“Get up!” Peter hears from his boxing coach. “Get up and fight” he repeats. Peter is lying on the floor after his opponent punched him hard on the cheek. He can hardly hear his coach. He can hardly hear and see. He must admit he is not ready for this opponent. He doesn’t want to stand up. He knows he cannot win. “Get up!” he hears it again from somewhere behind him. He tries to get up. ‘Five…. Six’ he hears from the referee. He sits up. ‘Seven, …..Eight.’ Peter stands up. ‘Are you ready?’ asks the referee. Peter nods and lifts up his boxing gloves. He feels blood running down his cheek. Peter moves to the middle of the ring. His opponent is moving towards him from his corner. Peter feels as if he was half as big, half as fast and half as strong as his opponent. He looks so big and so strong and so fast and so young. Peter tries to hit his opponent but he misses. The opponent steps forward and hits Peter with his right hand. Peter blocks the punch. He can’t see the opponent’s left hand hitting him. The next thing he can remember is lying in the hospital bed with his wife next to him.
“What happened?” he asks her.
“Honey, honey!” she says crying.
“What happened?” he asks again slowly and painfully.
“You almost died.”
Peter looks at his crying wife. She is still so beautiful. “I guess there is no big comeback. Not for me.”
Originally posted 2021-06-26 21:33:00.