This story is one that I started many years ago. And while it is pure fiction, as are all the characters mentioned; I really hope you like it. I decided to write this one in the third person due to so many requests. A very big thank you goes to Peter Murrell for his sharp editing skills so; thanks, Mate! Oh, and please don't forget to vote.
MoogPlayer
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Chapter One
"We're going to have to take the baby Cesarean, Mrs. Markinson," said Doctor Harry Johns.
"Ahhhhh," screamed Jane Markinson, in childbirth. The problem was that the baby had not turned to come out head first. Instead, the child was trying to come out breach. After much struggle, Jane Markinson gave birth to a four pound, seven ounce, baby boy that she named Mason Heath Markinson Junior. Mason, or 'Mace', as he was nicknamed, was named after his father who was a United States Army Medevac Helicopter pilot. Jane, Mason's mother, had just received word two days prior to her son's birth that her husband's UH-1D Iroquois, Huey helicopter had been shot down while pulling wounded men out of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam, during November of 1965. And because of the fact that the aircraft was at an altitude of well over two hundred feet in the air, the chopper was brought down from ZSU fire, resulting in the deaths of everyone aboard. Due to the traumatic news of the death of her husband, Jane immediately went into labor two months before her due date; hence the reason the baby hadn't properly turned yet, and was born premature as well as under developed.
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FIVE YEARS LATER
"Happy Birthday, Mace, Sweetie," said Jane Markinson, as she place a homemade chocolate cake with five candles burning atop of it, onto the table in front of her son.
"Wheeee, Mommie," replied young Mason, the sound of his little voice reflecting the smile on his face. Because he was born prematurely, Mason's little body was slight and seemingly frail. Jane had never really had any family to speak of so, when her husband was killed; his parents, Chandler and Vivian Markinson, lovingly and gladly took her and their grandson in as their own. However small Mace's little body might have been, he more than made up for it with his huge heart, even at such a young age.
As soon as the birthday cake was in set front of Mace, Chandler, or Papaw, as Mace called him, leaned down close to the boy and said, "Okay Mace, close your eyes and make a wish, little buddy." As the boy complied, Candler smiled and added, ""Now open them and blow out the candles."
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HIGH SCHOOL
AUGUST 1979
"I'm sorry, Mason, but you're too small to play football. You might get seriously hurt, and that wouldn't be good, now would it?" said Coach Nathan Brice, deeply regretting having to turn away one of his favorite students.
"I understand, Coach," Mace cheerfully replied, but clearly disappointed, "Maybe next year I'll be big enough to play"
As he walked away from football tryouts with a smile on his face, Coach Brice sadly watched Mason, and then shaking his head with tears starting to form in his eyes, he looked to the heavens and silently said, "It's not fair. It's just not fair, God, that you would put the heart of a Lion into the body of a sparrow. It's just not fair." Although Mason had only known defeat in his early years, that wasn't to say that it would be that way all his life.
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All throughout school Mason excelled in his studies. The reason that all of his teachers adored him was, because whenever any of his classmates were having trouble understanding their work assignments; Mason was always there to help them. He explained the work to them in a way that made it easier for them to understand.
At the beginning of each school year, teachers in whatever school Mason attended, each vied for the chance to have him as one of their students. They knew that if he, Mason, was in their class then all of their students would pass that year, and not have to be held back.
It had been that way from the time Mason was in Kindergarten until he graduated High School. And while Mason loved sports, he had always been out sized by his classmates and therefore was too small to play. However, that would all change when he reached college.
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All of the students of the class of 1982 sat in their seats waiting for their names to be called out so they could walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. When Mason's name was called, he proudly walked upon the stage to the cheers and whistles of his classmates.
You see, he was never picked on by his peers when he was in school, and if anyone ever tried, one of the bigger students, or upperclassmen, were always there to take up for him, because Mason was loved by everyone who came in contact with him. When he was a freshman, the football team made him their mascot when, at a football game one Friday night; a student from the rival high school was speaking ill of their high school's team and Mason accosted him. What started as an argument escalated into a fight, and Mason got beat up pretty badly, and had to stay home from school the following week.
