One Summer Eve

                                                                   One Summer Eve

      Armand sat in the market , on the sidewalk watching as people passed by. People passed by , and looked at the sign , and then looked at him. HE didn’t seem much, but his sign board which was held high said  “ World’s best Fighter”.

He lived in a small village of Colombia, and  was born on the roads, an orphan who was brought and nursed by a grandmother ,who passed away when he was seven. His name was Armand, and he had never known his parents. The mother died at child birth, and his father was never known about. The grandmother , before she died, gave him a scapular which was the only protection she could give him, which he wore all the time.

     After the death of his grandmother, he took to collecting trash and begging as he had to sustain himself. He lived like that for two years, as he had nothing to do in his life. It was just go, ask for bread and collect trash and get paid for it. He used to see the people around him, in their clean clothes and with all the fancy things they had, and he had to work so hard for scraps. Every day, there was a void that grew in him creating a kind of discomfort within him, which was beginning to crack like a kind of hot lava. At times he did not know what to do, it was as if the internal void was driving him mad and making him crazy.

   One day, while he sat on the pavement after a long days hard work, he was confronted by two bullies, who came to attack him. As they shoved him around, he felt weak and took the beating. And they dropped him on the floor and began to kick and punch him, and as he lay there taking the beating, the lava in him exploded and he got up and thrashed the boys badly, to such an extent that their bones broke. The boys somehow picked themselves and ran away, and at that time Armand knew that felt that his rage had left him and he felt peace within himself. He knew that he was blessed with a superb strength that coarsed through his veins.

    From that day, he started to make bets – and challenge people, to fight with him and win. He always won, and when he won the rage too left him. It was a way in which he chanelled the rage that was within him , and combined it with his strength, and also made money out of it.

He cracked ribs, broke legs and while doing so had a whale of a time. Before long, the whole village was defeated by him. No one could stand up to him , so he went to other villages fighting and bashing people by the dozens. He started gaining the respect and admiration of the people in the local villages and by the time he had reached his young years, he had made a name for himself in the country as a fighter. He learnt the arts as the years progressed to get better and tougher, and  as he grew the rage inside him grew, as he walked through a whole army of fighters destroying them on the path.

   As he kept on throwing on his challenges, he placed the board “ Worlds best Fighter”  wherever he went. So, one Summer Eve, as he sat on his stool waiting for a challenge, from the distance walked a man. This man stood before him, he had a cap on his head , and was a hefty muscular specimen. He said he was ready to fight Armand, and the wager was made. As they both got ready for the fight, Armand sensed something , the same rage came from the man that was in his own body, and he knew that this was not going to be an easy fight. And he was right , for as the fight started he got a punch on his face, and he felt like a giant hammer had struck him , showing him a few stars in the day. He fought back with the man, and a heavy fight ensued as the fight went all over town , and continued through the city, starting from the morning and going on through the afternoon. With punches and kicks , and a hard pain and suffering in the fight. Night was coming in, but so did the cops. And as the police headlights came on, this man disappear into the darkness.

Arman was arrested, but that was natural in his business. He always made trips to the local jail, however this time it was different. He was in fear of losing, something he had never felt before. He had always won, and no one made him sweat so much. He felt fear for the first time in this life, someone was out there who was better that him, who could defeat him for his position? His confidence had now turned into anxiety , and frustration. The next day, when he was left from jail , he asked around for the man, but there was no one who could tell him where he was. He searched for this person for a couple of days, but this man could not be found. After some time of search, as he he heard nothing of  the man, he left for the city  as he wanted a better life.

     In the city, the road of fortune was well paved for him. He continued his winning spree, killing off all his competition like putting butter on bread. Life was too easy for him after that. He got money and acclaim winning one championship after the other, adding many trophies in his home. He lived well respected and acclaimed , and married and had three beautiful children.

But the rage in him still needed to be fed, and as he had attained the position of the “Best Fighter in the World” he knew he had nothing much to prove which made the rage in his body hungry. Bcause his opponents had become like pawns, and defeating them was like ticking a fly, or squishing a worm. He has seen the death of his opponents, and their suffering. Armand felt that he could not do anything to suppress the rage, and decided to stay away from his family as his madness could be bad for his family. So he bade his family goodbye and said he would be back in a few days.

  As he stayed separately, he missed his family and longed to be with them, but he knew he had to be away. During that time, he met the landlord of the village he was from. They began to talk of the “ old times” when Armand was young, and the landlord mentioned his fight that took place between him and the “Unknown Man” and it has always remained a subject of discussion as to who won the fight.

Armand asked the landlord if he knew where this unknown man lived. The landlord said they had seen go the Monserrate hills which were near the village.  So Armand decided to go to the Monserrate hills where he felt he could let out the rage that was bundled in his heart , and was growing constantly.

He moved towards the village, and once he reached the village started moving the mountains on horseback. He was galloping with a medium speed, searching for his adversary. He reached at the top of the hill, where there was a church and near the church there was a Sycamore tree, where they sat a figure. As Armand moved towards the figure , he found it got more prominent and was that of the “ Unknown Fighter”. The fighter stared at Armand, and nothing had changed about him. He was the same, strong and muscular and the same as he was before, with the cap hanging over his head

“ Are you ready to fight”? he asked. To which Armand replied “ I’ve been waiting. Our fight never ended.” Both got ready and warmed up, and started to fight . Armand felt the same force that punched his face, and kicked his stomach. He began to fight. Sharp blows reigned, hard kicks slamming in the air. The fighters had got better with time, and Armand was not leaving any stones in the pocket. He was releasing his rage and completely enjoying it. He felt he had got the right competition and the blood warmed in his body allowing him free movement of his mind. The fight went on till the early evening. The place was lonely and the breeze blew in the meadows.

   Armand had a strong hand in the fight. He felt his power over the unknown fighter and he knew he was going to conquer him. He nailed his neck to the ground with a hard grip,  and was going to give him a strong punch, when the fighter asked him “ Are you ready”. To which Armand replied. Ready?!!! For what. At the moment, the fighter kicked him with both his legs. Armand was hurled in the air and fell back on the ground. He immediately got up and rushed to fight back, but was met with a swinging hard fist and a second harder fist, which knocked him out. A sudden darkness came over him for a minute and the next thing he saw was that he was on the ground, lying weak and motionless.

The fighter stood on top of him , staring at him with his cold sunken eyes. “ Are you going to kill me” he asked the unknown. “yes, in a way” was the answer.

“Let me know who you are” Armand blurted. The Unknown finally revealed “ I am Time, and time catches up with everyone”. Everyting that rises here will fall.

You came to me because your time had come. But before I take you, you can get your peace and stop the rage that beats in your heart”.

He guided Armand to the church where Armand saw a priest. As he approached the priest, he told the priest about the rage that he had , which had formed into a kind of pride that rode with him on his journey to success. He could not suppress this pride, and it affected his relation with everyone. He was given a lot in life, but he could never stop himself from claiming again and again. The priest told him to stop worrying and absolved him of his sins. At that moment he left illuminated and lighter, and saw the rage leaving him.

The next day , as the local shepherds came up the hill they saw Armand lying still , with a smile on his face and the scapular in his hand next to the old dilapidated church that was isolated many years ago.