Saturday, May 16, 2009

Surprise on the Mat (prompt 3 of 7)

As I noted on Thursday, we are in the midst of Children’s Book Week! However, we only have a few days to celebrate, because it ends tomorrow. One of the main ways for celebrating this event, based on my perusal of the website, is to write stories based on prompts that are provided by famous authors as well as people just connected with the event.

So today I sat down and worked my way through all the prompts. I only gave myself 15 minutes to complete each prompt (because I don’t want to shame the kids who might be participating). So what you will find in bold, below, is the prompt given on the website, and then in non-bold, you will see where I decided to take the story. Happy Children’s Book Week!

Prompt Three: “Surprise on the Mat” begun by Lola Schaefer and completed by Molly

Crocker never wanted to be on the wrestling team. He really didn’t.

But here he was – on the mat, not ready at all for his first match.

He turned to face his opponent.

“It can’t be,” he said under his breath.

But it was.

Crocker was going to have to fight Macho Man Randy Savage.

You see, tough times had fallen on Macho Man Randy Savage ever since the Slim Jim money ran out, and since he couldn’t get a regular television wrestling gig anymore, he had started taking small paydays to face high school wrestlers. Schools were willing to pay because it got more people to come to wrestling matches.

“Crap,” Crocker whispered under his breath as Macho Man Randy Savage ran around the ring in his fringed jacket, yelling “Oooooh yeah!” Crocker had thought the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” that he had heard earlier were just band practice. But no, it was Macho Man entering the gym. Now Crocker was going to get his ass kicked by a former childhood hero.

“I’m gonna go Mickey Rourke on your ass,” Macho Man said.

“Please don’t, Macho Man,” Crocker pleaded. Macho Man hit him in the gut.

The referee stepped in. “High school wrestling, Mr. Savage,” he said.

“Sorry, ref,” Macho Man said, before getting Crocker in a headlock that was no less painful than being hit in the gut.

“Please don’t hurt me, Macho Man,” Crocker gasped. “You were my favorite wrestler growing up.”

Macho Man loosened his grip a little bit. “Really?” he asked. “You liked me better than Hulk Hogan?”

“Of course,” Crocker said. “I was with you through your feuds with Ted DiBiase, the Million Dollar Man. I was with you even when you replaced Miss Elizabeth with Sensational Sherri and became the evil Macho King. I watched Hulk Hogan defeat you in the career match at Wrestlemania VII, and then I shed a few tears as Miss Elizabeth came and rescued you from Sensational Sherri.”

“Did you know that both Miss Elizabeth and Sensational Sherri are dead now?” asked Macho Man.

“Yes, I did, Macho Man, and don’t think I didn’t let the occasion pass without shedding a few tears. I’ll still never forget how you married Miss Elizabeth in the ring at SummerSlam, only to have the wedding reception crashed by that bastard, Jake the Snake.”

By this point, the Macho Man had completely released his grip on Crocker. The baffled referee asked, “Are we going to wrestle today, gentlemen?”

“No,” said Macho Man. “This kid is playing the Evan Rachel Wood part in the movie that is my life which would be called ‘The Wrestler’ if that title had not just been taken. So I am going to take him out for some ice cream and some thrift store clothes.”

And that is how Crocker avoided getting his ass kicked by Macho Man Randy Savage.

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