DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?
My book is coming along. I am finally reaching the first major plot twist where we meet one of the characters whose influence determines the outcome of events. Her name is Rachel, and she is a young girl my lead character counseled when he volunteered as a listener on a teen suicide hot line. The title of the book, "The Magpie's Secret," refers to her.
The opening line of the book (at least this draft of it) goes like this: "We must each of us endure the pain of childhood's end, that moment when we have no choice but to accept the fact that our lives are no longer child's play."
Childhood's end is a huge personal theme for me. I see it as something you have to go through to become a fully functioning adult. It is the moment we finally free ourselves from the self-imposed constraints of childhood memories. I can tell you the exact moment it happened for me. It's one of the first things I look for in other people, that acceptance of the way forward as the only way.
Part of us always wants to go back, hence the allure of Christmas, I suppose. For me the surest pathway back to childhood is magic. I love watching magicians and sleight of hand artists. You can show me the same trick 100 times, and I will still be asking "How did they do that?"
Truth is, I don't want to know. I like believing in a little magic. It's kind of like ghosts. They can be scary, but they also hold the promise of something else out there, a mystery that remains just beyond reach.
November 29, 2009
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