Creative Writing: The Competitors Essay, Research Paper

Creative Writing: The Competitors

As thousands of people poured into the rectangular shaped stadium for what was

being called, “the event of the century” , the participants readied themselves

for the hardships they would surely suffer from the games. After a long

grueling season of intense bodily torture this would by the final chapter of

confrontations. Out of the 275 original members of the DFS leagues infant year,

only 20 remained. These men and women were not only hardened on the outside,

but on the inside as well for they had long since learned the weaknesses that

emotions bring. Everyone one present in the cubical that was called a dressing

room knew that as soon as the capacity crowd of 300,000 had settled, they would

no longer be comrades brought together by the common bond that friendship makes

but enemies of the battle field each one jockeying for the upper hand.

As the referee announced there was half an hour left before game time, a few

players huddled together to say a quick prayer while others gathered around the

head coach for a final word of advice. One of the competitors listening to

this advice was Matt Williams or “The Destroyer”, as he was known by the crowd.

He was a powerfully built young man who was in the possession of deep opaline

eyes, nightmarish black hair, and a ruddy complexion. Feared by all for his

ruthless behavior, Matt had joined the DFS league after being courtmarshaled by

the army for striking the commanding officer of his platoon. Why he was even

near the coach was a mystery to him because most of the coaches words fell on

unhearing ears. Matt guessed he was just nervous. Who wouldn’t be. Looking up,

Matt saw that the coach had left and it was time to enter the field. Strapping

on his helmet and the rest of his gear, he took a deep breath, focused his

thoughts, and ran out onto the field joining the rest of the players. The roar

of the crowd sounded as if a tsunami was breaking on the beach and the ground

felt as if it were pulsating with a life of its own. He never remembered these

feelings before but he simply shrugged off the thought as he faintly heard the

sound of the referee’s whistle. Suddenly, the sound of the crowd was replaced

by e reverberating silence that was deafening in Matt’s ears.

Going into a defensive crouch, Matt circled the nearest foe to him. Jumping

with raised spear, he warded off the first blow positioning his spear into a

counter-attack position. Throwing it with deadly precision Matt was rewarded by

the sickening thud of a lifeless body hitting the ground. As he hurried to

retrieve his spear, Matt remembered a phrase the coach had said just before he

left. “This will be a fight to the finish so be prepared!”. Since this was the

year 2071, that was no lie because last year, hyperbole’s went out of style

and gladiators came back in.