There
was a game my siblings and I would play when we were kids. It was a good way to
pass the time while Mom ran errands, or when we were “focusing” on chores. The
game would always start with the same question: “What if there was no such
thing as…?”
And
then we would name a letter. Like “S.”
“Ooh.
Then there would be no school!”
“Yes,
but there would also be no snacks.”
“Or
sandwiches.”
“Or
salami.”
“I
don’t think I’d miss salami.”
“How
about saliva? How would we eat?”
“It
wouldn’t matter. There’d be no safety. We’d all die.”
“No
sharks, though.”
“Or sand.”
“Or
swimming.”
“Or
saints.”
“Well
that would be bad.”
“Literally.
I could live without socks, though.”
“But
you couldn’t have shoes either.”
“We’re
back to ‘no safety’ again.”
“At
least Mom wouldn’t be short anymore.”
“Oh,
but I’d miss her smile.”
And
so forth. It was a fun game, and I think my parents enjoyed hearing us practice
our letters. More than wordplay, though, for me the game was always about
imagining a different world, often an impossible one, where the rules would
have to be different and even familiar things would have to take on new
meanings if they wanted to survive. Contradictions were welcome and contributed
to the fun. It was an exercise of the imagination that encouraged us to make
sense out of nonsense and order out of chaos.
I
never realized that when I became an adult, I’d be entering a world premade to
demand such exercises of the imagination. We’re expected to imagine things we
can’t see all the time. We imagine that the world is really full of good
people, even though the news only talks about the bad ones. We imagine that
giving a homeless man a few dollars is going to do him some good, even though
we know it might not. We imagining a broken heart was not a wasted effort, even
if that is exactly what it feels like at the time.
We
move through this world of things as they are by focusing on things as they
might be, as we hope they someday can be. A refusal to accept the present as
eternal, in favor of some better thing we dare imagine for ourselves, is only
possible because of worlds that don’t exist. Before we can even show faith in
such worlds we have to have the imagination to hope for a world that, to put it
frankly, only exists in our minds and hearts. Having conceived such a world, we
immediately become enabled to start building it.
So
this Thanksgiving I’m thankful for nonexistent worlds. Bright, beautiful worlds
that we can only imagine now, but which are real enough to make us live better,
more hopeful lives. Just because such worlds don’t exist here and now, doesn’t
mean they don’t exist somewhere and somewhen. Perhaps not very far away either.
Perhaps just close enough to make a difference.
Title: The Son of Dark (Book 1, The Darksome Thorn)
Genre: YA fantasy, sword and sorcery
Author: Jeremy Higley
Publisher: Class Act Books
Blurb:
A
thousand years ago, the wizards of the Nynsa failed to follow the
prophecy of the Darksome Thorn, and now the greatest evil of their time has
survived into the next age.
Now,
the Darksome Thorn has revealed a new prophecy, and the very evil they failed
to kill is working to use that prophecy to his advantage.
Forces
of evil run rampant in the land of Duskain. Ancient powers are stirring. A
greater darkness is imminent...
...and
Skel, the foster son of an elephant herder, finds himself caught in the middle
of everything. Will Skel's newly developing powers be a help or a hindrance...
Excerpt:
Marga pointed to the
south. Zar didn’t turn, but he heard a gasp of recognition from Skel.
“Aja-aja,” he said with
concern. “Three of them, about two miles away.”
Zar sighed in
trepidation. The aja-aja were rare, enormous snakes prowling the Eltar plains,
preying on elephants and any herders foolish enough to attack them. They had
three heads each and stocky, powerful bodies to match, and could grow to over
forty feet long. They killed and then predigested their prey by spitting
streams of corrosive poison from their mouths.
“The aja-aja will be no
problem,” he bluffed, staring into Marga’s eyes. “I have two magic-users with
me now, a wizard and a Phage. They’re perfectly capable of dispatching a few
overgrown snakes.”
“If so, then I’ll simply
have to wait longer to be reunited with my precious one,”
the Wyvern said, eyeing
the flattened snake corpses around her.
Something inside Zar
began to burn like a fuse at the words “precious one.”
“You knew her before, I
presume,” he continued, his voice much quieter. “Before you kidnapped her, I
mean, and took over her mind.”
“She was mine to take,”
the Wyvern retorted through Marga’s lips. “She was always mine to take.”
The last words hissed
from Marga’s mouth like a challenge. Zar’s fingers wrapped around his sword’s
hilt. He wanted nothing more at this moment than a way to strike at
his enemy, but the Wyvern
was far, far away.
“If you want her,” Zar
said, “you’ll have to kill me.”
“Too risky,” the Wyvern
replied. “You crave nothing more than to die for her. To kill you might break
my grip.”
“If you don’t kill me she
will never truly be yours,” Zar said. He walked to within an arm’s length of
her. “As long as there’s breath in me, I will always be fighting to free
her.”
“I’m sure you mean that,”
the Wyvern said. “Once you’re dead, there’s nothing to stop me from singing her
back to me.”
Buy
Links:
Publishers
Website:
Amazon:
Amazon
UK:
Smashwords:
Author Bio:
Jeremy Higley was born in California but now lives in Arizona. As of 2016 he’s a graduate student working on a master’s degree in English. He’s also an instructional aide at a local elementary school, a novelist, and a contributing editor for a nonprofit student success company called LifeBound.
Social
Media:
Website:
www.darksomethorn.com
YoutubeTrailer
Link: https://youtu.be/svt6n7Rv2Lw
Wow! A terrific post! Thanks so much for sharing, Jeremy! Your book sounds fascinating, and I'm wishing you all the best! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! All the best to you too. :-)
DeleteI absolutely adore your story about the game you played with your siblings as children. Actually, we should all play that as adults. It might help us communicate better and appreciate what we do have. As for your story, it's obvious you write quite well. I usually don't read this genre, but from the excerpt, the story appears seamless.
ReplyDeleteYou're too kind. I do still enjoy games like it, especially with close friends. :-) Happy Thanksgiving!
DeleteFabulous and engaging post! Anything can exist...if we believe.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Laura! I hope your November is going well. :-) Happy writing!
DeleteI loved that game and I think the essence of creativity is to keep that childlike imagination. Your excerpt is fascinating. Good luck with your release.
Delete