D. G. Sexton

I used to be The Great Edmundo. I used to soar through the air and crash to the mat. But now I am no-one. A fall on the stairs is enough to break brittle old bones, of which I now have many.

I'd put on that golden mask almost every day. Full of pride when I saw that same mask shining back a hundred times over from a cheering crowd. No, it was not just a mask. It was my own face looking back! A hundred different versions of me cheering on as I flew from rope to rope.

The mask I see now is heavy and full of lines, scars...  The scars don't bother me... The lines however...

It wasn't just the mask though, it was the whole outfit, the whole persona. There was the purple cape. Yes, that cape was wonderful. There was nothing he couldn't do when I threw on that mask and cape! He would bound and leap across the stage, throwing aside any who dared challenge The Great Edmundo! There was none who could stand in his way! The Great Edmundo! Come from miles around to see The Great Edmundo! And they did, they came from all over. But... After a while they stopped. No one came to see The Great Edmundo. Those that did laughed at his prancing and old fashioned ways. That glorious sweeping cape became a relic of a time gone by. So did the mask. My face, for the best part of a lifetime, became an antique; a joke.

You see, I used to fly like Peter Pan, yet it's not his flight I envy now. I used to wish to be Superman, his strength and grace, to be adored like he was. But Pan, he didn't just stay young forever, everyone he knew and loved could be with him, forever living in their prime. Superman has to watch everyone he loves grow old and die. Just like I have.

The Great Edmundo may have been a tad angry, a tad aggressive, but he was graceful. Age has taken away my grace, but I think the anger and aggression may still be there. I'm not sure it ever goes away, but I am calm now for the most part. I try to stay in shape but the muscle has long ago turned to flab and my skin droops. I wander rather than fly nowadays, but it gives me time to ponder. I have a lot of time to sit and contemplate for which I am glad.

I still have the cape, I use it when I'm cold, I drape it over myself and close my eyes. I still have that glorious, golden mask too. I feel I am the only one who still has one, but I never put it on. I feel no need to wear it again. I occasionally look at it, in the way one looks at photographs of days gone by and loved ones no longer with us. I have outlived almost everyone I know, including The Great Edmundo.