Pretending Impossible Things

Mostly I write in the fantasy genre, and my stories mostly fit in the Young Adult category, because the main characters are teens.  And I write that because I like to read those stories.

And it's in those stories that I feel like I can write something that will work out well in the end. Good wins over evil, that kind of thing. In real life, things don't always work out. Your loved one dies in a tragic way, or you lose your house, or you don't ever get to pursue that dream you always had.

Now, I know that ultimately Good will win, but we don't always get to see the big picture, at least not in this life (maybe the one to come, who knows). So, in a sense, writing a story that takes place in another world, or another time, is a way to have a sense of control, kind of in the same way we imagined things when we were kids.

My kids have these elaborate imaginings as they play with each other. All of their characters have names and distinct personalities and they can pretend for hours on end. My brother and I used to do this with our G.I. Joes and then we'd also play in the snow that we were fighting the Russians (This was during the 80's, obviously - the snow worked out well for our scenarios).

Not really sure what this little pretend was about, but it seems like they are rooting for the Mermaids.

But in our pretending, we never had the Russians win! Never! What kid imagines that? Things are less complicated, in a way. More clear-cut. If my brother or I died in our battles with the Communists, the other battled on anyway, making the death not in vain.

Snow. Good for Cold War pretending.

Anyway, there's not much point to this post, but to say to go imagine something today. It'll be fun.


“Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” 
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland