Taking the reigns, Pulling the blinds, Pulling the wool from your eyes

September 9th, 2025

“Ma’am, I have never seen you so nervous before.”

Clarice stood to the right of The Marine Biologist. She was leaning over as she poured her boss another cup of tea. After she was done, she straightened her back and followed the matriarch of the Octopus’s eyes up to the TV where of all things a wrestling event was being watched.

Behind her was the hospital level bed where Rebecca Hines laid motionless with tubes sticking out of her arms and machines making the odd beep here and then recording her vital signs.

Nobody pays it any mind.

SHE took a small sip of the fresh tea and gave out a refreshing sigh after she was done swallowing. “I do worry about the family.”

Clarice nods, “I am positive when he loses, he will at least not be injured.”

“That would be the best-case scenario. WE have worked effortlessly to bring him into the mindset of one for all. The family, HIS family is what needs his attention but instead…” she points backwards at Rebecca, “he obsesses with comatose trash that only wants to pollute the waters we journey within.”

The teapot begins to shake in Clarice’s, “HE doesn’t deserve such love.”

The Marine Biologist takes another sip of her tea. She turns her arm and puts her cup out for Clarice to take. Without a word the cup is gone within the blink of an eye. “The men in this family are always stubborn, Clarice. I just need to be a little more patient with our dear baby immortal jellyfish.”

“Patient?”

She continues to watch the TV as Scott Hunter and Steve Harrison continue to go back in forth. A small grin comes to her face, “yes, because as he continues to become increasingly alone, he will see his influence wane too nothing but an echo, long lost on the winds of time. He will have nothing but ME to rely on.”

“Such amazing commitment, madam.”

Like nothing at all happened, the madam shakes her head and points at the TV, “seems he has choked another opportunity away. You can turn off this uncultured slop that has been defiling our ears. Maybe this will open my foolish son’s eyes on what is truly important.”

Clarice rolls her eyes, “I will believe it when I see it. Some people just do not understand what they have until it is gone, ma’am.”

She stands up from her chair. Clarice gives her boss a curtesy and tries not to look into the eyes of the older woman. Clarice was still in awe at how much power, how much intensity, how much sheer confidence this little woman had. The boss put her right hand on the left shoulder for Clarice and gave her the best smile she could, “Clarice, I feel like I need to have some alone time with our sleeping beauty.”

--

“Does this get any other channels?”

“Informational shows are not always exciting, but boy can they teach you a thing or too.”

--

Alone Part 1

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”

That would be my rallying cry if it weren’t so pathetic.

That’s me, right?

“How was it supposed to be?”

Ah yes, that voice.

I had spent upwards to two lifetimes staring at the same water come and go during tide changes. I crossed my arms and leaned back in my multi-colored beach chair as overhead a seagull squawked as it attacked the top of the water for a meal.

“At least give me someone to talk to,” I pleaded to the same sky where fish guts were falling from the seagull’s mouth back into the water it came from.

“How can you have someone to talk to when you cannot imagine ONE person to speak to?”

Ugh.

This was not an analogy dream. I knew I would not be slaying dragons. I knew I would not be defeating a hedge maze and slaying a Minotaur.

Nope.

My own failures were just laid bare in front me.

It wasn’t a Five Star Championship surfing away from me.

“Cowabunga!”

It wasn’t Ellis Jackson skipping away from my grasp.

It wasn’t The Octopus directing Doc and Jack Marley to leave my side.

It wasn’t Rebecca Hines forever being in a coma.

“What is with all the bluster?”

Oh…I suppose it is obvious, right?

There was nothing.

“You are so afraid of being alone, that you have become alone.”

My subconscious thinks it is a philosopher. It pats itself on its back as it smirks at my realization that my biggest failure is being alone.

So deep.

Do I really need to mention that it’s not? Do the squealing little man babies not understand sarcasm?

They don’t.

Everything is a slight towards them. Everything is an insult. Everything makes you the victim.

“What about the real victims?”

I am not here to litigate facts and feelings.

“Spoken like someone awash in his own feelings that he cannot enjoy this amazing view.”

