"The fates are truly fickle," Titan Bahadur said to nobody in particular. The rays of Sol beat upon his bald head and caused beads of sweat to trickle down his cheeks. He sat alone on the side of a beautiful red stone monolith. Some may recognize this place as the "Garden of the Gods" state park in Colorado. Most would wonder if the warrior had already passed beyond life's grasp and was allowing us to glimpse the other side.
Nobody was in sight that afternoon on the trails. If they had, they probably wouldn't have given Titan a second glimpse. His attire was anything but eye-catching. His training gear, after weeks and weeks of abuse, had become faded and threadbare in places. He wore an oversized backpack that was all too common for the 'truly serious' hiker. Sweat stained, he looked like another tourist among one of the United States most treasured landmarks.
The ancient warrior had gone missing soon after his feet had hit the arena floor last Sunday night. Sing Su Chow, Tom Bailey and Jason Stewart had scoured the land far and wide looking for the beaten man. All they had found were two letters in Titan's handwriting lying on his hotel room dresser. The first commanding Sing Su Chow and Tom Bailey to return to the Citadel and wait await his arrival. The second was a letter of recommendation for Jason Stewart. All of his possessions were packed and everything except Tom's camera and Titan's training clothes were accounted for. After much debate, the trio complied with the Bahadur's wishes. That was three days ago.
"I wonder if I can make this contraption work," Titan said as he pulled Tom's camera from his backpack. The equipment looked in good order and that pleased Titan Bahadur greatly. Taking Tom's equipment almost felt like stealing and that didn't sit well with the man. After convincing himself that he was only borrowing the camera, he vowed to bring it back in one piece.
After a few moments of awkward struggling, Titan finally got some results. With the tripod steady and the camera pointed away from the sun, Titan Bahadur pressed the record button and walked back into the shot. "Greeting..." Titan Bahadur paused as he found himself at a lack for words. His Mediterranean ancestry was very apparent with the amount of sun the warrior had been getting lately. When he started to chuckle at his own hesitation, the lines of age seamed to magically appear around his eyes. "It seems that days after the event of the century, I'm still coming up short," Titan said with a hint of mirth.
Titan Bahadur shook his head, smiled and said, "Yes, I can take my defeat in stride. I came to this tournament to go home nothing less than a champion...It looks as if the fates have played another game with me. Dangling the apple just out of reach and receding the water when I try to drink...But no matter. I have been given a chance to compete for table scraps, so, by the gods, I will do just that." Titan looked off camera for a moment. A bird of some sort...a vulture maybe...caught his eye. "Ah, yes. Even they can tell my time is almost through," Titan said before shouting, "You can't have me yet scavengers! Not while I draw breath!"
Titan turned back to the camera, his face again full of mirth. "My time is almost at an end, but I plan on taking anything I can get," Titan explained. "If I can't bring home the golden prize, a bronze metal in this Olympics of Wrestling and memories will have to do."
Titan stopped for a moment to reflect on his words. The wisdom of it struck him like a solid blow. "Now that I think about it, the memories are the more valuable of the two. What is a title without experiencing the rush of excitement when it was won? What are trophies without remembering how it felt to conquer your foes?" Titan paused in reflection after his last question as if he expected the rocks to reply. "Nothing, I tell you. They would mean nothing at all. The memories of this tournament far out weigh the prizes...Of that you can rest assured."
That being said, the ancient warrior concluded that he had spoken enough for one evening. Titan approached the camera and shut it down. He popped the tape out of the machine and placed it into a pre-addressed envelope. The envelope and all of Tom's equipment went back into Titan's hiking backpack. "I'll have to remember to mail the tape after I get back to Colorado Springs. I just hope Tom can edit and air it before this weekend," Titan murmured. He shrugged his shoulders before he continued, "If the fates will it, it will be so."
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