The Challenge

 

by Jobberboy

 

Just so you all know, this is a fictional story

 

My name is Josh. I'm a white, 5'6, 135lb, 25 year old man, living in Brooklyn, New York. I live alone in an apartment building on the 5th floor. I usually spend the day walking around the neighborhood doing things for people, rewarding or not. I hear alot of people's conversations (though none interested me). Day in and day out, I find myself wondering if people have anything interesting to say, something about an upcoming event or something, but nothing came up. I even talked to the people in my apartment about this, but even they had nothing out of the ordinary. It's been going on like this for three weeks.

 

One day, I walk into a laundry mat carrying a huge load of dirty clothes. The place was  nearly empty. While I waited for the laundry to finish washing and drying, these two guys walk in.  One was a big, white muscular guy named Ray, who was 39 yrs old, about 285 lbs, 6'7, bald and a goatee. The other named Jaya, who was 40 yrs old, 260lbs, 6'9, shaved head, and no beard. They were talking about having some kind of strength contest between them. This was out of the usual things I hear, so I listen in on it. They list the kind of contest they'd already done and they try to come up with something new. Ray carries on. "I just remembered watching this wrestling match where this huge guy grabs the smaller guy in a bearhug. The dude got out though. Yeah. That's it!"

 

"What's it?"

 

"We should have a bearhug contest!"

 

"Sounds good accept we don't know anyone willing to help us out."

 

"Then we'll just someone nearby."

 

As soon as my laundry was done, the two notice me. Ray comes over to me. I start feeling nervous. "Hey kid, you like bearhugs?"

"Yeah.... Why?"

 

"My friend and I were just wondering if you'd like to help us out with a little contest."

 

"Ok. I'm Josh. What's your name?"

 

"Ray."

 

Jaya comes over. "My name's Jaya. Nice to meet you."

 

"Thanks. What kind of contest do you guys have in mind?"

 

Ray responds. "A bearhug contest. It'll be between me and Jaya here. The goal will be to get you to say "I give" or to make you pass out."

 

"Sounds interesting. Ok. I'm in."

 

Jaya responds. "That's good to know. Meet us at 135th st at 71st ave by 6:00. We have a place there."

 

"Sure."

 

Ray with a grin on his face."Ok then. See you then kid. Hehehe"

 

            As Ray and Josh leave, I got to thinking (I'm gonna be a part of something I've never done before). I spent the next few hours imagining how things would turn out. Luckily, I was living by myself so I won't have to ask permission from anybody. When the time came for me to meet Ray and Jaya, I felt both nervous and excited at the same time, nervous knowing that I'm the one who would be suffering most from the pain, and excited because I was about to experience something new in my life. So I put on a white, no-sleeve shirt and loose light blue pants, brought extra clothes in my light, black bag, and arrive at 6:00. I thought I'd be staring at another apartment building like the ones around mine. Instead, I was staring at a house that looks new. It had a near flat triangular roof, four windows in the front (two on the top and two on the bottom), a solid wall on the left side and four more windows on the right (same position as the front), on the back, two windows on the top and a door leading to a medium size backyard (with fresh cut green grass), and a tan color on all sides. The house looked like it was made of bricks and since it looked new, I had to guess that Ray and Jaya had just moved in. I ring the doorbell and Ray answers:

 

"Oh hey Josh! Good to see ya! Come on in!"

 

I walk to the living room, which had a fresh blue coating all over. I had never seen a house this big before. I look around with a stunning face.

 

"(wow) You guys live here?"

 

"Sure do." Jaya comes in from the kitchen. "You like it?"

 

"Yeah!" I start trembling on the inside. "So where are we gonna do this?"

 

"The living room should be big enough." Ray starts to remove his red shirt. The shorts he had on black on one side and red on the other. "That ok with you Josh?"

 

"Sure." It seemed like me wearing loose clothes didn't bother either of them so they didn't ask me to take them off.

 

Jaya then looks at Ray as he starts to remove his shirt. "Let's do this up to two minutes each, then we let Josh catch his breath, then we'll switch places"

 

"Two minutes is enough time for me to get a submission out of this kid."

 

"You wanna go first?"

 

"Oh yeah!" Ray had a beefy build on him ( 45' chest, 47' abdominal, 22' arms, 50' waist, and 30' calves) with a bit of hair on his chest and torso. The tatoo he had on his back spelled P A I N. As soon as Jaya started his timer and said start, Ray approached me, wrapped his arms around me (with my arms out of course), and started lifting and squeezing me. I then put on a very painful look as I feel my small body get engulfed by this huge man. He then starts bouncing me up and down, side to side, up and down, then increases the pressure. I start giving out small signs of being in pain. "Ugh.....ugh.....ugh....ahh."

 

"Give up yet boy?"

 

"N...no!" I struggled to hang on while Ray continues to tighten the bearhug as much as he could before his two minutes were up.

 

"Ugh....ahh...ugh...ugh...ahh."

 

"Come on. Give! Give!" He starts bouncing me up and down.

 

"Ahhh!"

 

Jaya looks at his timer. "Times up."

 

Ray puts me down. "Nice job kid. You really hung in there."

 

"Thanks. You're really strong." As soon as I feel better, Jaya turns his attention to Ray for a second. "Hold my watch." Jaya was a clean, beefy build with a 50' chest, 46' abdominal, 20' arms, 45' waist and 30' calves. The trunks he had on were dark blue with small black and white stripes on the end of each side.

