Time And Again

Chapter 1

Life has a funny way of giving a person what they need when they need it and even when they don't. Just like life, time works in the way too. It has a way of showing us what really matters, who really matters, and what doesn't. It reveals the things you need to make it through. 

The thing about time is we're all traveling through it, all migrants through time and our own life journeys. Every day is a little more time spent and a little more time traveled on this intriguing journey through life. Everyone's journey is unique, with problems to solve and lessons to learn. And steps that move them forward into a single destiny. 

No matter how hard or rocky the road gets, keep traveling on. Stay the course. Don't give up. The way we spend our time and who we spend it with define who we are. In this life, the choice is ours alone to decide what to do with the time we're given. 

Time is also made up of millions of moments. Every moment is a miracle, a living, breathing miracle. There are some moments that imprint a person's life for the good and the bad, big or small. Moments that cause realization to dawn and a light of understanding to turn on. Moments that say you will never, ever be the same again. It changes you. Every moment that changes your life changes you. It just does. 

Sometimes those moments slip by us unnoticed. We never feel or see their significance until certain events happen later. But then there are those times that the strength of the impact is felt the second it happens. And sometimes, on that rare occasion, life throws a curve ball all of a sudden. It requires a certain fearlessness and a ton of faith because it alters the whole life's course forever. It changes not just yourself but your entire destiny. All you can do is trust in the journey and keep pressing on.

Those are the moments, those are the ones, that force the heart to wonder, "Is this my life? Did that really just happen?" Or, in Johnny Lawrence's case, "What the hell?" Followed by a severe sounding "Bullshit!" It all started after the All Valley Tournament. 

Being choked out by a respected and revered teacher is akin to being hit by a big truck. Take that and couple it with losing the tournament because second place is the first loser, and you have a recipe for disaster. The feared Cobras gathered their whits about them and helped Johnny into Bobby's car. 

Once their leader was situated, Jimmy jumped in the back, and they were off. Tommy and Dutch followed close behind in another vehicle. The engine in Bobby's blue roadster roared with life, but that's a Cabriolet for you. Plus, it's as fast as the roadrunner in that Bugs Bunny cartoon. At least Johnny thinks the car is. This line of thought is fitting, seeing as how the only thing he can think of at the moment is childish cartoons. 

His whole life is like a screw-up cartoon or that crazy television show Candid Camera. He keeps waiting for the guy in the bushes to jump out and say, "Hey, you're on Candid Camera," but it never happens. And he could really use those words tonight. It won't happen, though. He knows this almost as much as he knows he lost to that Dweeb, that asshole.

How that freaking new guy could come along and beat him with an illegal kick to the face is beyond him! It's one hundred percent the asshole ref's fault! Like karate is Danielle's life! No. It's only "My life!" Judging by the look Bobby gave from the driver's seat, he had to have said that out loud.

His compassionate friend began talking as he drove. "You OK over there, Man? You're not a loser, you know? And if you're a loser, we all are, which we did. We lost, I mean. But we can talk about this later." Bobby turned the radio up, and thank God he did. 

If he continued to talk, it would do nothing but irritate the already massive irritation Johnny feels. That would do nothing but make him lash out at his best friend and say something stupid like, "Just shut up and drive, would you!" Geez. The guy is such a do-gooder. He's always doing something to help someone or encourage others, in the same way Wendy's gives out free Frosty's to kids under five. But then Bobby wouldn't be Bobby if he didn't, and that's one of the reasons he's his best friend.