Young heroes
If only we could win without ruining their lives.
If only they could become butchers and bakers and candlestick makers.
Instead of warriors.
But they are warriors. They know death and pain and blood and war.
They are old—old men and women in young bodies.
And we have made them so.
Every victory has a price.
We pay it with the farmboy’s hopes and dreams.
--
Why is it always the farmboy? Eragon. Luke Skywalker. Rand al'Thor. Shasta. They were innocent. Untouched by the world (in most cases). And yet in order for the victory of the story to be achieved, they all had to give up something (generally their future, innocence, family, or identity).
The above...thingummy is the beginning of an idea I had for a story focusing more on the unfairness of placing the responsibility on young heroes. My story, however, begins after the original "Coming of Age" part, where Veld, (the farmboy) rose through the ranks of the army and then ended up saving the kingdom in the battle. Indeed, it starts when he's still trying to adjust to life as the King's Champion, Betrothed to the Princess Diana (whom he does not love). He is trying to cope with the loss of his best friend, who died in his arms in the heat of the battle. But mostly he's confused. Confused about why it was him instead of a general or a noble-why he was chosen for this deed, and really, in his heart of hearts, is asking why couldn't it have just been someone else?
-
When presented with this ingenious plot, my sister wrinkled her nose.
"What?" I asked. "Don't you like it?"
"Well," she replied, carefully. "It's a little...depressing."
And so it is. But I had to do it, because there's something about it I don't understand. Why is it the innocent ones who must bear the weight of our victory? Why is it that, if a sacrifice has to be made, the one who least deserves the burden of the world must carry it?
If this sounds like something else, it's not my fault. Farmboys and Jewish carpenters are, it seems, doomed to save the world by their own sacrifice.
In other words, it was God's plot first.