I get it.

Laughter.

What is so funny, anyway? The contradictions between how I feel and how I understand feelings as something to litigate is a time-tested family trait that must be welded into our DNA.

I know my faults.

“Just no desire to change them, right?”

Pfft.

--

Tampa Bay

September 27th, 2025

“Hey mon, did you know Tampa is the strip club capital of the world?”

Of course, the great Miracle Man already knew that. What was really sticking out to me while I stared annoyingly at Jack Marley was him standing in front of me sweating and grunting while doing arm curls.

I guess he was serious about getting swole.

It had only been one hour since I got to this white trash ignorant city and already felt the need to bathe in hand sanitizer. Now, I had to have a conversation with Jack. It was in that moment that I realized there truly was no god.

“Need to show off those uh…floppy noodles? Are you employed as a pool toy on the side? Do your arms work as wings if you move them fast? Have you heard of steroids? Are you playing the male stickman on a bathroom door later?”

He frowned as he started going quicker with the curls. I did not have the patience to remind him that he was using a five-pound weight. That would not have been heavy enough for RIA to put muscle on. Mumble mumble, fuck Vae Victis.

“I used to tap you out when you were training, Steve,” he responded proudly with a huff that if this were a cartoon the air would be shooting out of his nose so fast, he would be in the air looking down at me. “You think you are going to look better next to Ivan? That d00d is an out of shape giant that could sit on you and be unable to get off you. YOU COULD DIE, BRO!”

The only thing I had been enjoying since I got here was the comfortable chair my 3 Star Hotel Room had (you only ger 5 Star Hotels if you kiss the ring of LT). Suffice to say I did not want to move nor take my eyes off the Juventus verse Atalanta soccer game. I hear some people have big wagers on this match and even a huge HOG is on the line.

I sighed and gave Jack a side eyed look, “and your 24-millimeter arms will save me from the big bad commie?”

I was always aware that the school systems have been decimated in America but even I was a tad surprised when Jack started nodding in agreement with a shitty smile on his dumb face. “Imma beat him so bloody he will be afraid of the color red.”

What a clown, fishing for compliments.

I turned my head with a chuckle back to the game, still early, no score, but minus fingernails already. “If I am understanding you correctly, you are first going to defend my honor and then beat Ivan Stanislav in a wrestling match?”

He nodded, “can’t do anything on an empty stomach though.”

“Uh huh.”

“You know I hear they also have amazing buffets in Tampa.”

“At the strip club?”

“Whoa mon, it’s like I am talking to Miss Cleo.”

At this stage I really did want him to leave but I also did not want to lose any of my recently gained merch profits. People wonder about my relationship with our dear Universal Champion and all I need to say is that his shirts are flying off the shelf.

The back of my rental car?

The printing press?

Eh, the poor’s are getting overrun with tax return shirts, ok?

I threw some cash at Jack and watched as he scurried on the ground picking up every bill so meticulously that I thought an actual competent person had morphed into the moron’s skin suit.

A grin suddenly came to my face.

Am I this petty?

Am I this much of an asshole?

I was, yay for changing.

“I heard there is a rare Russian beauty named Arina doing the rounds.”

His eyes got big. Too big.

Like two big saucers that were probably full of astro glide.

I hate it here.

--

Alone Part 2

And just like that I was holding a fish.

The seagull decided to drop it right into my lap. It was incredibly aggravating because I had been screaming about this being a Corona moment and instead my inner monologue started coughing and ignored my request.

“Clownfish are very popular pets.”

So, this is supposed to be Jack keeping me company as I watch the world end?

“Did you know that clownfish have an almost parasitic relationship with anemones? They acclimate themselves to their hosts by touching, nipping, and fanning the tentacles. They do this to get protection from predators by anemone's stinging tentacles.”

If I knew I was going to receive a lecture from Sir David Attenborough I would have worn my best dream shirt.

“Forgive me for thinking you would find this information interesting. Then again, you are oddly arrogant for someone who doubts himself so often.”

