Curious

Chapter 17: Our Story Begins

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Our Story Begins

"What does that even mean?" was Simon's first question.

"Your job is to lead her to the plot line, to lead her to the way where her story will begin."

"Her story will begin? Has it not already begun?" Simon asked.

"Well, yes, the beginning and ending of a story are usually not more than mere abstract concepts. But you need to get her to where the written story begins, when I actually begin to write her story for people to read." I hoped he would not ask about endings and beginnings—the philosophy behind those two concepts were almost as paradoxical as Parmenides theory of change. I would rather not delve into it as we could almost spend a novel's worth of time just discussing it.

"So I am to be her guide before the actual story begins," Simon asked to clarify.

"Yes," I said, reminding myself to be patient. Simon would obviously want answers and it was better if I answered his questions as best as I could so both Simon and you, my dearest reader, do not get too confused.

"What do I do? What does a Guide actually do? The girl who was my Guide said a little but she wasn't too clear."

"Well, a Guide is usually specialized per story as each main character, or MC, is different and requires a different kind of push to lead them to the storyline. Ella was perfect for you because you needed someone to remind you of the evils of the palace door, but you needed this reminder to be so pestering that you open the door anyways despite the reminder. In this way, Ella was the perfect Guide for you to lead you to the palace door. But in a story, there are many steps in a plotline and as such, there can be many guides who lead you to the next level of the story. You had two Guides. One was Ella, who was situated in your world, and one was Hai Lun, who was situated in my world, in the higher level of the story. Ella's job was to lead you to the door and Hai Lun's job was to lead you to me. Hai Lun was perfect for you in this situation. He 'found' you at the subway station, give you shelter, told you a little about me, gave you trust, but also exposed you to evils of nightmares. He was someone you appreciated but would only want to see in small doses—hence your urge to leave him and his gang. He was perfect for you in the situation," I repeated again.

"Okay, thank you for explaining my Guides," Simon said, "but can you explain more about a Guide's general role in the story and then explain my individual situation as a Guide?"

"A guide's general role in the story is to lead the character down—or up, depending on the storyline, to the climax. It is a tough job, requiring overnight work and extensive creativity. Only the best characters are chosen. It is extremely specialized. Generally the character chosen for the job must have a specific personality type, must have either previous experience with being a Guide, an expert on storylines, or have been subjected to a storyline himself or herself. Those are the general requirements but as I said, each job is specialized. Each character has their own provoking mechanism. It always depends on the main character." I paused to take a breath.

Then I continued with my explanation. "Now to this particular story. I cannot give all the details yet, you must understand. The Guide is only bestowed with the gift of knowing what happens after the story has started rolling. In other words, after you have completed your role in the story. But anyways, the setting is medieval, nearing renaissansical, in another alternate universe. There is some hint of magical realism in this world but for the most part, magic doesn't play a role in people's daily lives. There is a king, a Council, and a complex bureaucracy. There are two daughters, twin sisters, who are also of royal blood: the princesses Sage and Tara. Your job is to guide Princess Sage. You are perfect for Sage because she is headstrong, and different from the rest of her kind. You might have noticed that she likes to put on armor and play with swords. She does not like following societal roles and instead likes to go her own way. Her father, the King has been generous in his understanding and has indeed encouraged her to play this role she has chosen for herself. She will be a great strategist for the kingdom, when the day comes. But that day is so far out, it even transcends the written story. She likes what she does and is happy with her life. You need to change that."