Avalon Bombshell

Episode 4: A Petition

Puppydog Days of Summer

Avalon Gates?
Avalon Gates.
Avalon Gates!

I probably repeated her name

over and over and over and over and over

in my head about a bajillion times
the summer before Junior year -

it became a mantra.
A talisman.
A spell.

An incantation -
the mundane world suddenly full & magical!

our sole conversation so far
may have lasted a mere ten minutes
but I

s  t   r     e      c     h    e    d...

them &
- replayed -
them &
lived in them

for three months.

(It's easy to
lose your mind
in a Hobbit hole

...they're a bit like
rabbit holes,
that way...)

(Look.

For the record,
I tried.
I did!

To keep my mind
occupied.

Go to camp.
Read books.
Enjoy the nice weather.

Keep my mind
on things

- anything -

other than
Avalon Gates.

But, you have
to remember -

I was sixteen!

So...

you can guess
how well
that went...)

Speaking of Magic

I remember the night
before the first day
of Junior year -

The Earth, turning
all that time,
but now it sat

- still -

on the edge of a precipice

(Again,
I was sixteen,
so of course

the precipice
had everything
to do with me!)

I sat in my wheelchair
in my childhood bedroom -
the one window,
like a porthole on a ship

shelves,
books with dragons
on the covers

(back then,
I thought them
the only books
worth having!)

a tattered map of Middle Earth
hanging on the wall -

(the Third Age of
my Nerddom)

I was praying.

But that night
I was afraid.

afraid God
would actually hear
what I was praying for!

I supposed
that was the point.

I wondered if I
should just pray
for the usual:

World Peace
Safety
Health
My folks...

but I wanted to pray
about something else

...someone else.

(The Rules about Praying
were annoyingly vague
to begin with:

First of all,
if you didn't perform

The Exact Right Rituals:

1. Kneel Down.
2. Press Your Hands Together.
3. Bow Your Head.
4. Close Your Eyes!