End of the Road

[Dan Herrera]

”A story really isn't truly a story
until it reaches its climax and conclusion.”

~Ted Naifeh~

[ Begin Diary Entry ]

Entry 14: Revival
Date: 09JUN16

Dear Loved One,

        It’s been awhile since I’ve written you. Quite a long time, in fact. Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong. When you read this you’ll see a spot of over a year where I went ghost on you and these letters. But don’t think that something happened. Don’t believe that anything was wrong. I just went on from what I had been doing to something I felt was better at the time. The last thing I had written to you was about enduring. Well, I had endured all that I cared to and done all that I had felt I wanted to up until that point. So I walked away, never knowing if it was the last time that I would see the ring again.

        Well as it turns out, it wasn’t. Once again, I’m back in the one place that I’ve always felt I belonged. I’m back in a professional wrestling arena, putting in the work that I’ve enjoyed for almost twenty years. That may seem like a long time for an old timer like me, but over half of that was spent behind a desk. I’m no spring chicken, but I’m no cattle that needs to be put to pasture either. I found my way back to my sanctuary after a nice time away and I couldn’t be happier about it.

        The time away gave me a much needed perspective that has done me well. I’m into my fourth match back in Frontier Grappling Arts since my “retirement” and now in the finals of a tag team tournament with a very dear friend of mine, Cordy Stevenson. Now we’re taking on a pair of women that many women and men would be worried about coming out in one piece against. But I’m not that normal, and fear is replaced by excitement by the fact that despite how old I am and how worn I’ve become, I’m right here in the thick of things on the precipice of completing something that I have never done in FGA or in wrestling in general.

        What does that mean to you? How can I explain how this new outcome can affect the way you live your life? In life, you’ll come to many crossroads. Things will be hard for you and you’ll have two choices. You can keep going and spinning your wheels covering less ground with more energy as you burn on towards your goal, or you can rest and come back more refreshed. Perhaps losing time in the process, but not spinning your wheels as much. You’ll have the traction back to make big gains on your goals the way you always intended things to be.

        Quitting isn’t always the end of things, loved one. No, sometimes it leads to new beginnings. And despite the fact that sometimes those new beginnings remain in old stomping grounds, they are rejuvenating none-the-less. Don’t ever think for a second that things will always be required in the here and now and there’s not chance to ever come back to something in the future when timing is better. The saying goes, “when one door closes, another opens” and as cliche as it is, it’s true. You may miss out on opportunities in life because the timing isn’t great. Just know that when you are ready for something, there will be opportunity for it. You just have to look for the right openings, and sometimes they’ll be hard to find. But they will be there, and if you take them when ready the outcome will be much more worthy than anything that you push too hard for or extend yourself beyond your own means to get just a little earlier than you could if you time it right. 

        The timing is right for me. Right now I am at the end of a return journey that has yielded exactly the spoils of hard work that I’ve been waiting for. Me and Cordy can become Dynamic Duos winners, or runners-up. Either way, I’ve accomplished something that’s eluded me in the past. I’m proud of where I am, and I’ll be working extra hard this week to ensure that when all is said and done, my name and Cordy’s will be etched into the history books. The revival of Dan Herrera has just started, and I’m excited to see where it leads this time.

Signed with Love,

Dan Herrera

[ End Diary Entry ]

---

[ Begin Scene I | Legacy ]

[ Setting: Dan’s Home Office ]

[ Location: Raleigh, North Carolina ]

[ Cast: Dan Herrera, Peaches ]

(As I finish writing the last words of my open letter, I close the journal and run my hand over the outside, reading the words on the front. “For You, When I’m Not There To Say It To You Straight”. I smile, knowing that what I’ve written will hopefully help my future kids in some way shape or form adding onto everything that I am able to teach them when I’m around. I pick it up and start to put it into my desk when Peaches walks into the office and catches a glimpse of my notebook. I’ve never told her about it, but somehow I’m not sure how she’d react to it. Placing it into the bottom drawer of my desk, I smile at her. She smiles back coming over to my side of the desk and leaning against it sitting on it’s edge.)

