The Batsmen (PDF)

“The Batsmen”
As a child, he was an abnormally skilled baseball player. Being able to pitch balls at great speed,
consistent at intercepting high speed pitches and lastly his incredible skill with the bat. It was a
common occurrence for Arthur to knock the ball straight out the vicinity not even needing to run for
a homerun. However, after suffering a severe loss as a result of his arrogance added along with the
pressure his family gave him, he stopped playing baseball and wanted to seek an easy going life. On
Arthurs eleventh birthday he was given a metal bat by his god father, but the steel replaced with
osmium therefore making it too heavy for the child to properly lift & swing. His god father jokingly
tells him that when he is ready to play baseball again, this bat is always ready for use.
Ten years pass by and Arthur appears to be suffering a mid-life crisis, he is married with a wife that
he does not know detests him (and is only really after his money) and a boss that treats him terribly.
On one day his wife tells him to sign a contract that allows the two to perform abnormal sex acts (to
“satisfy” Arthur’s fetishes) however not long after he is drugged and awakens to a horrific sight. His
wife having intercourse with his boss, and worst he is bound into a fixed position unable to move
and thus had to witness the events unfold in front of him. He then eventually faints from shock and
complete disbelief.
Arthur reawakens in his home, all alone. By his side there is a eviction notice letter and a notice from
his boss stating he is fired from his occupation. He suffers an immediate panic attack and begins to
run continuously for a day straight, he comes to realize he is more than thirty miles away from his
prior place of residence and begins to finally feel the gravity of his situation. He is a homeless,
broken man. He begins contemplating thoughts of suicide, but as he tries to find a target to blame all
his misery on. The only true culprit was himself, as a result of his attitude to always run away from
adversity (both figuratively and literally) he was not able to truly pursue his dream career, stand up
to his own boss and find a way to gain retribution for his wife’s betrayal. And he realizes that if he
kills himself, he would be just running away from adversity again. He makes a declaration that the
man who would just give up when things got tough dies today, and he would find a way out of this
situation.
Right after his declaration, a group of punks then decide to beat him up for an unjustifiable reason.
However, Arthur casts away his feelings of hesitation; he was resolute to not become the man he
was before so he fought them. He gave them a great fight but unfortunately did not walk away as
the victor, but fortunately a familiar face decides to pick him up from the street and bring him to his
humble abode. It’s his god father, he immediately begins to question why his godson in such a state
but Arthur is stubborn on not telling him. His godfather understands, and reveals that awhile back he
dealt with complicated family matters and decided to “cast off the weight” as it burdened him too
much whilst coming to a revelation that he is unable to save everyone and therefore should try not
to. And that ultimately it has benefited him, Arthur even after his godfather’s reveal of information
is not willing to reveal to him his situation. However, he mentions to his godfather that whilst he was
brawling with those punks he felt an incredible surge of adrenaline which bizarrely enough allowed
him to feel something he had not ever since he quite baseball.
The following day, Arthur asks assistance from his godfather in being able to find the punks who
beat him on the previous day as he believes that they are his current challenge and that settling the
score will allow him feel satisfied; most importantly, he wants to get that feeling of excitement again
and pursue it. Even though his godfather does not think the former is very healthy, he is fine with

him chasing after that feeling again. Especially since the punks where atrocious people to begin with,
not long after Arthur encounters the punks again and challenges them all to a rematch. As he fights
against them he uses his prior knowledge of baseball (such as intercepting baseballs and pitching
them at high speeds) to dodge their punches while throwing devastating attacks. He is able to take
all three of them down without much hassle, he releases a sigh of relief and then walks back into his
godfather’s apartment feeling as if he accomplished much.
About a week passes by since his altercation with the punks, his godfather tells him that he cannot
assist him in being able find another job (nor lend him money) and he jokingly uses Arthurs logic of
going against adversity as why he should not, Arthur unexpectedly agrees and decides that he will
partake on street fights to support himself both financially and mentally.
It's a month after Arthur’s decision, and he is starting gain some notoriety in the area he is in due to
his skill and display of brute strength. Arthur then gets a request to do battle with the so called
strongest called Alex, which is coincidently one of the earlier punk’s oldest brother. Arthur without
hesitation rises to the challenge and meets him in an underground fight club of sorts. Alex reveals to
Arthur that their bout is not like the usual, since one of them is about to die in their battle. Arthur
feels a chill run down his back, but does battle with Alex nonetheless.
It does not take Arthur very long to realize he is completely and utterly out of his depth; he is beaten
by a barrage of ferocious strikes which he can barely keep conscious from. And suddenly he begins
to harken back on memories such as his humiliating loss during baseball as a child, the blatant
mistreatment he was given by his boss and finally his wife’s wretched act of betrayal. He feels
nothing but anger and decides to let loose with all he has, but its ultimately futile and continues to
get beaten to a pulp. He can fade the life fade out his body, and out of the blue something primal
reawakens within Arthur. He runs away from the battle in fear of his life far away, tears rolling down
his face with a myriad of confused emotions he then heads towards his godfather’s apartment.
His godfather lets him in the house and is greeted with an embrace and a stream of tears, Arthur
bawls his eyes out saying such things as he has never changed and that he will always remain weak
and pitiful, the cracks of fear will always remain. His godfather lets go of his godson and walks over
to the kitchen, he grabs a cup and then lets it drop on the floor. Arthur is perplexed by his actions;
quickly after Arthurs godfather says that he got involved in a Japanese art called “Kintsugi” and it’s
all about fixing a broken piece with gold. As Arthur struggles to comprehend the relevancy of such a
topic his godfather immediately explains whilst he performs the art on the broken cup. He tells
Arthur that the golden cracks yield a philosophical meaning, which is to be able to make replace the
damage with something valuable; although it stands out. It shines radiantly even through darkness.
Arthurs godfather then tells Arthur that he should seek out replace this crack of fear, anxiety and
pain with something valuable that will also pierce through darkness. And then Arthur sets out to do
this immediately with his godfather assisting him. The following day Arthur’s godfather proposes to
play a game of baseball as Arthur has neglected the sport for a long time. Arthur starts playing
terribly, missing every single ball his godfather throws at him. Arthur then beings analysing his
situation, that he is only ever pre occupied with what’s directly in front instead of anything else.
Arthus not only looks at the ball, but decides using the full capabilities of his peripheral to see
everything down to the veins on his godfather’s hands to the trees leaves in the background. He
states sees everything simultaneously and then suddenly a wave of serenity goes through Arthur, he
and his bat feel like a single entity and he manages to knock the ball straight out of the park.

