Daydreaming: When Guys Were Boys (Creative Nonfiction) 👦🤼♂️
“The warrior is here! Hulk Hogan has no idea what he’s about getting himself into.” Like his life depends on it, the commentator gave his comments with all his energy, and like a good choir backing up the soloist, the spectator at the wrestling match responded with a loud ovation. The match was electric. It was the fight of the century, as the opposing wrestlers were meeting for the first time as opponents.
Like an attentive student in class, I and my brother were glued to the television screen as our favorite wrestlers were about to have a clash of the century. “Hulk Hogan will win; I am so sure,” I said. “Warrior always has a way of getting back from whatever beating he gets. I’m sure he’ll win this fight,” my brother replied.
In my mind, I imagined being in the stadium and getting cheered on by the crowd. “If only I could stand in for Hulk Hogan, I would give Warrior the beating of his life,” I said to myself.
Just like every other child, I had several things I daydreamed about. Days of watching movies and feeling like the main actors. I remember getting some wounds while I was trying to act like Commando. Like major cast members in a movie, I and my friends shared the characters, and I was meant to play the lead role.
As kids, when you get assigned the main character, you don’t want any of your colleagues to act better than you, or else the lead role would be passed to anyone acting better.
Like guns in movies, we had props in the form of sticks and wooden items with which we played hide and seek. “I shot you, pum pum!” I’ll always shout anytime I catch my friends unaware, and they’ll either surrender or lay flat to show they are out of the game. Childhood was fun.
Apart from dreaming to be a wrestler or actor in a movie, I also planned to be a lawyer, and probably there were a few other things I couldn’t remember. Like comic plays with possible tragic scenes, as fun as it looks, some of these daydreams had their negative sides.
At some point, even as a primary school student, we had a place where we normally wrestled after school hours. Things could have gone wrong because we are not under the control of any adults, but thankfully, they didn’t. “Who’s next? I am the reigning champion.” I’ll always boldly call after pinning any of my friends to win by count.
Although, like any reasonable TV show, the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) Universe and other wrestling shows always advise us not to try any of their performances at home. “But we are in school,” Femi, a friend of mine, once said. Later, the TV shows changed their warning to “do not try this at home, school, or anywhere.” And we were adults by then.
Aside from getting some wounds and exposure to danger, daydreaming as a kid had its positive parts too. Just like in wrestling, where a wrestler would have tried all he could to make the opponent tap out or win by count, but the latter stays in the game and may even get a comeback to secure a win, I was more determined to get things done, and I always believe that if things don’t work, there are other ways to get them done.
The Blade by Wesley Snipes was one of the movies series I enjoyed. With lots of action, funny characters, and a blend of fiction, I always love acting out the movie alongside my peers.
“Blade is a daywalker, but we need to bring him down.” As Femi, along with my other friends, makes the plan to get me, I always feel special. “I am the Blade, and no vampire shall escape the judgment of my swords.” I said to myself. I repeat, childhood was so much fun.
For the match between Hulk Hogan and Warrior, none of the wrestlers won as the match was disrupted by other famous wrestlers who had beefs with Hulk Hogan, and his own buddies too came to his rescue.
I and my brother had to organize a rematch right on our bed, and like any other funny matches we’ve had in our home, we both played the characters till we slept off.
Like a soothing massage on the current aches and busy schedules of life, I would always love to reminisce on my childhood; at least there was a time we lived as free as a bird and not with all the responsibilities and current demands of life. Now, we have plans, there is no more time for daydreaming.