Rock, Paper, Scissors - The True Story

There is a constant battle between rock paper and scissors, but how did it all start? What are the sides? The truth is that they are not all fighting against each other, but in teams of two against one. Let’s take a dive into the origins of this battle and how it came to be.

Rock was a lonely little pebble when he first came across Paper in the playground one day. He was on the swings by himself because he didn’t have any friends. Everyone would bully him and call him names because of his slightly abnormal shape. It hurt him that he was different, all he wanted was someone to play with him, or at least have something nice to say about him, but no one seemed to care. As he was mindlessly swinging, someone came up to him, and his name was Scissors. “Hey, you! Weird-looking pebble! That’s my swing, and you better get off!” he said. “Everyone knows what happens to those who sit on my swing!”. Rock was really scared, Scissors was super sharp and looked like he could hurt him badly. As he was about to get off of the swing and accept his fate, a little index card came running over.

“You aren’t going to do anything to him!”, shouted Paper. “It’s not your swing, it belongs to everybody!”. “What are you talking about?”, Scissors said, “everybody knows that this is my swing that I use everyday, right everyone?”, he said, looking at the crowd that had gathered. All of them frantically nodded under Scissors’ piercing gaze. They all knew what happened to someone who got on his bad side. “See?”, said Scissors, “Now move over, I’ve got some business to attend to,” as he punched his fists together and snipped his blades menacingly. Rock was terrified, but Paper wasn’t shaken in the slightest. He wrapped himself around Rock and said to Scissors, “you’re not going to do anything to him, Scissors! If you want him, you’ll have to go through me first!”. “Get out of my way,” Scissors replied, “this has nothing to do with you, just move over and you won’t get hurt”. “Why?”, Paper retorted, “are you too big of a baby to use a different swing or just wait for your turn?”.

Scissors’ cheeks flushed, “I, I… he was…” Scissors stammered. “He what?” asked Paper, “he used the swing that’s available to everyone when you’re not big enough to wait your turn?” Scissors had no reply, and he just ran away as quickly as he could, embarrassed at the fact that he had been taken off of his exalted throne.

“Wow,” said Rock to Paper, “no one has ever stood up for me before, how can I ever repay you?”. “I was happy to help you,” answered Paper, “ would you like to be friends?”. Rock’s eyes lit up, “really? You actually want to be friends with me?”. “Of course!” replied Paper, “why wouldn’t I?”. Rock looked down at his feet, and said in a barely audible voice, “no one wants to be friends with me, they all think I’m weird”. “Well, I don’t think you’re weird,” Paper replied to Rock, “I actually think you’re really cool!” “Really?” asked Rock, his face lighting up, “you think so?”. Paper nodded, “by the way, my name is Paper”, “and I’m Rock” he replied, and that was the beginning of a truly special friendship.

While this was going on, a dark, bladed figure looked on from behind a bush, plotting his revenge.

17 years later:

Rock and Paper were extremely close to each other. Rock always remembered the kindness that Paper showed him on the playground all those years ago, and paper genuinely saw the good in Rock. After making his first friend, Rock’s life took a turn for the better. He became more confident in himself and even made more friends, after realizing that when he thought highly of himself, those around him did too. Even with his other friends, Paper still remained his closest, and they loved spending time in each other's company.

Paper went on to be an entrepreneur, and started his own real estate agency that eventually became the most reliable in the country. Rock started off in banking, but he eventually quit and went to work under Paper. He proved to be a real asset to the company and sales went up after he joined.

Even though it had been years before, Rock still occasionally had nightmares of Scissors coming back for revenge on Paper, and even after he woke up, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he hadn’t seen the last of Scissors. On one such night, Rock woke up from the nightmare and couldn’t fall back asleep, so he went to the kitchen for a drink of water. As he was about to take a sip, Rock heard a knock on the door.

“Who could be knocking on my door at this hour?” thought Rock to himself. When he answered the door, he was met with a tall figure in black. “Are you Rock?” asked the mysterious figure in black. “Um… what did you say your name was again?” replied Rock, while nervously beginning to close the door. The stranger stuck his foot in before he could do so, and said, “I’m just an old friend of Paper who wanted to pay him a visit, you are friends with him, aren’t you?”. Rock didn’t know what to respond, the stranger’s voice sounded eerily familiar, and the whole encounter gave him a sense of foreboding. “Yes, I’m friends with Paper” Rock replied hesitantly, worried about where this was going. “Well,” the stranger continued, “I just happened to be in town and I have a little something to give him, to pay him back for something he did to me years ago. Would you kindly give me his address?”.

Rock complied, convincing himself that the stranger clearly just wanted to give something to Paper and would then be on his way. After he wished the stranger a good night and the stranger left, Rock couldn't shake the feeling that he had just made a grave mistake. With all thoughts of thirst forgotten, Rock returned to bed. He told himself that everything would be alright, and that he was just being paranoid, but sleep eluded him and he just couldn’t stop thinking of his encounter with the stranger. Something seemed a bit off about him, yet slightly familiar. Rock knew that he had heard that voice somewhere before, only a bit different, more childish, but he just wasn’t able to place it.

After about ten minutes thinking it over, Rock suddenly came to a realization. The blood drained from his face. He knew exactly where he had heard that voice before. He had been a little pebble at the time, and the memory was a bit foggy, but he remembered the main part. He had been on the swings and a big, scary-looking bully had tried to get him off of the swings. Paper had run in front of him and wrapped himself around Rock to protect him as he stood up against the bully.

