Post by Andrew Barnes on Jul 22, 2020 18:20:22 GMT -5
Detroit, Michigan
Riverfront Towers Apartments
07/22/2020 2:32PM
Standing above the city from the twentieth floor inside Riverfront Towers apartments, Andrew Barnes looks outside with a hopeless stare as a few car headlights go by. The headlights reflect off the glass and across Andrew Barnes face as he continues to stand there with his arms behind his back, pondering over his decisions that lead him here to Alpha Pro Wrestling. A few red and yellow lights slide across his face before disappearing into the night.
"The lights are few and far these days. The city was once bright, full of life. Now... everyone is just trying to get by. Hoping it will turn around for them. Hoping for hope. It feels like we have this sort of feeling every year now, doesn't it? Doomsday always around the corner for a certain few- as if we don't want to wake up from this nightmare. Are we all masochists? Do we enjoy waiting for another round of 'What's Gonna Happen This Year!?' until a comet finally puts us out of our misery?"
Andrew takes one last glance at the city before he turns to the living room, his eyes connect with an old photograph on the end table next to the brown, leather couch. The smell of lavender hits your nostrils, a nostalgic smell for Andrew as he continues to stare at the photograph with memories flooding back into that noggin of his.
A sigh rolls out of his mouth, "Oh, Doris. If only you were here today. The days wouldn't feel so bleak." His thumb rubbing the face of the angel that brought him up. "She was a positive role model. Someone that this world needs more of. A kind soul."
With his back towards the camera and he still tilt down, looking at the photograph, "What is the first thing that runs through your head when you finally wake up, Oblivion."
Andrew Barnes places the photo down to turn around and flash a smirk, and those wholesome blue eyes for the camera, "The thoughts of a new day sending a shock to the system, giving you hope; giving you a sense of being. Makes you feel anew, right?"
Andrew frowns, "No?"
"You think of bills? Debt collectors? Exes? How about a deadbeat father? No? Alright, how about the crushing feeling of a existential crisis dropping in, knowing that all of this is for nothing and that we will all be forgotten in the end when the pitch black silence takes us all?" A cold stare, his eyes piercing into the camera.
Andrew Barnes breaks himself away and his eyes lighten once again. "Hell, you could have a monster in you that likes to eat little dogs and speak like Gordon Ramsey. I don't know. All I know is that I can see pain in those eyes. Something wants to get out."
Andrew shrugs, "We all have a demon or two, Oblivion."
"No soul is pure. Not even mine. I can preach about being nice and helping your fellow man, but I am not perfect and have a few vices myself. They might not be as big as yours, but I can feel the pressure they have on me. Like someone or something is sitting on my chest and all I want is to break free." He raises his arms up, as if he's breaking imaginary chains off his wrist.
"I want everyone to like me." Andrew mentions, while walking over to lean against a wall, a giant painting of himself in regal clothing and the sun shining in the back of his head can be seen above him as he takes a moment.
Andrew smirks, looking back at the camera, "That's one of my faults, Oblivion. I'll give you this for free as I'm new and you have no idea who I am. Hell, if we're being honest.. You probably don't care about anything I have to say. Who the fuck gives me the right to tell anyone how to live their life? Right? This is my problem. I'm so busy trying to please everyone that I find myself falling by the wayside. Which in turn brings on jealousy, as I find others getting chances that I thought I truly deserve..That was MINE!" He yells and breaks away from the wall, quickly regaining himself in the end.
"See. This poison ruins lives, Oblivion. It will eat away at you until all that's left is a husk of your former self. It will run through those veins.." He rolls up his sleeves and reaches out his arms to show his veins and starts to tap them, ".. and make you feel cold; as if you're all alone." Andrew lowers his arms.
His attention turns away from the camera, "Speaking of."
The camera turns to the television that was playing on mute in the background. Johnny Legend's face is on the screen with the subtitles on. Something about Action Wrestling screwing him over in his last match, that he was never pinned or some bullshit excuse for phoning it in every week there. "Crazy old fool. Didn't he leave Action Wrestling? Why would he still care about a loss in a federation he has no connection to anymore?" Andrew shakes his head.
