BIG EATER
(eventually there will be a cover page here)
[[Prologue]] (append:?SideBar)[
[[Main Title]]
[[Cast and Crew]]
[[Prologue]]
[[Chapter 1 Pt I]]
]Paulo Silva (Sifu Paul)Boxing is a great and terrible sport. Many people were well aware of both of these properties, but among the most aware was a man named Paulo Silva. Mr. Silva was, at 26, the greatest lightweight boxer in the entire world. That's how it felt to him at the time, anyway, and not many folks would have argued against that premise and won.
Mr. Silva's large and well documented family tree was well populated by afficionados of fighting sports. It was in his blood that he would see some amount of success in the ring. That was the expectation, that was the great weight upon Mr. Silva's shoulders. It was, at the time, a great weight that he carried well. A great weight that he barely felt. Well, he felt it a little bit. Most of his kin were not exactly lightweights, but there wasn't really a lot of shame in being a lightweight. Only a little bit.
A few days later, at 27, Mr. Silva would never again claim to be or feel like the greatest lightweight boxer in the world. A few days later, Mr. Silva would stop being able to see or feel with the right side of his face.
[[Main Title]] [[Chapter 1 Pt I]]Years passed since that fateful match. Who knows how many. Mr. Silva would have had to cross reference the year on his ID with the year on the calendar just to be able to tell you his age. His influence in the culture had long since waned, and so had he. He woke up tired every day. He ate small breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. His small salary plus food stamps allowed him to get by, at least.
No longer able to draw audiences, his distance from the other members of his prestigious bloodline grew longer and longer, and his shadow grew thinner. He wondered if some day the mop he wielded as a custodian would be as heavy to him as the big dumbbells sitting unlifted under his bed.
At some point he'd gotten quite good at Tai Chi, and had a side gig assisting a local instructor giving lessons to children as "Sifu Paul." He loved those kids.
It didn't feel like honest work. It felt like a lie he was repeating to these children, this stuff about tranquility and inner peace. And qi. Qi was such horseshit. Unlike ghosts. Ghosts were as real as God himself. That's how it felt to him, anyway. He knew that feelings could be deceiving, like, the feeling that you're going to keep winning forever.
[[Prologue]]
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Main Title
Cast and Crew
Prologue
Chapter 1 Pt I
BIG EATER
(eventually there will be a cover page here)
Prologue