Heroine

     The problem with the heroine may come down to a question of phonetics. Intrinsic to the word “save” in the efforts of “saving someone” from “anything” demands the capacity to hold something, and keep that permanent. Not only were winged creatures born to fly, but also, it is not too long in any story before any character realizes that there is a plot that rises beyond our control. The best that we can do is to imagine, and react to things, in a positive and grateful manner. Even if that gratitude is born from fear, so be it if we must be humbled in the face of things which are larger than not only ourselves, but also our collective imaginings. No wonder the ancients wrote so many tales. Any monster is less foreboding if at the very least we can give it a name.

"At the temple there is a poem called Loss,

 carved into the stone.

 It has three words,

 but the poet has scratched them out.

 You cannot read loss,

 but only feel it."

(Memoirs of A Geisha)