Scissors. What had he said all those years ago? Suddenly, the entire scene came flooding back to Rock. “Get out of my way,” Scissors had said to Paper, “...just move over and you won’t get hurt”. Paper had refused and went on to embarrass Scissors in front of all those who feared him. Rock still remembered the look on Scissors’ face as he ran away. A look of anger. Of hatred. Of vengeance. The same look that was on the stranger’s face.

Rock raced out of bed and dashed out the door, paying no heed to the fact that it was the middle of a chilly January night and he had not put on a jacket. He thought of the nightmares that haunted him. Of Scissors coming back for revenge on Paper. Rock tried to push those thoughts out of his head as he raced down the street, his feet pounding against the pavement. One block. Two blocks. A left turn. The fourth house on the right side. He ran up the steps to the house and knocked on the door. No one answered. He rang the doorbell. Still no answer. Rock knew how light of a sleeper Paper was. He would have surely woken up. He entered the code that Paper had told him to memorize. The door creaked on its hinges as it slowly swung open.

“Hello?” Rock called into the house as he looked around. The house was quiet-too quiet. Just then, Rock’s worst fear was confirmed. There he was, torn to shreds on his living room floor. His best friend. His savior. His hero. The only one out of a painfully large amount who had seen him for who he was when everyone else just stood there and laughed. Gone. The tears began to flow, a never-ending well seemed to have placed itself behind his eyes as he just sat there and wept. Heart wrenching sobs escaped his throat, Rock looked at his best friend laying on the floor. Dead.

Out of the corner of his eye, a figure he hadn’t noticed until then emerged from the shadows. The figure removed his hood. Scissors. “Well, it looks like that rascal finally got what he deserved, didn’t he?” asked Scissors with a smug expression on his face, the blood still dripping from the two large blades that came out of his head. “YOU!” screamed Rock in a voice that seemed to startle even Scissors. A scream of such anguish that can only be an outcry straight from the soul of someone who had just lost the one most dearest to them in the world. “YOU!” Rock screamed again, the tears still streaming down his face. “You monster! How could you?! You killed Paper!”. Scissors just stood there chuckling, “oh, he doesn’t even know the best part”. “What are you going on about, you monster?!” Rock said, fingering one of the pieces that had once been his best friend.

“I’m not so cruel,” replied Scissors, “I wouldn’t just take away your friend from you like that.”. Rock looked at the evil maniac with burning hatred, remembering how when Scissors had wanted to hurt him in the playground as a child, Paper had been there to help him. But now, Rock had to face this malicious villain on his own. Scissors continued speaking, “because you know who did this to your friend, you will surely try to make sure I get what I supposedly deserve, and call the police on me. Here’s where my pity comes into play, if I’m arrested and sentenced to life in prison, you may never see me again, but you will have to live the rest of your life regretting the fact that you didn’t stop me”. Scissors began slowly walking towards Rock, and he continued, “Instead, I’ll kill you as well so that you can be together again”. Scissors cackled, and it sent shivers through Rock’s spine.

He couldn’t let this happen. Paper would have told him to stand up for himself. With a sudden strength that Rock hadn’t known he possessed, he lunged at Scissors, knocking him to the floor. “What do you think you’re doing?!” yelled Scissors. “I’m doing what I didn’t do all those years ago, I’m doing what Paper would have done!” replied Rock, while hitting him with all his might. “Paper was evil!” shouted Scissors, “because of him I’ve lived a life of misery! Since that day he stood up to me, nobody was scared of me anymore. I was excluded. I was an outcast for 17 years!”.

At that second, Scissors pushed Rock over and pinned him to the ground. “Now you will see what it’s like to be dead in peoples eyes-literally”. Rock eyed this corrupt soul who thought justice was death and kindness was evil. “But I have been there before!”, exclaimed Rock, struggling under Scissors’ strong grasp. “That was most of my childhood!”. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” yelled Scissors in response, opening his giant blades, preparing to chop Rock in half. “Goodbye, Rock”. Scissors snipped, and immediately let out a yell of immense agony. Rock waited to feel pain. To feel death. To feel himself drift away. Out of his body. Out of the world that one is only part of for a short time. But it didn’t happen.

Rock opened his eyes and saw Scissors lying on the floor, his blades bent at an angle, nearly separated from each other. Rock realised what happened. Scissors hadn’t been able to cut through him, and the strain caused his blades to break. “You think you are better than everyone else because you look scary,” said Rock to the pitiful heap on the floor, “but sometimes it’s those who seem weaker that are really the ones who come out on top”.

Scissors moaned and turned his head towards Rock, and with one last look of anger on his face, he closed his eyes. Scissors was no more. Rock beat Scissors. A draft blew through an open window, and Paper’s pieces were lifted up by the wind and flew out into the sky. As Rock looked out into the moonless night, at his friend who had stood up for him during his time of need, he remembered the message that Paper left behind him. Always cover those who can’t protect themselves, no matter how fragile you are yourself, and you will change someone’s life. As Rock was about to turn away, he saw what seemed to be Paper coming back together one last time, and giving him a small smile. Rock smiled back, and then he was gone.

That is the story behind rock paper scissors. A story of a friendship. A murder. A revenge. But not the kind of revenge where everyone is paid back. The kind of revenge that comes while floating peacefully in the breeze, knowing that your message was sent and a life was changed.

The End