What if I keep drifting “gently down the stream”?
A bend in the water’s path brings me to a little house along the water where a widow lady tends her sheep.
No, her name is not Mary, but it might be with her yard full of little lambs. It is not a savage country, but it might be given the right circumstances. Weather can be a cruel trickster. Her land has been mostly spared tricks over the years, but it does not hurt to be ever vigilant.
Forest lurkers find places to hide while they wait. They leave the widow alone this year, but conditions do change and needs do arise.
Now here is a team of heroes standing all in a row — the flawed but sincere leader, his lifelong companion, his best friend and her baby brother. What a fantastic combination!
And in the next stall, a man who gained amazing powers after he was bitten by a radioactive golden retriever. No, that scenario is too crazy; golden retrievers do not bite.
How many stories are The Odyssey? A person departs, somewhat reluctantly on a mission to a strange land, where she encounters new and at-first-mysterious friends who enhance the adventure and assist and guide her until she finds her way home.
Superheroes generally begin with an origin story — where did s/he come from, how did they gain their unusual abilities — but do we have to know? At some point, yes, I suppose we do. “Where we came from” is an essential part of our story, not as essential as “where are we going” but one of the keys to the mystery of “who we are when we meet.” And the climax of a story answers “are we there yet” in the affirmative.
The reader also needs to know that the powerful human with extra-human powers is, in fact, still human. He may detect brilliantly, he may even be the best detective in his world, but mistakes are made, and he still needs to sleep. Someone who broke his heart or disappointed his expectations still haunts his memories. Superman is boring if he can do anything or nothing disturbs his calm. But Superman is not Superman if he turns dark or yields to temptation — the Fantastic Four are not the Fantastic Four without those four fantastic humans — for a long time Spider-Man would not be Spider-Man if he got the girl, but then Mary Jane/M.J. came along, and yet his everyday troubles/concerns/foibles continue. He needs to pick up milk on his way home from defeating this month’s villain.
Could it be that every story is The Odyssey when broken down into its components? Perhaps, but not consciously or at least not obviously. I think, with a little surface-scratching and digging, I may have just revealed to myself a little pebble of understanding.
This stream I’m gently navigating is helpful because it encourages me to find interesting people along the banks. I may just drift along for awhile in search of my next stories.
