Post by Skyler Striker on May 24, 2007 5:20:47 GMT -5
Here’s a clichéd message for you – enjoy life while you still can. I’m sure you’ve all heard that one before, right? Good. Look around right now. Take stock of your life. Then look at what you still have left to go. Why worry about it? Come what may. Take your time to relax and enjoy life with the people you love and enjoy doing the things that you do. Life is an extraordinary gift which we take for granted – it’s been given, and everyone’s got a little time before the gift is taken away again. Live to the best you can before you die. Don’t let life get the better of you – be better than that. What could be better than now?
Today we find Skyler Striker, the WCF World Champion, scheduled to face Thunder in a WCF Championship Series Pyramid Match in three days, not training or worrying, but relaxing with his two daughters in their backyard. Katie Striker, Skyler’s adopted daughter, is enjoying her first swim in the Striker family’s pool, doing backflips, frontflips, sideflips and even kickflips under the surface of the water. Jade Striker is sitting beside the pool in a very nice deckchair reading yet another thick book, this time ‘Aspects of Greek History from 750-323 B.C.’ by Terry Buckley. Jade has even managed to invent a clear device that surrounds her deckchair to prevent water splashing around her and her book. Skyler, on the other hand, is taking advantage of the sunny clear blue skies above Perth, Australia and is standing on the far end of the diving board. Katie grins at her dad and swims out of the way and Skyler takes his run-up, springing off the end and executing the Skyler High Dive in the air before crashing into the water, which splashes everywhere. Any water heading in jade’s direction rebounds off her shell and falls to the brick paving, which Skyler climbs onto and sits down on while Katie swims up to him, walking in the water to keep herself afloat.
KS: That was really good, dad!
SS: Thanks, Katie. There’s nothing in the rules that prevents me from training while I enjoy my Thursday afternoons. Although I still think I could get better rotation…
JS: It won’t happen, father. You’re not small enough to perform anything more than a 630˚ rotation, the air resistance is too much.
SS: Thanks for the encouragement, Jade.
JS: No problem, father. Someone has to keep their feet on the ground in this operation.
Skyler rolls his eyes at Jade and spins his finger beside his head to indicate Jade is crazy, which Katie laughs at before disappearing underwater again. Skyler pulls himself out of the water and walks over to his towel, drying himself and sitting down on a deckchair beside Jade.
SS: Has anything come up on the opponent surveillance system in the past week?
JS: Reckless Jack and Jay Williams mentioned you once, but it was edited out of their television copy, and TXO replied by saying that they can’t call you out, but none of it was directed at attacking you. Thunder has chosen to remain strangely quiet – not even a hint out of him. He’s waiting for you, Father. He wants you to say something which he can latch onto and tear apart. Which, as always, is not the course of action you should take. Not in Thunder’s case.
SS: Life is good.
JS: Most of the time.
Skyler looks over at his daughter and manager. Jade has not lifted her eyes from the book this whole time and is still reading at a mile a minute. He worries briefly about this, and eventually chooses to vocalise his thoughts.
SS: You know, Jade, sometimes I worry about you. You just tend to ignore people. It’s not a bad thing per se, you still do the best job around here, but you need to be able to interact socially. It’s a life skill.
JS: Father, you’re the one with the 'enjoy life' philosophy. I’m just along for the ride.
SS: See? Even now, you still haven’t taken your eyes off of the book.
Jade pauses briefly. She puts her book on her legs but does not move her eyes, and we catch a brief glimpse into her thoughts as Jade contemplates whether to admit to her father that he is right and she knows it or not. She chooses not to and turns back to her book, speaking the whole time.
JS: I’m going to have to run through another medical test before your match on Sunday, father, preferably today. After your match with Creeping Death you took quite a beating, and you’ll need to be in full physical condition for your Pyramid Match at Timebomb. My statistics computer says that you’re more than fifty percent likely to come out with a serious injury.
Skyler stands and walks up to his daughter’s casing, banging his fist on it three times. Jade finally looks up at him, appalled at this treatment of her technology and presses a button, bringing down the case. Skyler sighs and picks his daughter up from her chair and throws her over his shoulder. Jade drops her book and gives him a look of terror, but the inevitable happens and Skyler F-5’s his young genius daughter into the pool. Jade comes up a few seconds later, choking for a moment and then gives her father a look of pure, unadulterated hatred. Skyler is shocked as his daughter storms out of the pool, grabs her sister’s towel and slams the door shut as she goes inside. Skyler looks at the trail of dripping water she has just left and Katie pops out of the water, not knowing what is going on and having a curious look in her eyes.
