[This is kind of MPSIMS, but since it’s primarily story-based I thought Cafe was right.]
I don’t have any social media presence, so I’d really like to share it with the Dope.
Our Little Man started kindergarten this year. I wrote him a traditional first-day-of-school note that started with standard parental love (have a good day, mommy and I are so proud, what a great morning, etc.) and ended with a paragraph or so of whimsy. The bits of whimsy started connecting day to day and eventually evolved into a first-person adventure story with time travel, monsters, mysteries, quests and a knight. The knight’s a major figure; whenever there’s danger, it fights by my side as my personal deus ex machina, but otherwise it’s a completely still, hollow, silent figure that I have to carry with me.
Other main characters I met along the way revealed the overarching plot: there’s a problem with the Time Spark (it enables time travel). The past couldn’t do anything about it (lacked the tech), so they left clues for the future. The future couldn’t do anything about it directly (time-stream), so they sent back someone who wasn’t aware of the situation and left clues for the past to help him. That person was me, hence I’m off on these adventures. Throughout the entire romp I don’t know why I was chosen to go on this adventure or who was behind it. The people in the past only had vague clues to go on to help me, but didn’t know why I was the one selected. The people in the future know, but can’t tell me — only the one who sent me on this journey can.
(Keep in mind all this was written two or three paragraphs at a time in the mornings before his bus arrived. Also, he’s six and an easy audience.)
Everything is at the climax. I’ve been in the future for a while now, and as of today we’ve been defeated by the entire collection of Banatark armies (the bad guys) throughout time. Things were bleak, but here comes the denouement; a mysterious ship is arriving that holds all the answers I’ve been asking, mainly who sent me on this quest and why did he choose me?
It’s him. My son. Or rather, his great-great-great-x1000 grandson. It’s not me that’s special, it’s my son; when he grows up he’ll fulfil the family creed (increase global happiness) in such an enormous way that it ripples throughout history (backwards and forwards), and prevents the Banatarks from ever seizing the time spark in the first place, ending the inter-timeactic threat. He didn’t choose me per se, he chose the Little Man’s father to go and get the knight, carry him to a place where he’ be able to protect my son so that he could eventually meet his destiny. I get sent back in time to the day I started writing the notes.
I’m pretty sure that the main reveal itself will be pretty intense for him. He’s loved getting the story every day (I even left advanced copies when I travelled), and we all recently re-read it for bedtime story. But that’s not the epic part.
Here’s the thing: the knight actually exists. I had him long ago, a 6’ tall bronze-looking statue of a knight I bought from a junk shop and thought was the coolest thing ever. About two years ago I rescued him from my parent’s attic where it had sat for 20+ years. For two years I’d been wondering how to give it to my son in a fun way when it just fell into the story.
Backing up a step, had I started adding captioned illustrations to the back of the notes. I’m not an artist, but I did manage a few decent drawings of the knight and other key points. At a few key points in the adventure, I was given (and drew on the back of his notes) pieces of a map with strange writing on it. When put together and deciphered, it’s a map of the house and surrounding woods.
And this is where the epicness really happens.
After finishing reading the story on Fathers Day morning, Mrs. Devil is going to slip out front to light a fuse. The fuse connects to a few M-1000s (really loud bangs) and a couple coloured smoke bombs hidden in the false bottom of a large silver vessel. On top of the false bottom is a small silver box, inside of which is The Map. Artist friends of ours beautifully recreated my sketches on an aged, raggedy canvas, complete with the code key on the back. All clues have been placed (e.g. one of the path markers, a red flag, mirror’s Farnuckle the Red’s and Borinanigar Velsuth’s symbol), and when followed will lead to the middle of our woods, where we’ve placed the knight to wait for him.
I can’t wait to hear about his reaction!