"One!.." I heard the shout of the referee somewhere in my head as I tried to catch my breath again. The adrenalin in my veins made it difficult for me to do more than just maintain my balance. I was tired, but somehow I couldn't stop my body from moving. So I danced.. "Two!.." I watched Charlie, my opponent, stay on the ground without so much as a single movement. One part of me wished he wouldn't even try to stand up anymore... "Three!..." but the other, the sane part, worried that I'd hit him harder than was actually necessary. I knew I'd beat him soon as he hit the floor in the previous round. "Four!.." still, I had pummeled him mercilessly, again, and again, and again... until now. Now he just lay still, and quiet... Then somehow as I danced, everything else faded. I only saw Charlie, his still body.. while somewhere in my head, faint numbers echoed... "Five..!"... "Six..!"... "Seven...!"... Then I saw it, that slightest of movement. I saw it just before everything else returned.. I saw Charlie lift his head up and look at me. I saw the blood drip from his brow, his eyes.. even his mouth. But the look he gave me, that look.. it told me all that mattered. And though I knew I'd beaten him, I was in no doubt as to who had truly won. Suddenly, I became conscious of everything again... "Ten!"...
THE END
Written for @vermillionfox's Fox Tales Contest
Picture Source: @vermillionfox
