Teacher and Snakes

Dash felt like every inch of his body was screaming in pain, and even after taking a cold shower, the pain persisted. It seemed like the idea of running like a wild maniac wasn't the best, but he couldn't help it; as soon as he started running, he felt happy.

"I'm going to be the dragon warrior..." Dash murmured as he slept deeply in his home's living room. What he had felt was something very few had experienced, but he had no regrets, considering he was only eleven years old, giving him at least a year's difference with his friend Dre, who participated in an impressive Kung Fu tournament.

The moment Dash opened his eyes, he was met with a man with a dominating aura, staring at him without blinking. Frederick, Dash's dad, whom he had few memories of, was sitting in front of him.

"You're awake."

Dash started without understanding his father for some time, only to realize eventually that his behavior was out of place, so he sat up. "Hello, father, you're back early."

Frederick sat comfortably and said, "Well, your mother made a fuss about your inappropriate behavior, so she asked me, is practicing martial arts a hobby, or is someone bothering you at school?"

Once again, Dash returned to the beginning, where he had to come up with a more and more ingenious excuse to train at an early age. But this time, he was in front of his father, and he knew that if he were honest, he would understand perfectly. So Dash said, "Well, father... I heard from my friend that in higher-grade schools, delinquency is much more common, so I'd rather not be the guinea pig for some bully who enjoys bothering others."

"Aren't your mother and I enough to keep you safe?" Frederick was very interested in where his son was going with all this explanation. In truth, he was very impressed with the changes Dash was undergoing, so he wanted to test him.

Dash smiled ingeniously and replied, "Even so, you won't always be by my side; I must fight my own battles... Besides, now that one of my online friends is going to China, I want more than ever to learn self-defense."

Frederick nodded slightly, looked at his cellphone, and said, "Well, son, you'll have to set aside your video games to learn some martial arts, are you sure about this?"

"I want to be strong, father," Dash replied with sweaty hands; he was nervous but really wanted to give it a try.

"And you will be, little Dash..." replied a slightly hoarse voice behind him. By the time Dash turned to see who it was, Frederick stood up, and after greeting the Asian-looking man, he said, "Son, meet Mr. Kim; he's one of my bodyguards and will be the one to teach you martial arts."

"Is this a hidden master?" Dash wondered, looking at the elderly Asian man very excitedly. Mr. Kim smiled and said, "Your father told me that his son wanted to learn martial arts; I know a bit of Kung Fu, so I can teach it to you... However, you must know that martial arts are not a game but something that must be taken very seriously."

"I understand that, Mr. Kim; I'm excited to learn," Dash said as he bowed to Mr. Kim.

"Oh, there's really no need for that now... Classes start tomorrow, so since it's the weekend, we'll begin at seven in the morning," Mr. Kim said, then bid farewell to Frederick and left.

Dash looked suspiciously at his father but didn't say anything; he knew the more effort he put in, the more he would learn. Plus, he was excited to see if he had the chance to enter the tournament that Dre would participate in later.

After dinner, Dash was in front of his computer, on a call with Devon Lee, who seemed to be talking about the book she had stopped reading because every paragraph was too sensationalist.

"[It's complete garbage; I should find that author and shove the book in his face for selling such trash]" Devon Lee said after venting his anger to Dash, who was falling asleep.

"Well, you're partly to blame for not looking for a review of the book you're buying," Dash murmured as he set the alarm for six forty in the morning.

"[It was a damn gift from my uncle; he probably didn't even read the book he bought before giving it to me...]" Devon Lee sighed with dismay and asked, "[So, you're saying you want to learn martial arts now?]"

Dash smiled and said, "I'd call it a lifestyle..."

"[Yeah, you can also say you'll be the dragon warrior...]"

"How did you know?" Dash, who was falling asleep, raised his voice.

"[Don't shout at me; wait, just to clarify, you're not doing all this because we watched Kung Fu Panda a few days ago, right?]" Devon Lee asked with a slightly unnatural voice.

Dash thought about it for a moment and said, "Of course not, I'm serious about this."

"[Yeah, well, whatever... Go to sleep; I don't want to have to hang up when I start hearing your snores, that would really put me in a bad mood.]" Devon Lee had finished venting to Dash, so she just wanted to sleep to rest from this exhausting day.

"Yeah, good night..." Dash hung up the call and lay down, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep with a broad smile on his face.