Post by Zack Fantana on Oct 8, 2016 6:50:21 GMT
The camera pans around a circle of chairs in the middle of a church hall. The chairs are unoccupied at this moment - all but one, that is. In it, sits Zack Fantana. With his legs crossed, Zack casually flips through a pamphlet as a man readies a coffee pot in the background.
"Tyler Keenan, you say your resurrection is coming. I want to believe you. I think the people do too. But sometimes you just make yourself so hard to root for. You want redemption but unfortunately your redemption has been stunted because you're not committed to righting your wrongs."
Zack licks his index finger and flips through the Alcoholics Anonymous literature in his hands.
"Let's see. Step 8: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."
Fantana looks over his sunglasses to the camera.
"Have you done this, Tyler? Have you made amends with poor Evie Taylor?"
Zack sets the pamphlet down on the chair adjacent to him and tilts his head back up toward the camera.
"I think we both know that you haven't. Based on the events of Livewire #2, you've instead decided to double down on your transgressions against that poor woman. You can't truncate the 12 Steps, Tyler. And you can't wait out redemption. You have to work for it. You have to change yourself at the very core.
This is where I offer myself as an example. As a selfless man of faith, I have dedicated my body to God's will and I have been rewarded for it. Just look at all the blessings He has bestowed upon me over the course of my career. The proof is in the pudding. I speak to you as the number one contender to the EOW Atlantic Championship, do I not?"
Zack shrugs his shoulders before sitting up in his chair.
"The truth is I see a lot of myself in you. We both could be models, although one of us has too much depth for that. We're both wordsmiths, although only one us has coined a bevy of popular phrases known as Fantannerisms. We're both unlucky in love, even if I still maintain that the misunderstanding on Livewire #2 was entirely on Melissa May's end. I don't think she realized how handsome I actually am. It must have been the lighting.
Yes, you and I are a lot alike in many ways. You could easily be on your way to reaping the same rewards if you had just managed to make it to step 3 of the 12 step program."
Fantana picks up the pamphlet once more and reads from it.
"'Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.'"
Zack taps on the pamphlet emphatically.
"See, there's the fundamental difference between you and me. You let a bottle control you, whereas I allow the Holy Spirit to guide me to the summit. You have no direction in your life. Try as you might, you're never going to find salvation at the bottom of that bottle, Tyler. But I can lead you back to the path of righteousness.
It's true that I have never fallen to the perils of alcoholism... I've simply never had a need to escape my reality, but that doesn't mean I can't guide you out of it."
With a pause, Zack leans forward in the wooden folding chair and rubs his hands together in thought.
"Let me show you something."
Zack stands up and walks over to the far side of the church hall, approaching a painting hanging on the wall.
"Do you recognize this painting? It's a print of Rembrandt's called The Raising of Lazarus. I'm sure you're familiar with the tale of Saint Lazarus. Dead for four days and resurrected by Jesus.
I've been thinking. Maybe I had it all wrong. Maybe when I hit you with The Godsend, it won't be your burial. Who knows? Modern art can be so abstract and indecipherable. It could be your spiritual awakening. That Godsend may be the wake-up call you need to finally reconcile the damaged relationships in your life. Maybe I am your Godsend.
Or you could take it at face value. You showed up in the ring against a man who was just a little too strong, a little too fast, and a little too composed for you. Your resurrection may come in time, Tyler. But not just yet."
"Tyler Keenan, you say your resurrection is coming. I want to believe you. I think the people do too. But sometimes you just make yourself so hard to root for. You want redemption but unfortunately your redemption has been stunted because you're not committed to righting your wrongs."
Zack licks his index finger and flips through the Alcoholics Anonymous literature in his hands.
"Let's see. Step 8: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."
Fantana looks over his sunglasses to the camera.
"Have you done this, Tyler? Have you made amends with poor Evie Taylor?"
Zack sets the pamphlet down on the chair adjacent to him and tilts his head back up toward the camera.
"I think we both know that you haven't. Based on the events of Livewire #2, you've instead decided to double down on your transgressions against that poor woman. You can't truncate the 12 Steps, Tyler. And you can't wait out redemption. You have to work for it. You have to change yourself at the very core.
This is where I offer myself as an example. As a selfless man of faith, I have dedicated my body to God's will and I have been rewarded for it. Just look at all the blessings He has bestowed upon me over the course of my career. The proof is in the pudding. I speak to you as the number one contender to the EOW Atlantic Championship, do I not?"
Zack shrugs his shoulders before sitting up in his chair.
"The truth is I see a lot of myself in you. We both could be models, although one of us has too much depth for that. We're both wordsmiths, although only one us has coined a bevy of popular phrases known as Fantannerisms. We're both unlucky in love, even if I still maintain that the misunderstanding on Livewire #2 was entirely on Melissa May's end. I don't think she realized how handsome I actually am. It must have been the lighting.
Yes, you and I are a lot alike in many ways. You could easily be on your way to reaping the same rewards if you had just managed to make it to step 3 of the 12 step program."
Fantana picks up the pamphlet once more and reads from it.
"'Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.'"
Zack taps on the pamphlet emphatically.
"See, there's the fundamental difference between you and me. You let a bottle control you, whereas I allow the Holy Spirit to guide me to the summit. You have no direction in your life. Try as you might, you're never going to find salvation at the bottom of that bottle, Tyler. But I can lead you back to the path of righteousness.
It's true that I have never fallen to the perils of alcoholism... I've simply never had a need to escape my reality, but that doesn't mean I can't guide you out of it."
With a pause, Zack leans forward in the wooden folding chair and rubs his hands together in thought.
"Let me show you something."
Zack stands up and walks over to the far side of the church hall, approaching a painting hanging on the wall.
"Do you recognize this painting? It's a print of Rembrandt's called The Raising of Lazarus. I'm sure you're familiar with the tale of Saint Lazarus. Dead for four days and resurrected by Jesus.
I've been thinking. Maybe I had it all wrong. Maybe when I hit you with The Godsend, it won't be your burial. Who knows? Modern art can be so abstract and indecipherable. It could be your spiritual awakening. That Godsend may be the wake-up call you need to finally reconcile the damaged relationships in your life. Maybe I am your Godsend.
Or you could take it at face value. You showed up in the ring against a man who was just a little too strong, a little too fast, and a little too composed for you. Your resurrection may come in time, Tyler. But not just yet."
