Sara Pettis | "Looking Into the Eyes of My Past" |


Sara stands outside of RWA's home offices in Kansas City, Missouri. It's been years since she was last in this building. Her father used to bring her here, and dump her on some unsuspecting intern. It's also been years since she last saw the faces on the walls that are there to greet everyone who walks in. The faces of her uncle, RWA founder, Michael Pettis, and his brother, Sara's father, Amp. Sara walks over to one of the pictures of both of them, and looks into her father's face.

We flash back to a court room in Sedalia, Missouri. This was Amp's hometown, and one of the places Sara spent her early childhood. But on this day, a year after her mother's death, she sits in the courtroom next to her "Uncle", Nathan Gust. He holds her little hand as she looks at her step-father sitting at the table on the other side of the patrician in the court room. Sitting across from Will Schorg is her own father, Amp. She looks at him, and he gives her a wink. The meeting of their eyes is broken by the sound of the judge's gavel.

"Mr. Pettis, seeing as how the Mother of the child is now deceased, you have a choice. Either you take full custody of the child, or you give up all parent rights over Sara, and we'll have Mr. Schorg sign the adoption papers giving him full custody. It is up too you." The judge tells Amp.

Sara never heard the reply that Amp gave to the judge. Maybe she just forgot what he said, she was only ten at the time. Never the less, she remembers the judge banging the gavel again, her father standing up, walking pass her, and waving goodbye without any kind of look of remorse. That was the last time she had seen Amp. And now she stood in the middle of RWA HQ, where he and his brother were seen as gods it seemed.

Sara backs away from the wall, feeling a flood of emotion come to her. "Why was it so easy for him?" is all she can think as she continues to walk into the building towards the receptionist she was told to go to in the voice mail left on her cell phone. She walks up and tells the woman her name.

"Hello, I'm..." She starts to say.

"Oh, little Sara, look at you! You've grown up so fast!" The receptionist cuts her off with.

Sara is taken back a bit by this, as she looks at the woman, in her late 40's or early 50's sitting behind the desk in front of her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you probably don't remember me. You were just a little girl the last time I saw you. I'm sorry Ms. Pettis."

Sara has a obvious look of discomfort on her face as she tries to play it off like she hasn't forgotten the woman in front of her. "No, no, I haven't forgotten. It's just, you know, been so long since the last time I was here, I've just been alittle....you know...overwhelmed by all of it." she says.

"Yes, this place was probably a lot bigger the last time you were here, wasn't it?" The receptionist says.

"You're not kidding." Sara agrees. And it's true. When she was just a child, this place was enormous. It seemed like the halls went on forever. And that there were more doors in those halls, then people in all of Kansas City. Now, as she stands in it a full grown woman, it seems so meek. The whole place seems more empty, and cold.

"Ms. Pettis, Mr. Morag is waiting for you in his office, please feel free to go back there. Oh, it was so good to see you again!" The receptionist tells her.

"Thanks, it was uh....nice to see you again too." Sara says as she walks pass the receptionist down the long hallway behind her.

As she walks down the hall, it almost seems like a ghost is walking towards her. She sees herself and her mother, the last time she walked down this hallway, holding her mother's hand, and crying. Becky is yelling something at Amp and Michael Pettis, who are both standing outside an office at the end of the hall. She doesn't remember what anyone said, or even what happened to make her mother come to Kansas City to get her. She just remembers walking the opposite way down the hall, clutching her mother's hand as tight as possible, and never wanting to let go.

It is at the door she remembers her father and uncle being in that she stops, and notices Aidan's name on the front of it with a name plate. She knocks on it meekly, like she used to when her father was in there.

"Come on in." The voice on the other side of the door calls to her. She opens the door, and immediately feels like she's back to being a kid again. She stands in the doorway, looking into the room, and immediately she flashes back to her father and uncle in that same room, years ago, as they drank liquor, and did drugs. Of course, at the time she didn't realize that, but now it's all coming back to her. It was all so obvious she thinks to herself, as suddenly she realizes...

"Sara? Hello! Sara? We lose you?" Aidan says, snapping Sara out of her trance.

"Wha? Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Morag, I just, you know. "

"I know, this office used to belong to your Uncle and father. Probably have a lot of memories in here that are just rushing back to you, right?" Aidan says, offering Sara a seat in front of his desk.

"Yea, I guess you could say that." She responds.

"Sara, I'm just going to be honest with you. At first, I wasn't sure if bringing you here was a good idea. To be honest, I'm trying to get RWA away from the image of it under the 'Pettis' banner. But I've talked to your Uncle Nathan, and he says you're really starting to come into your own as a wrestler. And to be honest there are a lot of RWA die-hards that I think would really love to see a Pettis back in RWA." Aidan explains to her.

"If I come here, I want to be more than just a last name Mr. Morag."

"I know, and I understand that. The name you wrestle under is up too you."

"How long do I have to think about it?"

"Uh...five minutes..."

"Great" Sara thinks to herself.

"In that case, I'll just stick with my real name. So when do you want me to start?"

"Next week on Reloaded, we have you opening the show up against Kyle Snow. Lets call that your audition shall we?"

"Uh, Mr. Morag, I've never wrestled on live t.v. or in front of a crowd that big before. What makes you think I'm ready for that?"

"Sara, I have confidence in you. If you have any shred of the talent your mother did, or your step father and father have, you'll be just fine."

At first Sara wants to scream out at him. Ever since she started training behind Will's back, everyone has been trying to compare her to her mother. But never has anyone offered her a chance at a wrestling career through it. Sara instead just nods her head, and gets up to let herself out. She thanks Aidan for the opportunity and tells him she won't let him down.

"Just remember Sara. You're a Thompson, and a Schorg, and a Pettis. The fans are going to love you no matter what you do."

With that, Sara just kinda gives an awkward smile, as she leaves Aidan's office. As she goes back down the hallway the way she came, again she feels like a little kid, with the weight of three wrestling legacy's pressing down on her shoulders. It's going to be a long week ahead of her she thinks to herself, as the camera stops following her as she walks down the hall, her head hanging, and her hands in her pockets till shes completely out of site....