Canadian Pen Pal 4-6

Here are some more pages that I will be sending to my pen pal:

The hero of a story is usually young, naive, or an outsider to the world not necessarily for the story. Many time a more experienced hero would be more appropriate or more believable with respect to the story. but the hero is presented as the newbie or outside for two reasons outside of the story. The first is from the selfishness of the author. (Selfishness of the author is not a bad thing. In face, it is the sole reason stories exist.) The author wants a character that they can grow, that they can push, improve, mature, teach, guide, show change. Changing characters are dynamic and interesting and make the story a better story. Young characters are expected to grow and are easy to grow. The second reason is for the reader. An outsider or ignorant character provides a valid vehicle for the author to explain something to the reader without breaking the story.

She loved her creations. She loved working the metal, carving the gears, fitting the joints, inlaying the gems, breathing life into the objects.

They flit and fly, they creep and crawl, they run and leap, they lay and lounge. They exist beside her in her life.

Each one has their own personality. No two alike. Each ones has a name and face unique.

They were her children, her legacy, her destiny. Her creations will outlive her but they would bot be without her touch. They will carry her story to future generations but not her secrets.

Their limbs will rust, their gears will stop, their metal will corrode, their gems will crack, their machinations will fail millennia after her hands can no longer hold her tools, after she can no longer direct the building, after she can no longer breath life into metal bodies, after she can no longer breathe.

The little boy was never afraid of the monsters in his closet. There were monsters in his closet even though his parents were careful never to mention them, never gave him the notion of stuff. But they didn't need to. The monsters in his closet were quite real and quite scary.

But the little boy wasn't afraid of the monsters in his closet. He had something much scarier on his side. He had the shadow underneath his bed.

The shadow is the scariest, most dangerous, biggest, baddest creature of the night and he is good friends with the boy. The shadow watches over the boy as he sleeps. The shadow defends him from the monsters in the closet. The shadow comforts him after nightmares. The shadow loves the boy and the boy loves the shadow. 

The shadow watches the boy grow into a man and forget his childhood protector. 

Or at least the shadow thought he forgot until the man quietly asked the space under his bed if the shadow would protect his son.