KS: Dad?
Skyler’s vacant expression and lack of words prompts Katie to be quiet, a lesson learned from her biological father, and the scene ends here.
To be continued…
However, for some, rising above the dreariness and depression that life can be is not so easy.
Today we find Skyler Striker, the WCF World Champion, scheduled to face Thunder in a WCF Championship Series Pyramid Match in three days, not training or worrying, but relaxing with his two daughters in their backyard. Katie Striker, Skyler’s adopted daughter, is enjoying her first swim in the Striker family’s pool, doing backflips, frontflips, sideflips and even kickflips under the surface of the water. Jade Striker is sitting beside the pool in a very nice deckchair reading yet another thick book, this time ‘Aspects of Greek History from 750-323 B.C.’ by Terry Buckley. Jade has even managed to invent a clear device that surrounds her deckchair to prevent water splashing around her and her book. Skyler, on the other hand, is taking advantage of the sunny clear blue skies above Perth, Australia and is standing on the far end of the diving board. Katie grins at her dad and swims out of the way and Skyler takes his run-up, springing off the end and executing the Skyler High Dive in the air before crashing into the water, which splashes everywhere. Any water heading in jade’s direction rebounds off her shell and falls to the brick paving, which Skyler climbs onto and sits down on while Katie swims up to him, walking in the water to keep herself afloat.
KS: That was really good, dad!
SS: Thanks, Katie. There’s nothing in the rules that prevents me from training while I enjoy my Thursday afternoons. Although I still think I could get better rotation…
JS: It won’t happen, father. You’re not small enough to perform anything more than a 630˚ rotation, the air resistance is too much.
SS: Thanks for the encouragement, Jade.
JS: No problem, father. Someone has to keep their feet on the ground in this operation.
Skyler rolls his eyes at Jade and spins his finger beside his head to indicate Jade is crazy, which Katie laughs at before disappearing underwater again. Skyler pulls himself out of the water and walks over to his towel, drying himself and sitting down on a deckchair beside Jade.
SS: Has anything come up on the opponent surveillance system in the past week?
JS: Reckless Jack and Jay Williams mentioned you once, but it was edited out of their television copy, and TXO replied by saying that they can’t call you out, but none of it was directed at attacking you. Thunder has chosen to remain strangely quiet – not even a hint out of him. He’s waiting for you, Father. He wants you to say something which he can latch onto and tear apart. Which, as always, is not the course of action you should take. Not in Thunder’s case.
SS: Life is good.
JS: Most of the time.
Skyler looks over at his daughter and manager. Jade has not lifted her eyes from the book this whole time and is still reading at a mile a minute. He worries briefly about this, and eventually chooses to vocalise his thoughts.
SS: You know, Jade, sometimes I worry about you. You just tend to ignore people. It’s not a bad thing per se, you still do the best job around here, but you need to be able to interact socially. It’s a life skill.
JS: Father, you’re the one with the 'enjoy life' philosophy. I’m just along for the ride.
SS: See? Even now, you still haven’t taken your eyes off of the book.
Jade pauses briefly. She puts her book on her legs but does not move her eyes, and we catch a brief glimpse into her thoughts as Jade contemplates whether to admit to her father that he is right and she knows it or not. She chooses not to and turns back to her book, speaking the whole time.
JS: I’m going to have to run through another medical test before your match on Sunday, father, preferably today. After your match with Creeping Death you took quite a beating, and you’ll need to be in full physical condition for your Pyramid Match at Timebomb. My statistics computer says that you’re more than fifty percent likely to come out with a serious injury.
Skyler stands and walks up to his daughter’s casing, banging his fist on it three times. Jade finally looks up at him, appalled at this treatment of her technology and presses a button, bringing down the case. Skyler sighs and picks his daughter up from her chair and throws her over his shoulder. Jade drops her book and gives him a look of terror, but the inevitable happens and Skyler F-5’s his young genius daughter into the pool. Jade comes up a few seconds later, choking for a moment and then gives her father a look of pure, unadulterated hatred. Skyler is shocked as his daughter storms out of the pool, grabs her sister’s towel and slams the door shut as she goes inside. Skyler looks at the trail of dripping water she has just left and Katie pops out of the water, not knowing what is going on and having a curious look in her eyes.
KS: Dad?
Skyler’s vacant expression and lack of words prompts Katie to be quiet, a lesson learned from her biological father, and the scene ends here.
To be continued…
However, for some, rising above the dreariness and depression that life can be is not so easy.