Am I supposed to kneel to your amazing judgement about Jack Marley being a follower who must rely on others for everything?

“No longer alone and still complaining.”

For the last few years, I have never felt alone when Jack is with me. He is one of the rare people who stuck me during my PIT excursion and afterwards when all my supposed friends vanished on me.

He tried his best to help me but that isn’t his job, is it?

He is just someone who will tell you what you want to hear.

Someone who makes silly jokes to break the ice.

Someone who knows the right weed strains to smoke.

Someone who knows what Jam Bands I should be grooving to.

“That’s not a friend? You did say you wanted someone to talk to here.”

It would seem that a lot of it has been blotted out by the Ink of an Octopus.

“Are you seeing everything clearly? Oh well, look you have another visitor.”

KOBE!

“And you just threw the clownfish right into its mouth.”

Chomp-Chomp Flipper.

--

Tampa Bay

September 28th, 2025

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY? Don’t spill any blood on my shoes either.”

It was so late, it was early. It was a time that I had forgotten existed as I got older and more exhausted with life. Instead, Jack Marley lay on the floor of my hotel room with Doc sweating like he walked a mile after eating a bucket of fried chicken. There was a decent amount of blood covering him, but I could not tell if it was a serious injury. Doc was frantically checking Jacks body but could not find any open wounds. He stood up and stared at Jack and then looked up at me, “looks like he has a broken nose.”

I was tired.

So very tired.

I rubbed my right hand down my face to help wake me up but all it did was spread sweat from my forehead to my mouth.

“I did what you said, bossmon. I was like ‘hey ladies, I am friends with Ivan Stanislav how about a special private room dance!’”

Doc looked like Jack just asked to be killed and I could not help but start to laugh at the absurd nature of my damn life. “Found some girls that might not like that name, huh?”

He groaned, “she, (hiccup, cough, more groaning) said he was nothing but a KGB Sobaka and was the cause of people missing in her family.”

“And then she punched you?”

“Twice!”

I suppose my immature joke about Arina came back and punched Jack in the face, twice. I mean…I am certain I never told him to talk about Ivan. That is like speaking political violence into reality.

Oh, I forgot what timeline we are living in.

I hate it here.

Doc bent down and checked Jacks nose, he stood back up and began to tap his index finger to his chin. “I think we need to contact the madam to see if she wants us to take him to the hospital.”

“The madam?”

“Your mom, of course.”

THE FUCKING MADAM?

I rolled my eyes and sat back down in my hotel chair. I am not sure if he was ever given a legitimate nickname in the Octopus, but I know he fancied himself The Dolphin. It seemed arrogant for him to be named the genius of the sea, but he was a doctor.

He was also a pushover.

“Do whatever you want, Doc. It is not like my opinion matters after you bring HER into this. I mean maybe…and please don’t take this the wrong way, but maybe if SHE had been punched in the nose before, her direction would matter here.”

Oops.

“Are you condoning your OWN MOTHER being punched in the nose, Steve?”

“Twice.”

‘TWICE?”

I feel like he has gradually lost his ability to determine if something was rhetorical or not. When you are only asked to do tasks a certain way by the woman you love you start to just be an extension to her overwhelming presence. I looked at the ceiling as the bile began to creep into my mind and tried some breathing exercises to thwart what was building inside me.

IT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY.

My head began to throb. I wanted to stand up and yell at these two for failing to live up to our plan to fight for ourselves even if it was against The Octopus’s’ wishes.

I couldn’t though.

I just sat there as Doc attempted to teach me about forgiveness while at the same time trying to get Jack to stop lying on the floor.

Forgiveness…

…For whom?

“I am taking Jack to the hospital, Steve. I hope you think about what happened today because this family needs to respect each other to stay strong,” with that he helped Jack out of the hotel room.

I sat in the dark with my thoughts.

I hissed angrily through my teeth: respect and family.

It was so infuriating to hear that from him that I just continued to whisper those words repeatedly until my body gave in and I fell asleep.

--

Alone Part III

Seriously?

I watched the Dolphin drop the clownfish back into the water.

