I am a traveler, an observer of worlds. There are many like me who use words visit different worlds. These worlds are full of wonder and magic you must see to believe; they can be dark and sinister, yet enticing. They are also impossibly complex and remarkably simple. They're full of people like you and me whose hopes and dreams lead them for better or worse to wherever their fates take them. Their actions shape the places they inhabit, and enrich those around them.
I can't remember the exact first time I traveled using words, or even where they took me, but I do remember some of the earliest places I've been. I remember standing by as a small child, as a town endangered by a giant monster called Abiyoyo was saved by a quick-thinking boy and his father. I remember being present in a normal house as a strange anthropomorphic cat in a huge red and white hat visited two children, and turned their boring afternoon into a circus show. I even remember my multiple visits to a place called Bear Country, where a family of five resided and learned lessons about life.
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These early worlds were great for the fledgling-traveler that I was at the time. But looking back, they were not unlike my normal world. I longed for worlds truly apart. I spent years trying to find what I was looking for, and ended up with more of the same. There were cities, cultures, and people that seemed a little too close to life in my world, or contained little to set them apart. It was because of this that I stopped traveling for a time. That is, until I happened upon a place I couldn't have imagined.
One day I let the words take me to a place called Middle-Earth. I followed a pint-sized creature called a hobbit, several dwarves, and an old wizard as they went on an adventure that would change their lives. By the time the adventure was done, I could feel in my heart that I had just witnessed something epic travelling alongside them. I couldn't imagine that such a thing was possible: the exhilaration, anxiety, and relief that accompanied each new leg of the journey, each new face along the way. What's more, I didn't think that I could ever experience anything similar. But I proved myself wrong as I returned to Middle-Earth just several years later, to accompany yet another hobbit and his companions on an even grander quest.
By its end, I had returned home somewhat world-weary. I had seen the quaint homeliness of The Shire, the majesty of Rivendell, the dark mines of Moria, the utter desolation of Mount Doom, and all the horrors and joys of the land in between. I certainly needed a break, but more than that, I needed to find the next world worthy of exploration.
I've since been to numerous worlds to explore and witness events as they transpired. I accompanied Roland Deschain and his Ka-tet, the last gunslingers, on a bloody path to the Dark Tower at the edge of End-World. I was horrified by what waited inside the tower, and haven't forgotten the journey for one second. I followed Rand Al'Thor out of his village of Two Rivers and witnessed him grow from simple shepherd to a god-like figure; bringing salvation to a world embattled by the living embodiment of evil. I watched as an unlikely urchin, Hekat, unleashed her fury on an unsuspecting world with the help of her blighted gods.
With each new companion made, each world visited, I returned with a new experience and a new hunger for more. A hunger I doubt will ever be sated.
I'm a literary traveler, an observer of worlds, and oh how beautiful they are!
