****
***
Moving like a shadow, Stephen entered his daughter’s white room. Lying in a swath of moonlight, Lilith slept in the exact center of her small bed in the midst of a sea of drawings where she put her emotions thinking, imagining she’s an artist just like her mother.
Lullaby.
Reaching, careful not to wake her, Stephen lifted the miniature silver crown from her hair. Tenderly, he untangled a few errant stand and smoothed them gently back into place. Her lashes fluttered against her cheek and he froze, not daring to breathe.
Who would have thought you would have had such reaction-
Suddenly, she opened her eyes looked at him and smiled.
Did you wake up? Hello…
When I first opened my eyes the name given to her… really loved that name.
She sat straight up and nodded.
Daddy, if the stars are missing, would you spare time for moon to sight?
And if the stars aren’t there, would you still appreciate the night like you always do?
Um… you really do observe me?
A book full of surprises.
She giggled a little before answering.
Yes, daddy I do. I know you like to go out to watch the sky to see the moon and stars every night after coming to my room to wish me a good night.
Before he could speak, she plopped her head down on her pillow and closed her eyes sound sleep again. Marveling, he watched her easy breathing and wondered how she did it.
I gaze at the moon –
Are you looking at it too?
The beauty I see in the moon cannot compare to the beauty that I see in you.
He rubbed his right hand gently across her forehead, feeling her softness and warmth, which brought a slight smile to his face.
In a dream we are connected.
Taking a step back from her bed, his eyes never left her. He glanced at the room to embed the scene deep in his memory. As he turned to walk out of the room, he glanced at the wall next to the door to see the many drawings hanging there. One caught his eye.
-A bright sun.
For a moment old memories are reflected in his eyes as he close the door.
Goodnight, always, to all that is pure that’s in your heart.
Protect her for a lifetime.
****
Flashback.
***
Stephen is sitting on the steps of the porch drawing with a pencil on a pad taken from his knapsack. Every cool autumn afternoon he sat there thinking, drawing he had a talent no one knew he had before soon it became a habit. The day before a storm begun a tie meant to last forever was scattered in pieces. Tommy and I got along well with each other and never fought or argued. Our rooms were next to each other.
Since when our paths started to part?
We both started from the same place our thoughts were always so different but we remain together. I always followed my instincts and never changed who I was. What I was seeking never changed.
Legacy.
My room used to be white I remember I always closed my eyes and saw a canvas before me. And depending on my thoughts, the painting instantaneously changed before my eyes, and everything was so harmonious, masterpieces were created.
But no one like you.
An unread book on my desk, a pair of broken headphones on my bed, a guitar and music floating in the air. A clouded loneliness.
On the other side of the wall, not only had the scenery changed, but also the ambient. Somber eyes, a tenebrous darkness, a moonless sky. The relative darkness inside the room did not permit close inspection, and my imagination did not go beyond what I could see. As we wrestled along that rainy day you confessed to me your intentions, I finally knew that everything was different, I finally knew you changed.
Everything but the rain.
The memories of old shadows unfolding like clenched fists flooded my brain. I could heard the voices whispering warnings, and I recalled the walls of my room pulsating like the walls of a quickened heart. Threatening me and them. Your face shown calm waters that you couldn’t be better. But your eyes rage a storm the lightning crackles within them. The wind whipped at your soul. It was the calm before the storm.
You knew me like I knew you… brother, friend. .
The next day I was sitting on the stairs of the front porch of the house drawing in a sketchbook trapped right in the middle between my fear of loneliness and my plan. Katherine and her family just moved from another town. I saw her standing there in the church the other day. I knew someone else was coming, someone who had been observed me before.
Here comes the sun.
Katherine climbed the steps so she could see what I was drawing. On the page, rendered in pencil, was an amazing black wolf with an intense yet softer posture his eyes were full of surprise and confusion. In the moonlight who covered the background the animal looked like a sculpture of antiqued silver. Gold was such a color who always escaped my canvas so close yet so far away to touch it.
I expected her to pass but she didn’t. Instead, she walked directly towards me, sat down next to me and casually looked at what I was drawing once again. Our first exchange of thoughts.