However, the other student had to spend ten days in the hospital in order to surgically set his leg that, through sheer strength of his own will, Mason had somehow managed to break.
His mother and grandmother scolded him openly for fighting, while his grandfather secretly cheered him on for what he'd done to the other guy. "Mace, little buddy," he chuckled, "It don't matter how bad you get beat up in a fight, as long as the other guy is worse off than you are, son."
When word of this reached the student body of his school, there were so many students who had volunteered to take Mason his missed assignments, the school staff ended up having to make each of the volunteers submit their names into a box; and then the principle would draw names from the box at random. Everyone agreed that it was the fair thing to do.
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THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is a self defense class, nothing more. If I hear of any of you using what I'm going to teach you this semester, for anything other than self defense, then you'll answer to me. Have I made myself clear?" Coach Benjamin Tyler told his freshmen students. After acknowledgement from his class, Tyler handed out the necessary forms, release forms, and lists of supplies needed for class. He looked around the room, and to Mace, he pointed at him and said, "You, what's your name?"
"Mason Markinson, sir," Mace respectfully replied.
"See me after class, if you would," said Coach Tyler.
"Yes, sir," replied Mason.
As the other students left the gym, Mason remained, wondering what it was his teacher wanted to see him about. As the last student walked out the door, Tyler made his way and stood next to Mason.
"I knew Nathan Brice when he and I served together in Vietnam," Ben sadly told him, "I also knew your father, Mason."
"Really," Mason excitedly asked, "You knew my Dad?"
"Yeah, I knew him well. He and I were in the same Helo Squadron," replied Ben, "He was one hell of a guy, Mason. He was also the bravest man I ever knew. You look a lot like him you know."
"That's what my Mom and grandparents say, too," laughed Mason.
"Look Mason," Ben quietly told him, "Nathan Brice told me that you have the heart of a Lion; and that's why I want you to call me Ben from now on, when it's just you and me. But in front of the rest of the class you gotta call me Coach Tyler, okay?"
"No sweat, Ben," Mason smiled, feeling an immediate kinship for this man who had known his father.
"I was wondering if you might want to think about taking the full Black Belt Course while you're here, Mason," Ben suggested
"I don't think my scholarship will pay for it," Mason replied, "But I'll find out if..."
"No, no, that's not what I meant," Ben interrupted, "I want to teach you myself, and it won't cost you a thing, just some time and a lot of hard work."
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Mason trained as hard as he studied, and by the time he was nineteen; what he had lacked in physical height was more than made up for in body strength. While he wasn't bulky like a weight lifter, his physique became sinuously smooth, like that of a swimmer. Mason only stood five feet, seven and a half inches tall, but after training, as well as following Ben's suggestions on what his diet should consist of; Mason grew and ended up weighing in at a whopping one hundred, seventy-five pounds of not bulky, but smooth, defined, yet solid muscle tissue in just a little over a year. His flexibility came from Ben having him train with some of the gymnasts and tumblers on campus, and after hours of intensive training over the summers; Mason's flexibility knew no boundaries. He could do not only the conventional splits, but the Chinese splits as well.
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Ben had kept Mason from participating in the Karate tournaments, whether they were local, or state sanctioned events; and up until Mason's junior year in college, he had never stepped onto the mat against a live opponent. It was at the beginning of that year that he unintentionally began to make his presence known on campus, and in a very big way, too.
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He was twenty years old now, and on his way to English class one spring afternoon, when Mason saw a group of three guys harassing a girl that he knew from training with the gymnasts. She was very pretty and her name was Heather Winters. She had also discreetly flirted with Mason over the course of his training, but due to his lack of experience with girls; he never picked up on her signals. That's not to say she didn't stop flirting. She only did it more openly, as well as more brazenly at times when she thought no one was looking, but she and Mason were still friends. And over a period of time, he began to feel more than a "friendly" affection toward her, though he'd never let her know, for fear of spoiling the relationship he already had with her.