**1990**

A eleven-year old Shannon Moore sat on his bed in his room with a frown on his face.  His arms were crossed on his chest and he definitely was not in the best of moods.  His mother had just told him that he would be taking piano lessons.  Shannon had no interest whatsoever in pianos. He wanted nothing to do with them.  He wasn't even into classical music. He liked the stuff that was on MTV.  He and his best friend, Jeff Hardy, had become fans of rock music.  If Jeff's big brother, Matt, would allow to do it, they could listen to his Kiss record whenever they wanted to. Shannon loved that as much as he loved to watch wrestling but instead, he had to take piano lessons.  He looked at his mom, who was standing in the door, with a little anger in his eyes.

"Shannon Moore, don't you look at me like that." She said with a firm voice.

Shannon rolled his eyes and looked the other way.  At that moment, he wanted to go over Matt and Jeff's house but he knew they were at the tobacco fields farming with their dad.  As much as he loved being with Matt and Jeff, he didn't like it when he had to go with them and Mr. Hardy to the tobacco fields and farm all day in the hot sun.

"But mom, you're not being fair.  I don't wanna take piano lessons.  Why can't I take guitar lessons instead?"

"Shannon, your aunt Judy called me and told me about your cousin, Brittany.  You remember her?"

"Yeah, what about her?" Shannon sighed.

"You better learn some respect when you're talking to me, boy!"

"I'm sorry!  What about Brittany?"

"She's been taking piano lessons for two years now and Judy said that her grades have gone up tremendously ever since she started to take her piano lessons seriously.  We have a piano sitting in the living room but it just sits there.  For some reason, your grades aren't what they should be and you're going into the fifth grade.  I want to see some A's on your report card this time."

"I'll try harder, I really will.  Just please, mom, no piano lessons.  I'll be a better student in school."

"No, you won't!  You're just saying that.  You go over to the Hardy's house any time you get a chance instead of doing your homework.  You're always over there!  That's why your grades are so low.  I don't understand it. Matt and Jeff are so respectful, courteous and they make real good grades. They do their work, they do what their daddy tells them to do.  You need to be like that.  That's why you're taking piano lessons starting tomorrow!"

"But mom..."

"No more discussion about this!  My decision is final!  When you start making good grades, then maybe I'll stop the lessons but until then, you will learn how to play the piano."

She left the room and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.  Shannon got off of the bed and slammed the door.

"Shannon!  Don't you slam that door, boy!"

Shannon hated his mother.  He believed that she was mean to him all the time but she really was a good mother.  She kept food on the table, was able to get Shannon some of the things he wanted and did her best to raise him to the best of her ability.  Shannon didn't see it that way though. He just didn't like her too much even though he was scared of her.  When he did something really bad, he knew who he had to come home to.  Shannon sighed and looked out the window.  It looked like Matt and Jeff were back from the fields.  He squinted his eyes and saw them getting out of Mr. Hardy's truck.  He squealed with excitement.

"Yes!  Matt and Jeff are home!" He hapilly said to himself.

Shannon just adored being with the Hardys.  He loved spending time with them.  He spent more time with him than with anyone else.  Mr. Hardy sometimes called Shannon his "third son."  Shannon's mother had no problem with the Hardys.  She just wanted Shannon to improve in school and do his homework instead of playing over their house all the time but she knew that Mr. Hardy didn't mind him being over there.

The young boy bent on his knees and looked under his bed for his shoes.  He grabbed them and quickly put them on.  He ran out of his room with anticipation running throughout his southern veins.

"I'm going to Matt and Jeff's house!" Shannon said to his mom as he ran out the kitchen door.

"Shannon!" She replied.

It was too late.  Whenever it came to the Hardys, nothing could stop Shannon.  She shook her head and laughed to herself.  It was kind of adorable how he looked up to them.

***********

"You have to take piano lessons?" Mr. Hardy asked before he bit into his sandwich.

"Yes, sir.  Mom says I'm over here too much.  She says my grades should be better." Shannon said while he and Jeff played checkers in the living room.

"I agree with your mother.  She's right.  Your grades need to be better.  If they're not, you won't be at middle school with Jeff.  Matt is gonna be in the eleventh grade.  If you wanna be where they are, you better start doing your work, son."

"Yeah, Shannon, middle school is much better than elementary school.  But when you're in the sixth grade, I'll be in the eigth grade.  After that, I go on to high school with Matt." Jeff said.

"Man, I wish I was older." Shannon said before Mr. Hardy laughed.

"Wrestling's on!  Wrestling's on!" Matt yelled from his father's room, the only television in the house was found there.

Mr. Hardy shook his head as Shannon and Jeff quickly ran from their game of checkers to his room.

"Shannon Moore, Jeff Hardy, get back here and put up this board game!" He said before they even made it.

They quickly ran back, cleaned up the mess they made and put the game back in the closet and ran back to the room.

"What is it with them and wrestling?"

**The Next Day**

Shannon sat at the kitchen table, wanting to get out of his house at that exact moment when he heard the doorbell ring.  He slouched in the chair he was sitting in as his mother came from her room.

"Sit up in that seat!  Okay, that must be your teacher.  Look, it's not gonna be that bad, sweetie.  She's only gonna be over here for a hour and a half."

"A hour and a half?!" Shannon said.

"Look, if you do good at your piano lessons, I'll talk to Gilbert and I'll ask him if you can spend the night, okay?"

"Okay!" Shannon smiled.

"Good.  That's what I wanna see.  Smile, baby.  Go to the living room and wait at the piano while I answer the door." She said as he walked to the living room and waited for the teacher.

Now, he had reason to actually go along with these lessons.  He would love to spend the night at Matt and Jeff's house.  Wrestling was coming on again tonight anyway since it was Monday.  Shannon didn't have cable and he really wanted to see the Freebirds wrestle again like they did the night before.

"Shannon..."

He looked up to see his mother along with a very young lady.  She looked like she was in her mid 20s.  She was wearing a blue shirt and a black skirt.  She had auburn hair and she had beautiful green eyes.  She had a bookbag on her back.  Shannon thought she was kind of cute and that this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"This is Heather, your piano teacher."

"Hi, Shannon.  It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, ma'am."

"Well, I'll leave you two alone.  Thank you again, Heather."

"No problem, Miss. Moore.  Shannon and I will have fun." She smiled before Shannon's mom left the room to go and walk over to the Hardy's house to see if it was okay for Shannon to stay over later tonight.

"You're very pretty, Miss. Heather." Shannon blushed.

"No, sweethart, just call me Heather.  Thank you for the compliment, you ain't so bad yourself.  Let's sit down." Heather and Shannon sat down before the piano.

Shannon watched in amazement while Heather began to just play a quick song on the piano to see if the notes were sounding fine.

"Wow.  I didn't playing piano was that easy." Shannon said before Heather laughed.

"I've been playing piano since I was four so it's easy for me, honey."

"I wanna play like you play."

"Okay.  Let's see if you like this." Heather said before she began a familar song to Shannon.

"That's the new song by Kiss!" Shannon said.

"It sure is.  I'll teach you how to play that and some more cool stuff if you just do what I ask you to do and if you'll treat me with respect, okay?"

"Alright, Heather."

**Two weeks later**

Miss. Moore looked up to the phone as it began ringing.  She was fixing one of Shannon's favorite foods, fried chicken.  She stopped what she was doing and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon.  It's Gilbert."

"Oh, hey, Gilbert.  How are you doing?"

"I'm doing just fine.  What about yourself?"

"Good.  How are my boys?"

"Matt and Jeff...oh, they went somewhere with their uncle but they're doing fine.  I'll tell them you said hello.  I was calling because I was worried."

"Worried?" She asked as she began placing the hot chicken into a container.

"Yes, about Shannon.  He hasn't been over here in quite awhile.  Is he alright?"

Miss. Moore laughed out loud.  She couldn't believe that Shannon hadn't been over to the Hardy's house in quite some time either.

"Oh, you have no reason to worry, man.  I appreciate the concern though.  Actually, he's playing his piano right now."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.  How does he like it?"

"It's amazing, Gilbert.  One day, he's begging me to not make him go through with the lessons and now, he's begging me to make the lessons longer than just a hour and a half.  He loves the piano."

"That's great.  I'm glad to hear that."

