previous part: https://jordynsaelor.com/2026/09/24/power-structure/
all parts: https://jordynsaelor.com/cant-catch-me-now/
***
Let’s go back before that,
to rats in a library:
do you think, if I went back to them,
they’d recognize a little girl named Ola
who used their tunnels to sneak into the library
to read books
and dreamed of dragons to save her?
Or would this adventurer guy
with runes on his body
and no chosen name
and a belief that friendly dragon mothers exist somewhere he just hasn’t seen
frighten the rats he once followed?
Even though
all those rats are probably dead anyway
of old age,
can an adventurer lad
still think of being one with the rats
in his hometown
when he’s
not?
Can he
lie to himself
about being the underdog,
the victim
choosing not to take revenge,
when he’s
just
some tall stranger
no one
likes?
Never mind,
he should
quit thinking of the past,
quit thinking of strangers’
opinions of him,
quit musing
and go eat breakfast or something
except
maybe this is why the sea god sent him here,
to learn about
looming over people
the way it does
so hey
guess he is still a victim
to a deity
who’s trying to turn him into a friend,
and that’s annoying;
he’s not
going to obey a stupid sea god
anymore
even if it did help him
flee
twice–
he can just
be an exotic doctor here,
and the people will trust him eventually,
he can tell truthful stories
about where he learned to heal
that skeptics will surely call
tall-tales
until he shows them
other lands
through the river’s portal
then brings them back,
or maybe he won’t show them how he came,
he’ll just let his stories get written as tales
about someone who randomly appeared one day,
a gift straight from the sieve river
who becomes so commonplace
he’s just
part of the intimidating city.
***
header photo by Muslim Bedevi on Pexels.com
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