Any words of encouragement—good luck, have fun, break a leg—other than what Caleb’s mom offered before each fight would have been better: “Why do you want to take a chance of messing up that cute, little face?”
While she saw Caleb’s youthful glow—a trait embedded into every mother’s DNA—a massive frame of muscle, hardened from years of wrestling, turned to look at his mother, and a face—accessorized with knobby, cauliflower ears and a nose hooked like a question mark for the unknown number of breaks suffered—smiled widely, assuring her that there was nothing to worry about.
Of course, the move to pro invited plenty of worry, and Caleb’s coach zeroed in on elbows, especially for his upcoming debut against Mark Riley—a fighter with a reputation for slicing open opponents with the points of his arms like they were blunt force carving tools.
Coach spelled out the game plan from day one of camp, “All you wrestlers are the same: you’re useless on your back, so every movement—whether on offense or defense—is to keep us from winding up like a tortoise on its shell. Got it?”
Unfortunately, the entire strategy focused on not getting into a particular position, instead of what to do if it were to actually happen, and the symmetry in Caleb’s face was disfigured—a roadmap of scar tissue and a reconstructed cheekbone—forever.

Prompted from the Six-Sentence Story at: https://girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com/2020/02/02/sundays-six-sentence-story-word-prompt-93/.

Prompted from Fandango’s Word of the Day Challenge at: https://fivedotoh.com/2020/02/05/fowc-with-fandango-forever/.
Also prompted from One Word Sunday at: https://travelwithintent.com/2020/02/02/symmetry-barbican-london/.
[…] via Six-Sentence Story: Battle Scars — MMA Storytime […]
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Ah, the best laid plans… what could go wrong?
Great details and seamless mashing (of prompts).
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Thank you!!!
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A mother’s love is truly blind.
I particularly like “..a fighter with a reputation for slicing open opponents with the points of his arms like they were blunt force carving tools.” Nothing blunt about that!
Raw, yet well done, Six 🙂
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😎
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You do this well. I just don’t get pugilism. Very clear picture of what’s happening. Good use of the cue.
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I wait for these 6 each week. MMA is sort of like WWE but real. The characters and build up is just as fun as the fight. My wife is pretty knowledgeable about the sport because of me, but she’ll just close her eyes when it gets too violent or bloody.
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Another excellent six! Is this your art work? I really like it!
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Thank you! I just use an app to create the images.
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