 

"Sure." Ray puts on the watch and restarts the timer. "Ok." One...two...three...go." He starts the timer

Jaya approaches me, wraps his arms around me, and starts off with bouncing me up and down. Jaya's bouncing felt more effective because he knew how to add pressure to it. As he continues bouncing me, Ray starts a bit of flexing in anticipation for his next turn. I scream in pain.

 

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Then Jaya tightens his bearhug and I start gasping for air. "Gasp....ugh....ugh....gasp..gasp...gasp....ugh...ahh."

 

Jaya starts laughing. "Hehehehehehehe! Can't take it, can ya boy?"

 

"Gaspppppp.....ahhhh." A minute passes and I already start feeling like I could black out at any moment, but I still hung in there.

 

"Ugh....agh....ugh."

 

Jaya tightens the bearhug even more and continues taunting me. "You don't want more of this pain do you? You know what I wanna hear."

 

"N..n..never. Ahh!" A part of me wanted to give up but I just kept taking the pain. He shakes me from side to side for a few seconds, tightens the bearhug for a few more seconds, then resumes bouncing me up and down.

 

The timer beeps and Ray shouts. "Times up!"

 

Jaya turns me loose and I drop to the floor on my knees. I slowly get back to my feet. "pant...pant...pant..pant. Now I know what bearhugs feel like."

 

Ray checks on me. "You alright Josh?"

 

"Yeah. I just need a few minutes to catch my breath."

 

"Ok." Jaya responds as he grabs his timer. "I did squeeze ya pretty hard, didn't I?"

 

"Yeah. I'll say. You guys must've been preparing for this your whole life or something."

 

Ray helps me get back on my feet. "Well it helps if you have a roomate who likes to wrestle and has powerlifting tips."

 

"That's me." Jaya says with a smile on his face. "I've been powerlifting since I was 15, then I started getting into wrestling around 20 but I was still powerlifting. I always wanted to try wrestling but I was never able to, till I met Ray over at Downtown Manhattan. We sparred with each other at different motels, depending on where we ended up meeting, till we moved here. It worked for us 'cause we don't have to pay to wrestle each other."

 

I finally catch my breath. "Wow. That all sounds very convenient for you guys."

 

"Shall we get back to the contest?" Ray gets ready to bearhug me once again.

 

I get ready to take on more pain. "Ok."

 

Jaya resets the timer then prepares to start it. "Ready?....go!" Jaya starts the timer. Ray grabs me in his bearhug and decides to take things to the next level. So he doubles the intensity of his bearhug. He bounces me up and down, shakes me side to side, then crushes me even harder. I start screaming in pain. "Ahhhhhhhhh!"

 

"Give up yet boy?"

 

"N...no." I could feel my ribs cracking and so could Ray. While watching me suffer, Jaya starts a bit of flexing just waiting to wrap his big arms around me once again. "Ugh....ahhh" After a minute passes, Ray increases the pressure even further. "Ahhhh!"

 

"Give boy! Give!"

 

"No." I didn't give when I probably should've because I always had this stubborn part of me that kept saying "Don't quit no matter what!" Because I kept listening to that part of me, it help me fight through the pain a little.

 

Jaya looks at the timer as it beeps. "Time's up!"

 

Ray puts me down. "I almost had ya."

 

I'm looking at my feet while catching my breath. "Pant...pant....yeah....almost....pant."

 

A few minutes later, Jaya gets ready for his turn.

 

Ray starts the timer. "And....go!"

 

This time, Jaya starts off by simply applying pressure as he lifts me off the ground. He tightens the bearhug every time I try to fight back. "Can't.....breath."

 

"Then tell me you give."

 

"N...n...never." As I feel the air being squeezed out of me, I start wondering how much longer can I last against these guys. A minute passes and Jaya starts his up and down bounce. I think Jaya really knew how to apply pressure to his bearhug for a guy my size because I began to black out. "Ugh....gasppp.....ughhh."

 

"Hehehehe."

 

Ray looks at me very carefully. "Whoa. I think he's out." Ray stops the timer and they both had seen that I had lost conscious. I wake up about an hour later and slowly crawl to my feet while asking: "What happened?"

 

Ray responds: "Oh, you're awake! Jaya won."

 

Jaya approaches me with his shirt on his left shoulder. "I figured my bearhug would be too much for you. It's one of my favorite submission holds."

 

"Wow, Jaya. You really know your submissions." I look at the time for a quick second. It was 8:00 p.m. "Can I get something to eat? Both your bearhugs made me really hungry."

 

Ray walks near the kithchen. "Sure. Come with me. We got some things." So I eat and we hang out for another hour. During that time, we exchange stories about how we all started watching wrestling. Upon telling each other our stories, I tell them about how I became addicted to bearhugs. Then the hour passed and I gather my things.

 

"Well I gotta go guys."

 

Jaya walks me to the door. "Come back soon, Josh."

 

"I will. Maybe next time, I can watch you guys wrestle each other."

 

"Sure."

 

Ray approaches both of us but turns his attention to Jaya. "I've been wanting another match with you anyway. At least next time, we'll have a small audience."

 

I walk out the door. "Ok. See you guys."

 

Ray and Jaya respond at the same time as Jaya closes the door. "Till next time, kid."

 

As I walk home, I thought of how great the day went for me. I've done something I've never done before, and I made new friends. I felt rejoiced in knowing that I'll be able to do it again soon.