The farther you
go...the harder it is to return. The world has many edges and it's easy to fall
off.
Weetabix! Ah
the memories. Not just a dry, wheaty biscuit used in childhood cooking
experiments but also delicious with hot milk. There was a
time when one would collect 8 tokens from a Weetabix box, send them off with an
application form to postal heaven and wait for it, you would receive a free
gift! For a child (of the country), this was magic.
You knew what you sent for but the excitement of receiving that brown, sealed parcel, ripping it open to reveal ..... surprise! Apart from the odd letter from my closet friend who lived up the
road and apparently enjoyed writing, life at the other side of the post-box was
pretty hopeless. That was, unless you sent away for freebies!
Besides colouring pencils, club memberships and Flash Gordon collector
cards, the lads and myself collected for a shelf full of ‘Choose Your Own
Adventure’ books with titles such as ‘The Horror of High Ridge’ and ‘Mountain
Survival’.
By definition, Choose Your Own Adventure books
“.… are
written in the second person. The protagonist—that is, the reader—takes on a
role relevant to the adventure; for example, private investigator, mountain
climber, race car driver, doctor or spy….
….The stories are formatted so that, after a
couple of pages of reading, the protagonist faces two or three options, each of
which leads to more options, and then to one of many endings….”
Life changed
temporarily, while our fates lay in the hands of obscure questions and page
numbers. Once your decision was made, your course was set and there was no
going back. You turned to page 52 eagerly awaiting the outcome. Aaaggghh!
You’re dead. The comic book graphics of a blood spattered, screaming face of
your character was enough to acquaint you with your fate.
If only life
could be like a ‘choose your own adventure’ book. Well, in a way it is, the
only difference is you can’t jump to a page, half open, squinting a look
inside, seeking some indication the ending isn’t all bad. No, unfortunately,
decisions made in the real life are made blindly. Even when you think, “this is
a sure thing”, how do you really know?
If you
choose to dine on a slice or Rye Bread, undressed salad, and a glass of water,
turn to page 25.
or
Do you order
a Milano, Florentine Pizza, side order of fries (for one) and pick up a bottle
of Shiraz on the way home, turn to page 49
Comic book
graphics or not….I know that outcome. That’s life. The unmarked parcels
flooding in the door of fate are full of surprises. When one story ends,
another starts. At least with knitting, I know the ..….Aaaggghh!
