As it creeps closer and closer to 7:30, the time of the match, things start to fall into place. Slowly the janitor turns on each light, one switch at a time, each switch lighting up a different section of the arena. The judges for the match arrived in the wee hours of the morning, some of them even too excited for what today holds to sleep through the night. It is almost as if everyone is a child on Christmas Eve. The volunteers start coming into the arena, ready to clean and prep everything to make sure it is all in pristine condition. The people sitting in the general admission seating have been waiting outside for hours, just so they can get up close and personal to the action.
Finally, the main men of the evening begin their journey to arena. Each in their vehicles, their drivers carefully transporting the precious cargo they each have in their back seat. As they pull up to the arena, people are lined down the street hoping for just a glimpse at them. Of course they could not be bothered, each having their expensive headphones on listening to their hype music, waiting until the match that could make or break them for the rest of their career. They are each alone in their respective locker rooms, each performing their pre-match rituals to ensure nothing happens to mess up their performance for tonight.
The moment has arrived. People are pilling into their seats anxiously waiting as each minute passes. The time has finally come and the brothers are about to emerge out of the tunnels and into the ring. A voice rumbles over the speaker. "In the blue corner weighing in at 190lbs, Shane. In the red corner weight in at 186lbs, Vince. Come into the center of the ring men and shake on a good, clean match." They followed suit, however each thought of how they were going to punch the other ones face into itself.
With the loud chime of the bell, the match has begun. It was fast-paced, high energy from the very beginning. Each was holding their own. Then, Vince hit Shane square in the face, practically knocking him out. Shane fell to the floor, groggily looked out into the crowd, and somehow mustered up the courage to get back in and fight. Shane would get in a few good punches right to Vince's sweet spots. Suddenly, Vince came in with the biggest blow anyone in the crowd had ever seen. Shane lay, almost lifeless on the floor. Everyone was holding their breath, praying that he still had his. They saw his hand move, almost as if it were a motion to someone outside the ring. That is when everyone's head turned to see Rocky, Shane's coach hurdle into the ring and deliver a single blow straight to Vince's head that knocked him out.
Everyone in the arena was numb. What had they just witnessed? Are Vince and Shane even alive? How was this even a clean fight? Rocky was escorted out of the ring, and the arena and has never been heard of within the boxing world again. Shane and Vince were both taken out of the arena on stretchers, and neither of them have stepped into the ring again.
Author's Note
For this retelling, I used the story of the fight that Sugreeva and Vali had with one another. Sugreeva and Vali were brothers who had gotten into a fight, and they represent Shane and Vince. Once Sugreeva had almost died from the battle, Rama (Rocky) came in and shot and killed Vali. I figured that using a boxing match would be the perfect tool for retelling the story.
Bibliography
Narayan's Ramayana, Link to Reading C
Image Information
Photo of a Boxing Ring, Web Source
Thanks for sharing this story! I particularly like it because no one dies. Your description really allowed me to follow along with the characters, and I think you did a great job bringing the ideas from the Ramayana into the "real world". That being said, I'm not super familiar with boxing rules, but what would happen in real life if one's coach delivered the KO punch?
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting transposition of an event from the Ramayana to a modern setting. It reminds me a movie called "Romeo + Juliet" where the setting of Shakespeare's story was changed from medieval Verona to modern-day Verona and all of the swords were changed to guns. In modern times, boxing is probably the closest equivalent to ancient duels.
ReplyDeleteWhat was especially interesting was the fact that there was so much tension between the brothers. Even as they were agreeing to a fair fight, they were thinking about how they would punch each other's faces in.
Because this aspect was so interesting, I think you could add more about why there's this tension between the brothers and why Rocky would jump into the ring. Perhaps Shane or Vince had a fight over their wealthy dad's inheritance. An epilogue would also be an interesting addition, if you decided to expand this story a lot.
Wow! The first few paragraphs of your story created so much suspense. Because I have also read this reading my mind kept going to "who is it that's fighting?" and "wow, everyone is going to be there it must've been one of the really good fights!". It really drew me into your story. I wonder what Shane and Vince are thinking during this fight. It would be really awesome to be able to hear about their nerves during the fight and before the fight. And then there's Rocky... he just ended the entire fight in only a couple of sentences! I would love to know what he is thinking and how got there. Very awesome turning this tale into a modern day story of two boxers. I can hear the announcer at the match clearly announcing the match in a cartoonish way! Great story.
ReplyDeleteOkay, this was an awesome re-telling of this story! At first, I didn’t catch on to what section of The Ramayana this could possibly relate to. Then, as I got to the end of the story where Rocky came out and punched Vince, I knew the exact scene that this was referencing! I love the way you made the names of your characters start with the same letter as the characters from the original story. This was a very interesting way to re-tell this scene. I can see what lead you to a boxing match, but the way you transformed the story was remarkable. I liked the suspense that you left at the end of the story. The way that it ends kind of on a cliffhanger almost adds to the appeal of the story. Why did Rocky decide to come in with the knockout punch? Where are they now? Did they all survive? It could have been fun to answer some of these questions, but I think I like it better leaving it up to the imagination of the reader.
ReplyDeleteThis was such a great twist to the story! I am so drawn to romance that I never focus on action! I feel like I could really learn a lot from your style of writing! At first I was confused about what everyone was waiting for. I didn't realize it was a boxing match, so I enjoyed the suspense you created there!! I think you did a great job rewriting this story and making it your own!!
ReplyDeleteI love that all your stories are so modern. I really enjoy reading your stories and love your writing style. I usually stick really close to the original and change an element or the point of view but I feel like this is good too. You not only have the original frame but you add your own flare to it that I really enjoy.
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