The Invitation (Part 1)

Prompt: A stranger sits down next to you on a train and gets up, leaving a package behind. Do you investigate the package?

“Next stop, Providence,” a voice sounds over the intercom. Two more stops, and I’m home. It’s been one of those days that felt like it would never end. Everyone in the office seemed to be infected with the same virus that made everything they said and did idiotic and annoying. It started from the second I walked in to the second I left. Maybe it was me though. I’ve been in a foul mood for a few days now. I’m still pretty pissed that I didn’t get my invitation. I guess I’ll have to wait another three years.

    The train screeches to a stop. A few people get off, a few get on. One of them sits down next to me, even though there are dozens of rows of empty seats. I’ve always found it weird when people do things like that. I wish I could just look over him and ask him what the f**k is wrong with him, but I decide to let it go. Next stop, and I’m home.

    The train takes off. I stare out the windows and drift into daydreams about what could have been if only I’d been invited. Three years… might as well be an eternity… and there’s no guarantee it’ll happen then. What if my whole life’s work has been a waste?

“Wickford Junction,” the intercom sounds, snapping me from my reverie. When I look, the stranger beside me is gone, but there’s a package, wrapped in brown paper and a red piece of twine sitting on the seat. I glance around the train, but I don’t see him anywhere. People begin to rise and shuffle out the door. I’m the last person remaining. I grab the mysterious package and nestle it under my arm. I step out onto the platform and look around for any sight of its owner, but he’s nowhere to be found.

I decide to take it with me in case I run into him again. I walk to the parking garage, already curious about what’s inside. I set it down on my passenger’s seat, and as I look down and it, I swear I hear it calling my name.

“Brian,” it seems to whisper. “Open me.”

I grab the package and begin to undo the twine, but it’s too tight so I have to tear it loose. I unfold the paper, but it’s so thick and there’s so much that I shred it apart. Layer after layer I rip away, before I get to the center and find a small box. It’s no bigger than a jewelry box. I hold it in my grasp, flip it over and see my name is written on it. What the hell?

I lift the top open and inside is a tiny scrap of paper that says, “You’ve been invited.” For a moment my heart dances with joy. Finally my dream has come true… but then the reality hits me. I swallow hard. In two days, all of my life’s work will be tested. I’ll have to prove myself. There will be blood. Broken bones. Shattered dreams. My very life will be on the line in the Battle Royale, the world’s greatest and most notorious underground fighting competition, where all the fights can only end in one man’s death.

I speed home. 

  

“Lacy,” I scream as I burst through the door. “It’s finally happening.”

    I hold the invitation out for her to see, thinking that after all this time of being denied my dream she’ll be happy for me, but instead, she bursts into tears.

    “NOOOO!” She screams, crumbling to the floor.

    I don’t have time to deal with her s**t right now. The competition starts in two days. I have to get ready. I open Spotify on my phone, connect it to the Bluetooth, and “You’re the Best Around” booms over the speakers. It’s all I listen to for the next two days, along with Lacy’s begging and moaning, then her telling me she’s divorcing me, as I make my final physical and mental preparations for the fight of my life.

    I walk into the depths of the Battle Royale arena in Tiverton, Rhode Island for the first time and bask in the glory of the roaring crowd while “You’re the Best Around” still echoes in my head.

    I didn’t know this would happen, but I’m immediately thrust into my first battle. I stand face to face with a ninja warrior, dressed in all black. The referee yells, “Fight!”

    The ninja lunges towards me with a loud “KEYAH” and sends a wave of fists in my direction that I block easily. He steps back, recognizing that I’m not a little b***h who’s going down without a fight.

    “Is that all you got?” I chuckle. Instantly he comes at me again with kicks, but I catch his second one, drag him to the ground and begin raining down fists of fury on his masked face. I stand over my defeated opponent. My hand is raised in victory. The crowd roars. The area shakes beneath my feet.

    I win my second and third fights in landslides without taking a single hit and I move into the semi-finals. It’s a grueling battle, a knockdown, drag out war. I’m bloodied, battered, bruised by the legendary Misuka Kimate, a two-time winner of Battle Royale. A blow to the ear renders me near-deaf. A kick to the eyes renders me near-blind… but through the hazy darkness and near silence… the song returns to me.

    I close my eyes, wait for it… wait for it… then I unleash a crane kick right into his face when I sense he’s lunging forward. I feel his jawbone shatter instantly, and even though I’m almost deaf, I can hear the bone cracking.

    I stare across the ring when suddenly a familiar face appears. It can’t be.  

 

   “In the finals, we have husband versus wife,” the announcer says.

     “Lacy?”

    “I’m sorry Brian,” she says. “This is my dream, too. That’s why… I didn’t want you to come.”

   “I can’t fight you!” 

    “You must!” 

    “I won’t do it… I love you baby. I’ve always loved you. I’ll love you until the day I die.”

    “That’ll be today…” she says, taking her stance. I don’t know why, but Lacy’s never looked hotter to me than she does at this moment. I stare across the ring at her, and all I want to do is kiss her, grab her gently by the hair, and make love to her. Instead she runs towards me in a whirlwind of punches like a tornado. "KEYAH. KEYAH. KEYAH." One after the next they ram into my face and send me limp to the ground.

    “Get up,” she screams. I try, but I can’t move. My eyes begin to close. I sense my dream and life fading away. A stiff kick to the ribs sends me one step closer. A boot the face leaves me at the doorstep of death…

    “I’m the best around,” Lacy shouts, and it’s like an AED zap to the heart that bursts me back to life. I spring to my feet. I don’t care if she’s my wife anymore. She’s my enemy. I’m woozy, and can feel blood pouring from a wound on the side of my head, and more from under my eyes.

     “Take it back,” I demand.

     “No. I’m the best,” she roars.

    “You son of a b***h,” I scream, full-force lunging towards her with a SuperMan punch that connects to her jaw and sends her flying backwards through the air. Before she even has a chance to land, I fire half a dozen punches into her floating body. She lands on the mat with a violent thud and doesn’t move, but her chest rises, and I know life still exists within her.

    I hover over her, ready to deliver the final bow and claim my victory as champion of Battle Royale when her lip quivers. This is the moment I've been waiting for, but I never thought this is how it would come…

    “Finish… me…” she whispers. “You’ve always been the best around… and I’ll always love you…”

    I hesitate.

    “You two are disgusting!” The referee shouts. “Get the f**k out of here and don’t come back!”

    Bloodied, bruised, broken and battered, Lacy and I walk out of there… declaring ourselves co-winners of Battle Royale. 

  

“I can’t believe we just had sex in front of all those people…” Lacy sighs. 

   

“Yeah," I chuckle.

 

"We’re the best around…” Lacy says, reaching for my hand and holding it tight. She's wrong, and I'll never let her forget it. I won that god damn thing fair and square. But for now, I keep silent. Sometimes it's better to keep the peace.