There are both advantages and disadvantages to being sidekick to the world’s greatest adventurer and archeologist. Sure, during times of war there is always a chance for profit. There’s also the constant threat of too much adventure. The next one, Shorty Jones and the Dragon’s Fist. Fortune and Glory, Doctor Jones.
The thing with dopplegangers is that you can never trust them. The man who stole my identity and created a profile on myspace was a total jerk. The other dude who wrote using my name just seemed weird to me. Then again, Spaceman from NY seemed like a great guy.
When you dream, your mind wanders upon the thoughts of the day. That’s what psychologists who study these things say.
Instead consider that you go someplace, a Dreamtime. It’s a common place where everyone around the world goes. In that world, this is a dream, a boring one at that.
There’s no point struggling, human. We’ve already established this. To gods, you must realize that your thrashing about is endlessly entertaining. We spend a lot of time up here, marveling at how you desperately fight against fate, laughing.
“Accept it, child,” we’ll say. But, you’re human, you’ll challenge the divine.
Thousands of tiny actions, all seemingly unrelated, led up to this moment. Many of the little things, at the time seemed like bad ideas or fool’s errands. No good results ever seemed to come from his crazy plans.
And then, one day the pieces came together, and there was peace.
Be not afraid, child. I hear your pleas. I am sent here for a purpose, and that purpose is you.
We aspects of god do not grant answers to just any prayer. We are here to ensure that the divine investment offered by this tiny miracle will pay off for our chairman.
He lost his job weeks ago. He’d been depositing access checks from his credit card monthly, to dupe his wife. He’d still leave the house at 7 am, he’d grab a paper, read it with a cup of coffee at Starbucks for a couple of hours a day. He was lost.
Heroes die.
This is the unfortunate truth about the beloved “Hero’s Journey” template. Those people put themselves on the line and end up dead. I suppose that on a long enough timeline, we all are worm food, when you think about it.
Does that give us permission to be heroic?
Madwoman Maddie wandered the streets of Hollywood, berating new people every day. She’d stop in laundromats, boutiques, bookstores, resturaunts, and peep shows, hoping to find new softies to scream at. She found long ago that it was the only way people would pay attention to her. So alone and hurting.
They came from the trees. I’d say they were wild faeries on the backs of darting hummingbirds, defending some grove or mushroom circle. I woke up hours later, with tiny darts running up and down my neck. My friends had all fled, It was dark. What could possibly go wrong?