“I guess it wasn’t hungry. Maybe that dolphin was friends with that clownfish?”

It just keeps getting better here, huh? It isn’t that it wasn’t hungry or that they were friends. Do you not hear it whistling and clicking to the Dolphin right behind him?

“It is quick to make friends maybe you can learn from this interaction.”

Interaction?

That Dolphin just took the clownfish and ate it without what I assume is our Doc Dolphin doing anything about it.

“They’re in love.”

Tell that to the fish.

Does this mean I think Doc will sell out Jack to HER if push comes to shove?

“We are just seeing possibilities from your mushy mind on what you think might transpire if you don’t change something.”

How am I supposed to change that? He is debasing himself in the ocean just for the enjoyment of that other dolphin.

I didn’t change anyway--they did.

“Maybe, for the better. The clownfish is getting in shape. The Dolphin is quick to make friends. Don’t you think these are good for them and you? You can change too.”

That isn’t it though, is it?

This Dolphin…FUCK IT…I mean DOC has decided that he would rather be HER slave then remember the truth.

I remember the past now even if it is still like watching an old black and white TV show.

I know he was always there for me.

I know he protected me.

I know he acted like a father figure to me.

I remember all of this, but does he remember why he had to perform those duties? I did not ask for that. I was just a kid whose family paid him no mind. He took the bait and the promise of love from HER.

SHE DOESN’T KNOW THE MEANING OF THE WORD.

“And you do?”

Pfft, just leave me alone.

“Fitting you would say that after all of this.”

It is not a matter of me being alone. It is a matter of me being left behind. The hands that are controlling the strings want it this way. It makes sense for a controlling, domineering, emotionless person to act against her own family to teach it a lesson.

I have lost any control I thought I had created.

“Maybe, you can wrestle it back.”

Ugh.

“Hey, hey, we're the Glueminati and people say we stick around, but we're too busy winning to put anybody down.”

Is that supposed to be the Glue as the Monkees? It looks a lot more fun over there. Flambo is using Bird Son as a drum kit, Joe is playing a jolf club like a guitar, Hanlon is using his mustache as a keyboard, and Cecilworth is singing into his title.

“Ah yea…don’t think you are allowed over there. I do not see any open instruments anyway…”

Oooof, I feel pitiful now.

“…Not with that Kraken that just stopped your path over there.”

My subconscious even thinks that me grabbing the triangle and adding some dope flavor is a fairy tale only a Kraken could come and destroy.

“There is always that group of Red Fire Ants over there.”

That looks like one huge ant that is forcing the other ants to feed him and protect him from threats. The rest of those ants look like they are about to die from being malnourished.

“That ant is probably the king of all ants.”

More like it is a self-centered dictator that only cares about what it can gain from others. The rest are just fodder that he will just replace when he is done with them. There are already two dead ants both with odd looking mouths, that the rest are stepping on like their lives didn’t matter.

If an Ant like this king ever crossed my path I would not waver to drop all the strength of my foot on its bulges head. You would have to have zero confidence to decide to carry the water for such a gluttonous red ant.

“See…things could be worse.”

I hate it here too.

--

Tampa Bay

September 28th, 2025

I woke up in the chair.

My whole body was drenched in sweat, and my heart was pounding quicker than it should when you have been sleeping.

The details of the dream kept reverberating in my chest with each pound of my heart.

I looked at my phone:

Twenty-two percent charge.

12:23 AM the next day. I had almost slept a full day away and nobody had come to wake me up.

I did have a missed call though.

I wiped the sweat from my face and squinted my eyes at the phone.

I imagine my face went pale when I read the words:

MISSED CALL: ELLIS JACKSON.

There was also a message from him. I gripped the phone till my left hand had lost all the blood to it. I hesitated for several minutes, as what he could have said swirled in my head and the anxiety started.

I punched my thigh with my right hand to wake me from this odd fear that was coming over me.

I pushed the button.

“Nephew, I am not sure continuing to wrestle when Rebecca is with your mom is a wise decision.”

He ended it with a minute long laugh.

He was right though…what the hell was I doing?

--