"He lay in the tall summer grass, gazing up at the sky. He saw worlds there, in the sky. Worlds of dragon fire, castles, and knights in shining armor...."So as you may have noticed, I haven't written anything in the past few days. That's because John and I were down visiting some of our friends who are about to move rather far away. They wrote a book, by the by, and if you haven't had a chance to read it, I highly suggest checking it out. You can find it here.
That said, today's challenge has actually given me a bit of trouble. I've been thinking about it off and on for the past several days, and it hasn't gotten any easier thinking about it. Part of the reason for that is that children's voices, when written by adults, tend to be a great deal more intelligent or insightful than they should be. I have a harder time considering children's ideas and motives because, while I was once a child myself, there are a lot of things I have forgotten since then; also, I don't have any children in my life right now. So, writing a child's voice is...more difficult than it may at first appear.
That is one of the few criticisms that John and I tend to consider when we're looking at children in other peoples' novels, namely because it's terribly obvious when children aren't quite as they should be. Of course, writing about all of this makes me think I need a good dose of Roald Dahl, or perhaps some Dr. Seuss.
Today's prompt, however, leads me to believe that this young boy isn't five, six, or even seven, but somewhere in that awkward preteen stage--somewhere between 9 and 12 by my estimation. It's that time in life that I sort of recall being more or less awkward. You don't really know who you are; you're trying new things--a lot of which don't work. There's a lot of jealousy, a lot of unkindness from other kids, and a lot of unconscious fear (which accounts for some of that meanness). But there's also this self-centeredness that some people never really outgrow. When you become a teen, there is a greater realization of the world around you--which causes its own host of problems; but 9-12 is that magical time when you can kind of--if you were like me--shut out the rest of the world and make it all about you.
I think, honestly, this is where a lot of writers get into trouble. While children do have a sense of consequence for their actions, they don't really have a self-awareness that's related to the rest of the world around them. They've only just started defining themselves by the other people and things around them, and that process becomes a nightmare right about the same time that hormones kick in--which is where I see our young dreamer from today's prompt. Luckily, he's a boy; so, his hormonal changes aren't as drastic as it would be for a girl. Still, this is definitely that point in life where girls are talking about bras (and making fun of other girls for not having them; oh, Ramona Quimby!--how you helped me survive my preteen years with your wisdom--though I did sort of read you before you were actually relevant to me;) boys and girls start relating to one another romantically (again, something I started really early;) and a child's sense of self begins to be explored in the sense of other kids' senses of themselves (sexuality, intellectual prowess (or lack thereof,) coordination (and lack thereof,) etc.)
So, ...now that I've gotten a basis for where to begin, do I write about a boy who is just realizing that he's gay? Do I write a poem torn from a notebook page of youth? Or do I poke at the bear of normalcy and see if it comes up dancing? I'll admit, I'm excited about all three possibilities, but the first two are things I haven't seen much of at all in books--the first, obviously, because I grew up in a mostly heterosexual world. It's only recently that fear and bigotry have started to give way to something resembling acceptance around the world, sadly. BUT,...I don't think I can aptly portray that kind of childhood. I have a lot of ideas and theories, but not having lived through that, or gone through that, I don't think I would do the mental psychology of that child justice. I do hope, however, that gay, lesbian, transgender, (and all the other alternative ways of loving someone or being a human being) kids have their own Ramona Quimby one day--because, honestly, it's bad enough being different as a kid without having an imagined (if not real) hero to relate to.
So that leaves me with a poem--an interesting thought exercise, one I'm not sure I'm up to the task of doing well. But let's see if we can find the poetic voice of our childhood boy....
Where I'd Rather Be
The sky is a swirl of clouds--
Castles, and dragons, and knights;
And there the battle rages--
A war within the heights.
And were I made of lighter stuff
I'd join those airy climes;
I'd don my fluffy armor--
Ride the wind instead of rhymes.
I'd slay the greatest dragon;
I'd hunt the Questing Beast;
I'd win at ev'ry tourney
And be honored at each feast.
Each enemy I came upon
Would flee from me in fear;
And as I drove the dark away
The people all would cheer.
The sky king in his castle high,
His champion I'd be--
A prince among my fellow clouds
Within the wind-swept sea,
And though the kingdoms now still fight,
Were I to join the fray,
Peace would come to all the lands.
And peace would ever stay.
And one day when the world was old
And I was old and gray,
I'd look down to the world below
But not at those who play;
I'd look for someone looking up
At clouds within the sky,
And raise them to these lofty heights,
And in so doing, die.
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