grinds them together.
“Really feeling the love. You’d think after over a year together it would begin to dwindle, but not with you. Always about crushing people's hopes.”
“Come for my money and that’s what is going to happen.” Shawn replied snidely.
“Are you forgetting the time when Inwas the one with the job and I was your sugar momma?” Kasey then calmly sets the game console down. She turns towards Shawn while crossing her legs. “Or are we going to just forget that?”
“I—- I love you?”
“Mmhmm.” She playfully smacks him on the shoulder. “One of these days that isn’t going to work.”
“Well until that day comes, I’m going to keep using it.” Shawn then looks at the camera. “But seriously. I could’ve gone on a mythical journey of self discovery. I could’ve put up a false front about what I do to get ready for a match. And just think for a moment how that would’ve played out. It would’ve been disingenuous at best and a pure mockery at worst.”
Shawn stands up from the couch.
“And that’s the real point I’m trying to show. That’s what I want everyone to see when they go back and watch this. This wasn’t a rose tinted look at a day in my life. Things are how they always are. Kasey and I wake up in the morning after a night of only god knows what. She works out and I watch her.”
“Because one of us clearly cares more about this relationship.” Kasey half jokingly says.
“Please. You know that I would take a bullet for you. I mean not like one to the chest or head, but definitely a meaty section. Like my butt or shoulder.” Shawn smiles at Kasey before turning his attention back to the camera. “Some people won’t get our relationship and that’s fine. I love her more today than I did yesterday. She gives me hope. She gives me my motivation. She is my North Star. When I’m with her, I am just Shawn. I don’t have to pretend to be anything that I’m not.”
“The day of a match is just like any other day of the week for me. There isn’t some special ritual that I go through. I don’t have to get myself psyched up to go out there and do my fucking job. If you have to do that, then you’ve already lost. You’ve tripped over the first hurdle and there is no coming back from that when I’m on the other side of the ring. The truly greats of this industry know that. They know what to do to prepare, and everyone's different. Mine has been the same for so long that I couldn’t lie to you about what it is if I wanted to.”
Kasey hops up and grabs Shawn’s hand. “It’s time. They need you at gorilla.”
Shawn lifts her hand to his lips and kisses the back of her hand. “Now if you would please excuse me. I’ve got to go out there and reset the clock.”
Shawn walks out of the room and it shuts behind him, before he bursts back in like Cosmo Kramer. “You understood that reference right? It’s the resetting of the clock like in Majora’s Mask….”
“Yes babe. I’m sure they understood it but you coming in here and explaining it doesn’t really help as much as you think it does.” Kasey sighs and face palms.
“Oh. That’s mah bad. Y’all will just edit that out then right?” Shawn slowly backs out of the door and it shuts again. This time the door creaks open slowly and he pops his head in. “Right?”
As the camera fades to black.