A chuckle comes out as he reads the subtitles from the senile wrestler, "This does remind me of something. My father, albeit a shitty person, has cracked a few eggs of knowledge in his time. Mostly from a different state of mind."
He looks away from the camera and starts to quote his father, "You can't please everybody, boy."
Andrew laughs at the television with Johnny Legend on it. The old wrestler almost having a heart attack, his face turning bright red on the screen due to the constant yelling about pointless bullshit. Deep down, Andrew knows Johnny Legend just misses the old days and feels pity for him at times. An old dinosaur waiting for the comet he would mutter to himself.
Still staring at the screen with pity, "He would also say that you can't run away from your problems, but what does he know? The fucker left me with a stranger when I was a child. I thank my lucky stars that it was Doris, and not some nutjob like Johnny Legend over there." He rolls his eyes while reaching for the remote.
He turns the television off and tosses the remote aside, "This is the problem with Mr. Legend. He saw his failings and decided to run. Never wanting to improve himself. Just wanted to stay in the past. The world is full of new people and fresh faces. Yet, people want to stick with their own and stay in tribes. No progress. How can we support one another when all we do is keep to ourselves?" Andrew Barnes brings his attention back to the cameras, "And finally.."
"We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one." Andrew Barnes ends with a smile.
"Now, I don't know why the old man was quoting Confucius while in a drunken state, or that afterwards he started shitting himself. Well, that actually makes sense from all the beans he was eating before.. I just know that it shouldn't take away from the meaning. Which is many if you think of any quote out there and the different views people have."
"My take.. our lives need not revolve around such trivial shit. You can cast aside most and forgive the rest; it's when we truly stop worrying about it is when we can finally live our lives. We only have one, but it's about going through the many phases of life that we can truly find the right path. Not standby and watch as others evolve."
"You hear me, Oblivion." Andrew Barnes taps the camera.
"Your mind doesn't need to worry about who you might be, or why you are here.. This is about turning the corner. You can beat me, or you can lose and prolong that corner? Either way, the road that leads us there are all different. Some have cracks, some may be freshly paved; a few can be renewed, but many will stay abandoned. It's about how long we can walk with the demons nipping our arse is the true test."
"I'll give you a example on if you beat me and how I'll move on with that loss."
Andrew tries to paint a picture for the viewers as he waves his hands around, "The birds will still chirp. The sun will still rise. The wind will still blow. I will wake up knowing that whatever crack may appear, I will be the that has to fix it. We have to turn this pain of losing in this industry and make it a stepping stone to something that will improve us. What is winning if all you do is plow through the competition? I want everyone on my level. I need competition. I WANT IT. It's the only way I can find confidence in myself."
"A loss in this business is only temporary. It's only when we lose ourselves in the darkness is when it becomes permanent. You continue to fight your demons, Oblivion. Even if you don't know it. I hope one day you overcome them, witness my reality and what I will do to this... for this place."
Andrew reaches his hand out towards the camera, "I can only offer you a hand, Oblivion. You have to just reach out and take it.. Just don't bite."
He looks away from the camera and off to the darkness outside and sighs once more, "I'm here for the long haul, Oblivion."
He looks back at the camera, "Some may come and go, but Andrew Barnes will be the shining beacon this federation deserves." Andrew Barnes points to himself.
"I will be here for everyone in Alpha Pro Wrestling. You need me. I'm there. If you want to better yourself. I will stand by you my friend and we can do it together; I will show this industry that the world doesn't revolve around cheap action in wrestling. That you can't just stick to the same faces day in, day out. I will show everyone that we are all a cut above the rest here at Alpha Pro Wrestling. So don't torture yourself and call off the gravedigger. They are shadows of a dead era. It's time to bring light back into this business. Win or lose, Oblivion. I will make sure our match at Monday Metal will be the reason people get up the next morning and feel good about themselves. I promise you this."
Andrew Barnes chuckles once again as he turns back towards the window to stare out at the city with fresh eyes. "Ah, there it is. There's the hope I was looking for." One last smile before the camera cuts away with the headlights coming back on the window reflection.