"Yes, it is.  I always have to blackmail him." She laughed.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, it used to be, if he does good at his lessons, he can spend the night at your house.  Now, it's if he doesn't do his homework, no piano lessons."

"I get it.  That's quite amusing." Mr. Hardy laughed with her.

"Yes, he asks about Matt and Jeff.  He wants to come over sometimes but I gave Shannon a reward for doing so well with his lessons and I got cable for the telelvision so he can watch his wrestling program over here now.  Shannon's doing real good, Gilbert."

"Well, tell him we miss him and that we're thinking about him.  You know, Matt's a junior now in high school and Jeff's in the seven grade at middle school so they barely have time to do anything these days."

"Yeah, that will be Shannon one day but actually, he has a recital this Sunday.  I was gonna call you three later tonight and ask if y'all could come."

"Oh, we would love to.  Where is it?"

"It's at Greater St. Paul Baptist Church and it's at 2:30 PM and ends at 4:00.  Can you make it?"

"We'll be there."

"Alright, great.  I'll see you Sunday then."

"Okay, take care."

"You too." Miss. Moore hung up the phone and walked quietly to the living room.  Shannon had been playing his piano all day.  He had only gotten up twice to use the bathroom.  She didn't want to interrupt him.

"Shannon, sweetie..." She said.

"Yes, mom?" Shannon replied as he continued praticing his song.

She was amazed with how much Shannon had learned in three weeks.  He played the insturment with such feeling and passion.  He played each note with such expertise and knowledge.  She could only imagine what he would learn next after his upcoming recital.

"I fixed you some fried chicken.  You can come and get it now."

"Great.  I was getting tired of playing that thing anyway." Shannon said before his mom laughed.

**That Sunday**

Shannon stood behind the curtain in his church suit with his folder of music that he was scheduled to play in his hand. He had never really performed in front of a crowd with all eyes on him other than his baseball and football games. There were only a couple of recognizable faces to him in the crowd. Other than that, the rest of them were strangers. He hoped he wasn't developing a severe case of stage fright but the fear of screwing up was the only lurking throughout his mind. There were a lot of great players that had performed before him and he wanted to better, if not as good as they were but he knew he had a gift, according to what Heather told him and he wanted to show it.

"Shannon." A voice called out from far away.

Shannon turned around to see Heather walking towards him. She had her hair in a french roll and she had on a red dress. She was looking beautiful.

"You ready, sweethart?" Heather asked as she straightened his bow tie.

"I'm really feeling nervous. I just looked at those people out there and I felt really scared. Fear of messing up and just basically, wasting all the time you've set aside for me."

"Shannon, I remember you telling me that you wanted to be a wrestler. Isn't that right? You like watching Michael Hayes and the Freebirds with the Hardys?"

"What do you know about wrestling?"

"I try to catch it whenever I can. I always try to stay updated with what is 'cool' to you kids these days."

"Well, yeah, I really want to be a wrestler. I can see myself doing something like that. I would love to be in the WWF. That would be simply amazing. Matt and Jeff being there with me would be so cool."

"Let me say this first, sweetie, there's nothing wrong with feeling nervous because you know what...when you're nervous, that means you care about what you're doing. That says a lot to me and I'm very happy I've taught you to appreciate the piano. This recital is just like your future matches, baby. If you can't handle this pressure, there's no way you can perform before millions of people. This is God's way of testing you to see if you really have the heart to become a wrestler. If you truly love what you're doing and put all your effort into achieving whatever your goal may be, something is gonna come back to you. God's gonna bless you if it's something you really want."

"Wow, I never thought about it like that, Heather." Shannon said as his mind thought real hard about what she just said. It was so...true to him and everything he felt about wrestling.

"So tell me what it is that you really want right now, sweetie?"

"To play something that those people will never forget."

"Get your cute butt out there and do it then. They're introducing you now...from what you just said, I know that when you wrestle, you're gonna offer something people have never witnessed before and for that, I wanna say I'm very proud of you in advance."

"Thanks, Heather." Shannon smiled as Heather kissed him on the forehead.

"No problem, Shannon." She smiled back before Shannon walked out to an ovation from the crowd so that he could do his thing.

"Ladies and gentleman...my piano and I..."

The End.