I like how you are concentrating on your drawing. You seem to be thinking carefully about your drawing. That’s great. I wish you could see my oil portraits. Or the watercolors I did last year.
Katherine was truly one of a kind. She enjoyed wearing strange clothes and doing things no one else would. I noticed, that she always sat alone. And thought maybe that she didn’t have any friends.
I lifted my head and looked at her and told her how much I’d have loved to see her work. Her eyes gleamed as she heaved a sigh of relief that bore a tender smile. She was very good at entertaining me with stories that showed her in a humorous light, and always with an innocence that one strongly suspected false.
Don’t ever change.
Our trust grew. We promised to be there for each other. Day passed by and we became closer each day. She kept her promise. She protected and watched over me and I in turn did the same.
Protect her for a lifetime.
****
-Present time.
***
A black pair of boots march through the hallway slowly, slightly, his steps are confident and heavy. On the other frame tiny feet in white socks walk in a slow tenderness though the hall. Their steps seemed synchronized as they moved easily together in nearly perfect unison. Different paths connected to each other, bonds never fail. Let all the distance disappear.
I am here, you are there, yet we both are near.
His steps finally stopped. He stood up before a black curtain the steam of his breath swirled around him. The ground beneath him began to tremble like a tremor was underway. A sea of crowd began vibrating, stirring around until they had made holes in the ground. The ground soon began to open and he could almost bet there was something underneath struggling to get out from the Sin City. Soon the crowd erupts in wild chants. He could hear the names of Austin Angel, Shadow, Jensen or Barney across the arena. And through a thin slit beads of light poured over his eyes where he could see signs with names such as; Daiko, Bruce Thorn, Nero or Elric. Heroes and Icons.
But where is your name?
***
Her steps stopped. She peered in the archway of the living room where she could hear shots, thuds coming from the TV. Her head had been filled with questions.
Mommy where is Daddy?
Katherine was sitting in front of the TV waiting for the match of his husband. As she saw her daughter she opened her arms wide to embrace her tightly around her. She ran her fingers through her hair then ran her thumb across the curve of her jaw.
He is there ready to fight for a legacy for his family… for you. You see every day you eat, sleep, breathe. You grow up, learning something new. For your father it’s like living in a dream. You are one of the reasons we are trying to change this world to expand this dream into a wonderful future. You are his masterpiece.
Some of the worry disappeared from her eyes before she fell asleep.
Never ending my dream.
***
He clenched his hands into fist at his sides as the lights fade minutes before his theme hit the arena.
They see us as the bad and evil monsters they fear. They see me as the leader of a cult, a man who seek nothing but blood and violence. I should feel pity for their eyes who can’t see that the darker they become the brighter we shine. I have never looked for fame as fame builds heroes and icons, and none of them is me. Yellow, red, black or white, the only colors filling these grounds.
The question she made to him the night before resounded in his mind.
Lilith, passing through this curtain are all the stars that no longer belong to the sky. Here, heroes and icons march following the path to the glory. They ignore the pain, no signs of weakness, no signs of weariness, not even a glimpse of fear in their eyes. Step by step, the closer they get to the ring the clearer their eyes can see it.
Alpha & Omega.
Men flying within and through the ropes like animals attacking its prey. A place where nothing is ever safe and sound.
Welcome to the land of stardust where it rains gold.
I hear the drum of my heart cracking a tune waiting for the bell to toll.
Desire, astounds by glint of a smile.
Each of us is a painter given a canvas called life. And in mine the gold always eluded me to touch it. Like an artist creating his very own, masterpiece, on fine canvas I created you. After crushing with my opponents in the battlefield. There will only be a gold mist hanging in the air hovering above the crowd. And in that moment I want to see your smile shine brightly through the gold of the Legacy title.
My legacy.
I have received the bigger blessing.
There is no greater gift. Forget the silver, forget the pain, from life such things are born. But if my eyes were meant to change the world. Know this: the moment is now.
Your thoughts echo in your actions.
Do it for her…
The muscle in his jaw flex with tension as he slowly takes a step forward that groaned beneath his feet as he made his way through the ring covering in darkness. A black wolf.