At this moment, Arthur realizes that he was blind before and only at this moment was he able to
see.
A day passes by and Arthur contemplates having a rematch against Alex, he lays in bed and
contemplates on life and has an epiphany that it’s not unfair, nor is it just beautiful. It’s a
combination of these things and the result is… Bizarre, Arthur realizes that life is bizarre. With this
knowledge at hand, his fear of death is halted but something else begins. A respect for it. If he is to
die so be it, as the heavens declare it to be and if his death was for a reason far beyond his
comprehension then that would be fine with him. As in the end he died for something, perhaps a
greater cause?
The next day, around midnight. Arthur patiently awaits to spot Alex and do mortal combat there and
then. Not long after Arthur notices him and without hesitation calls out to challenge him, to finish
their bout to the death. Alex grins and states he better not run away a second time with tears rolling
down his face, it does not take very long for Alex to realize he is out of his depth. Arthur during the
past two days has evolved significantly not only mentally but physically. Arthur states that now he
can see he realizes the various problems with Alex’s posture and body language; even theorizes that
he only seeks out bouts to provide for his younger punk sibling and cares for him despite the
atrocities he commits. Arthur sympathises with his lack of rationality, as it reminds him of how he
once used to be. Alex feeling completely overwhelmed, bellows a mighty scream before throwing a
punch towards Arthur he slips through easily but on closer inspection Arthur sees within Alex’s eyes
and its inner machinations and how it contained an extreme sense of sorrow, pain and regret. Arthur
decreases the velocity of his fist as he sees this, and instead of killing Alex he knocks him out with a
singular blow.
Arthur returns to his godfather’s home, and sees that he is fast asleep. Arthur heads into his
bedroom and no immediate thoughts come into mind. However, he does realize that he needs to tell
his godfather the reason why he came to this city in the first place. And how he is finally going to
head there to settle the score with his wife & former boss.
Arthur experiences a rude awakening, a stone is thrown right through his window and the shards cut
his skin. The pain which awakens him, he gets up immediately and notices that the surrounding
neighbourhood is in flames and crowds appearing to be running across the street. Furthermore, the
sounds of furniture being tossed around and screams of pain are heard from the room below him.
He recognises the screams, it’s his godfather’s. Arthur instantly confronts the would be aggressor
and throws him across the room in a desperate attempt to get him off his godfather. However, it
appears to be futile as the man Arthur is fighting against, is more powerful than any other he has
fought before. In fact, it was not even a man and more of a monster. Arthurs godfather grumbles out
a sentence “go to the basement, I think you’re finally ready to play baseball again.” Arthur is initially
confused, but instantly remembers what his injured godfather is referring to. He runs down to the
basement and suddenly sees it. The Osmium Bat.
Arthur grabs onto it but still feels its incredible weight bearing on him, but before he can become
accustomed to it the monster breaks through the floorboards of the living room down into the
basement. Arthur tells himself to calm down and just “see.” He feels at one with his bat and notices
all the fine details of beast, the pus oozing from his mouth and the lack of life at his pupils. The
monster charges towards Arthur but this is fatal mistake, as Arthur intercepts the charge and
counters with the bat. The kinetic energy being so great that Arthur manages to break through the

ribcage and is ultimately able to dismember the monster’s torso. Arthur thinking himself as the
victor and the fight being over feels the weight of his bat again and immediately heads up to the
living room to talk his godfather, he realizes how fatal the wounds are but his godfather holds onto
his godson’s arm and gives him a warning “listen closely, there has been a sudden widespread
outbreak of monsters. More specifically zombies, and I want to let you know that if you do think of
engaging yourself in combat with them. That you do not become them in the process” Arthurs
godfather shortly after passes away. Arthur sheds no tears, not out of lack of empathy. But in
realization that he must fix the damage he withstood with something valuable. But he knew deep
inside that what this valuable thing he sought would be far more abstract than he could possibly
fathom. And it could take him perhaps his whole life to find. But for now, he knew he will not fret
against the “zombie” legions and challenge them head on.