2010.
You left the bread crumbs, so you wouldn't get lost.
We were invincible in our youth. Gunslingers and champions, lords, ladies, swashbucklers and braves. We were underdogs, unstoppable, few against many, determined longshots against terrible odds. We were heroes, and warriors, princesses on white steeds, wizards in high towers, explorers in lost lands. We fought mountains, felled goblins, led the ragged to freedom, uncovered ruins, traveled the stars.
Our hearts were much bigger then, and beat regular rhythms. Cereal and sandwiches filled our bellies, but we found nourishment in dreams -bottomless as the sky, impossible as the ocean, indestructible as time, itself.
In what closet did you hide your crown and your sword? Your six-gun and tin badge, your horse and your hope?
Have they fallen to ruin? Become toys made of wood, and buried alive? Did you become the old crone, the black knight, villain? Did you steal away the dreams of yourself, as a child, to lock them away from the light and the living? Did you burn down the forest, hobnob with monsters? Did you sell your kingdom, your honor, your ship?
These dreams that were yours, mine, ours, and theirs, still breathe. Locked in dank dungeons, held captive by beasts, waiting for rescue, for you to return to a place you swore you would never forget.
Like all heroes born from that time of your life, they are forgiving, and merciful, and will not hate you for leaving, they will hold no grudge, bear you no ill.
You made a promise, when promises mattered. You swore you would never forget. You swore you would never become them. You promised these things in a time when promises were stronger than laws, physics, or death.
But you must remember, this time. Remember again.
Remember forever, and never forget.
We were invincible in our youth. Gunslingers and champions, lords, ladies, swashbucklers and braves. We were underdogs, unstoppable, few against many, determined longshots against terrible odds. We were heroes, and warriors, princesses on white steeds, wizards in high towers, explorers in lost lands. We fought mountains, felled goblins, led the ragged to freedom, uncovered ruins, traveled the stars.
Our hearts were much bigger then, and beat regular rhythms. Cereal and sandwiches filled our bellies, but we found nourishment in dreams -bottomless as the sky, impossible as the ocean, indestructible as time, itself.
In what closet did you hide your crown and your sword? Your six-gun and tin badge, your horse and your hope?
Have they fallen to ruin? Become toys made of wood, and buried alive? Did you become the old crone, the black knight, villain? Did you steal away the dreams of yourself, as a child, to lock them away from the light and the living? Did you burn down the forest, hobnob with monsters? Did you sell your kingdom, your honor, your ship?
These dreams that were yours, mine, ours, and theirs, still breathe. Locked in dank dungeons, held captive by beasts, waiting for rescue, for you to return to a place you swore you would never forget.
Like all heroes born from that time of your life, they are forgiving, and merciful, and will not hate you for leaving, they will hold no grudge, bear you no ill.
You made a promise, when promises mattered. You swore you would never forget. You swore you would never become them. You promised these things in a time when promises were stronger than laws, physics, or death.
But you must remember, this time. Remember again.
Remember forever, and never forget.