Peaches: What was that?

Dan Herrera: Well… just something special I’ve been working on for a very long time.

Peaches: Really? Looked like a journal or a diary to me.

Dan Herrera: In a way, it is.

Peaches: Oh?

(For a moment, I struggled with the decision to be honest and just tell her what it was. Me and Peaches have been together for a long time, but there’s never been mention of marriage or even kids involved. So telling her that I’m writing something to give to my kids when they’re older seemed like setting a standard to our relationship that she would have to live to to make me happy. That couldn’t be farther from the truth though. I liked the way things were for us and I didn’t want anything to change. So instead of try to hide it, I just decided to be honest like I always am with her and let her know what it was.)

Dan Herrera: Yeah, it may seem kind of weird, maybe even a bit lame.

(Peaches smiled at me taking hold of my hand.)

Peaches: It’s fine Dan. We both know you have plenty of ideas running through your head all the time, good and bad. This one obviously stuck, so I can only assume that it was a good one. So what is it?

(I pulled the notebook back out placing it on the desk. She leaned over reading the words on the front again. “For You, When I’m Not There To Say It To You Straight”.)

Peaches: That seems awful ominous. What is this?

Dan Herrera: Don’t worry, it’s not something I’m writing to you.

Peaches: I’m not jumping to any conclusions Dan. Just curious is all.

Dan Herrera: Well bear with me then. It’s a journal I started back when I joined FGA. I feel as though in my life I’ve been through so many different types of things that I’ve got a knowledge base that I want to share. Things and stories that can have a real impact on the person that reads them. Perhaps it can inspire them to keep going or to live in a way that gives them the most happiness they can find in life. Maybe not make the mistakes that I’ve made, but make their own and learn new lessons that even I have never been privy to.

(Peaches sighs and looks at the notebook again before looking at me.)

Peaches: That sounds great Dan. I believe you when you say that the things you’ve been through can help others. I know that you’ve always helped me when I needed it. I have no doubt that those same stories can help someone else. But you didn’t say who it was for?

(Taking a deep breath, I know I’m entering the territory I had feared earlier for not telling her about this earlier. I only hope that after I utter the next few sentences it doesn’t scare her off.)

Dan Herrera: It’s for my kids.

(Peaches eyes go wide for a moment looking at me as her face drops down a bit with her looking up at me.)

Peaches: Oh.

(I quickly try to recover.)

Dan Herrera: This doesn’t mean anything between you and me Peaches. I’m not trying to pressure you into anything. It doesn’t even mean that I or we will ever have kids. But I did want to write it all down, and when and if it does happen. I will have it for them. I hope that makes sense.

(Peaches takes a moment before she looks up again smiling at me.)

Peaches: I think that’s really sweet, Dan.

(A big grin comes across my face.)

Peaches: You and I, we’re easy. Things between us have always been the way they are supposed to be. We don’t have to talk about what the future holds, because day after day we live it. And if the day comes where we get married, we’ll be ready for that. And if kids comes after that, or even before it… we’ll be ready for that too.

Dan Herrera: You don’t know how glad that makes me feel to hear you say. I’ve been writing this even before we got together. It’s not an ultimatum on our relationship, or any I would have gotten into after I started writing it. Only a gift, to whomever may need it when the time were to come.

Peaches: Whomever receives it, whether your own child or someone you care about deeply. I’m sure the message will see it’s purpose.

Dan Herrera: You’re the best Peaches. Thank you for being so understanding.

(Standing up to my feet, I move over in front of Peaches pulling her to her feet and grabbing hold of her hips pulling her in for a hug before leaning in and kissing her.)

Peaches: Well Dan, no need to get so sappy on me. This isn’t like you.

(She laughs, and I do too.)

Dan Herrera: Well, this means a lot to me. I’m allowed to be every once in awhile. Keep my hard shell from closing up fully.

Peaches: Yeah, I don’t need to own Superman anymore favors if I have to get him to crack you out of your own self again.

(We both laugh again.)

Dan Herrera: It’ll be nice to have you with me at Vertigo again this week. One more match to go. Couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather have ringside to see the end of this Dynamic Duos journey with me.

Peaches: Well let’s just make sure I’m holding your hand up, and not cradling your neck while you’re laying on the mat shall we.

(I furrow my brow at her and she laughs.)

Dan Herrera: Not gonna happen. One more match. One more win.

Peaches: Cheers to that.

[ End Scene I ]

---

[ Begin Promo I | End of the Road ] 

I wouldn’t say we were written off when this tournament started. But we certainly weren’t put in the position our opponents are in. We were not high enough on the ranking of expected winners to be given a bye like Le Pacte de Immortels, but people knew we were going to be a force to be reckoned with.

And look at us now, rolling into the FGA Dynamic Duos finals like gangbusters.

Team Nox: Eliminated.

The Blood Brothers: Eliminated.

#RubyWay: Eliminated.

Le Pacte de Immortels: ???.

Now I’d draw correlations to a pattern here, but to be in the finals the very definition requires you to be undefeated previous, so the point would be moot. 

But there’s no denying that every match that me and Cordy have been put in we’ve overcome all the odds and put both of our years of knowledge together to wind up with our hands raised by the time that bell had rung to finish the match. The hardest challenge thus far being this past Vertigo. You all saw the hell that Hardaway and Tyler put us through. I’ve had almost every person I’ve talked to about that match tell me that they had no idea who was going to be walking out of that match until it ended. We’ve been put to the test, three different times, and shown that when push comes to shove, we hit the hardest. 

Proving that point against Lady Magdalena and Sophie El will be no small feat. Sophie El and Lady Magdalena are looking to bring to FGA the same fire and tenacity that they’ve shown for awhile now in other companies. Matches and accomplishments that there is no way I could look past. I’ve seen these young blood tournaments and how far they’ve gone in them. The brutality and finesse that they’ve shown in the ring against very tough and heralded opponents already. They chose this tournament to continue to prove that they are two of the best in this business. And they chose the same path to do so as me and Cordy did to make our returns. 

Both of our teams having our own reasons for entering this tournament and having the other standing across from us trying to keep us from fulfilling it. There will be no shortage of drama. There certainly is no shortage of skill on either side. This truly becomes another match where all are left to wonder til the very end just who has the endurance to make it to the end. 

Well if there’s one thing that the FGA world knows about Dan Herrera, it’s that he never gives up. He never goes away. Using an analogy that many have used against me in the past, I’m FGA’s cockroach. You can stomp me into the ground as many times as you want thinking you’ve beaten me. That I’m done and dead and gone. But I’ll keep getting back up. I’ll keep coming back at you. Nuclear fallout couldn’t keep Dan Herrera down. 

And that’s what it’s going to take and more come Vertigo to keep me from achieving being the champion of Dynamic Duos. 

Me and Cordy. We started this tournament as a way back to the place we love doing what we love. We didn’t assume anything about our path to where we are now. Only that we were ready to take the first steps together towards where we are now. Two heralded FGA wrestlers, back and ready to do business. Knowing that if not an anyone else’s minds, in our own, that we had what it took to go all the way to the end. That our experience would be enough to keep us together and fighting at a higher level than any team new or old could match. The end is near, and our belief almost turned to truth. 

There’s only one last hurdle to jump.

Do you have what everyone else hasn’t yet?

Lady Magdalena?

Sophie El? 

Will you be the last defense and weapon that’s able to put me and Cordy down for good? I don’t know the answer to that question, I only know that me and Cordy are prepared to do anything and everything in our power to ensure that you are not. 

In Florence, South Carolina… the road ends. The travel to this point is over. Win or turn around and head back down the road home. I look forward to the challenge. Let’s see who executes their game plan better. You’re going against two of the best in this business. Knowing we’re taking on the same, I can only assume that no one will ever forget what happens in Florence. We’ll see you there. 

Thank You, That is All!

[ End Promo ]