"Man, I never thought this moment will ever happen in my life, and here I am," the cheetah glanced at the empty arena, seeing it setup for tonight. Even when he was a young cub, he was always fascinated by wrestling. He watched the old legends, hamming it up and cutting promos before their matches, and boy, those matches were awesome to him. His father took him to a couple of shows when he was little, seeing it live and experiencing it. He even met some of the wrestlers there, shaking paws with some of the immortals of wrestling, and his father saw something that day, that maybe one day his son can follow in their footsteps, paving his own way into wrestling. As the years went by, his son still loved wrestling, even when he knew it was fake, and some of the controversies and even deaths of his favorite wrestlers, but his son dedication stuck by it. The father saw that look into his son's eyes, which he knew what he wanted from life. He got his son into a gym, owned by one of the legends he grew up watching, and thus began his journey into his life.        The son trained and trained, pushing his body to their limits. The old lion saw that young cheetah go from a small weakling to a lean, mean wrestling machine. The cheetah wasn't as buff or hugely muscled, but he was flexible and nimble, like one of those luchadores from Mexico, but the son had a far away goal to reach into the big leagues. The son stuck by his father, even on his deathbed, he loved his father, his mentor, his everything. The father asked his son one thing before he passed away. "Son, do you know what you want to do with your life?" "Yes dad, I want to be a champion, I want to make you proud of me" "Son, (he looks into his son's eyes, still seeing that passion and desire) I'm already proud of you, (tears up a bit) you still have that passion for what you love. Don't let anyone take that away from you." "I won't dad, I will keep it to my heart" The father weakly grabbed his son's paw and smiled at him, saying "I love you son" "I love you too dad," the son said as his father slowly closed his eyes, falling asleep to the eternal slumber. On the day of the funeral, family and friend's came out to support him, but the son saw that his mentor came with a few of his wrestling partners, supporting the cheetah. The old lion said to the cheetah, "I'm sorry for your loss" "Thank you sir, my dad believed in me, and supported one hundred percent with this decision." The old lion smiled, putting a paw on the cheetahs shoulder and said, "I knew, he saw that look in your face and he believes in you." The cheetah smiled at his mentor, and hugged him, thanking him for everything. As the year when by, the cheetah caught his break, he was going to be in a small wrestling show, at the local high school. When he got there, he saw who he was going against, a big 300 pound Doberman, full of bulging muscle. The cheetah was quickly scared of his opponent, but the words of his father rang though him, "Don't let anyone stand between you and your goal of life." The cheetah put on his wrestling mask, the one that his mentor made for his ring persona, a blue and white mask with a gold tree on the back of it, showing the pride in him. As the show started, the Doberman came into the ring, his muscles just shining in the light, walking like he owns the ring. The cheetah was at the entrance, getting ready for his walk. His mentor looked at him, placing his paws on his shoulder, looking at him, saying "You ready?" The cheetah looked back at his mentor and with a smile, he said, "I was born ready," and the cheetah walked out, his persona took over, a good guy that will defend anyone. As the match went on, the lion stood in the background, seeing his young student perform just like a natural, he smiled and thought to himself, "This kid will be the next legend, I know it."


Flash forward a couple of years later,


The cheetah was getting his boots and outfit ready for his championship match, something that he been dreaming since he was a cub, to be a champ. He saw the wrestlers walk by, chatting with each other, and getting ready for their big night. He walked a bit in the back of the arena, trying to clear his head, when he saw a figure come walking to him. As the shadow came closer, the cheetah smiled happily as his mentor walked to him, holding onto a cane. "Well this is your big night, and I always thought that one day, you will be here, taking on the thrill of your life." "Thank you sir and I think I am ready to do this, I just wish my dad where alive to see this." "Don't worry, he's probably up there, watching it with some of my friends too, talking about how everything changed, and your father will have a sign, holding up, just for you." The cheetah smiled, sniffed a bit as a tear of joy jerked from his eye, thinking about his dad. Personnel came to him, telling him his match was next. The cheetah looked at his mentor, putting on his mask of pride, and said, "Time to be a legend," and slowly walked to the entrance, getting ready for his match. The old lion stood there, slowly walking to a TV in the backstage, watching what the cheetah always wanted, to be a champ.


End.


Story by Landis F

03/22/11