An Unbelievable World

An Unbelievable World

“Jaren, I finished reading your last chapter,” Liliana said.

Her husband, Jaren, turned to face her with a worried look on his face.  He took a deep breath and said, “Okay, tell me exactly what you think.  Be honest.”

He knew his wife would give him an honest review whether he wanted one or not.  Liliana was a professor of literature and an extremely tough reviewer.  She would never lie to spare a writer’s feelings, even when that writer was the man she loved.

Liliana took both of Jaren’s hands in hers and looked up at him.  She was a tall woman but her big redhaired husband towered over her.  Her beautiful green eyes were serious and her voice was grave. “Jaren, please don’t take this the wrong way,” she began.  Suddenly her face broke into a broad smile and she threw her arms around Jaren.  “I think it’s perfect!” she exclaimed.  “It’s probably your best book so far.  I wouldn’t change one word of it.”

“You evil woman, you really had me scared for a minute there!”  Jaren said as he picked his wife up and swung her around.  He set her down gently kissed her, then tugged at her long black hair.  “So, you really think it’s that good, huh?” he asked with a look of relief on his face. “I hope the publisher agrees with you.”

“He will and so will everyone else.” Liliana said.  “No wonder they call you the greatest fantasy writer of all time.  You’ve managed to create a whole new world in your books.  It’s so different from the real world but you make it so believable. I don’t know how you do it.” 

“What can I say?  I’ve been making up wild stories all my life.” Jaren said.  “It used to drive my mother crazy, because she was never sure whether to believe me or not.  The only difference is now I’m getting paid for it.  In my books, I guess I just think of the real world and write the opposite.  I take the commonplace and ordinary and turn it inside out.  It’s hard to explain.”

“Well, however you do it, it’s definitely working,” Liliana said.  “Oh my goodness, look at the time!  I’d better fly or I’ll be late for work.”

Liliana stood up straight, spread her arms wide, and began breathing deeply and rhythmically.  With each breath, her body changed.  Soft green eyes became the glittering yellow eyes of a predator.  Her body grew steadily smaller and became covered with feathers.  Graceful arms became wings and shapely legs became clawed talons. Eventually the woman standing in front of Jaren was replaced by a majestic red tailed hawk.  She spread her wings and flew out of the open window.

“Have a nice day, love!  Don’t work too hard!” Jaren called after her.  As he watched her fly away, he thought that she was almost as beautiful a bird as she was a woman.

"Time for me to get to work, too," Jaren thought.  "No slacking off, even though I just finished a book.  Let’s see, what shall I become today, an eagle or a crow?" He decided on an eagle.  He was capable of shapeshifting into many different creatures other than birds, but he got his best story ideas when flying.

Later, when Jaren soared into the sky as a magnificent golden eagle, he looked down at the world below him.  A herd of unicorns grazed in a green meadow, horns glittering in the sunlight.  A group of pixies whispered and giggled in the corner of the meadow.  Jaren couldn’t resist swooping down and scaring the silly creatures, who ran off in all directions squeaking and chattering.  He was glad that pixies weren’t intelligent enough to figure out who he really was, or their future mischief might be directed at his house. As he flew back up into the sky, a large shadow passed over him.  He looked up and saw a beautiful emerald green dragon surrounded by her multi-colored brood of baby dragons.  The youngsters, already expert fliers, circled around their mother, tussling and nipping each other like puppies.

As Jaren watched the dragon family fly away, he remembered that it was the sight of a dragon that first gave him the idea for the fantasy world he had created in his books.  He had always wondered what it would be like to live in a world without magic, a world with no dragons, pixies, or unicorns.  The residents of a non-magical world would not be able to transform themselves into birds, teleport, or ride tame dragons when they needed to travel.  Instead, Jaren imagined, they would ride around in great metal “dragons” powered by technology alone.  These people would be unable to communicate telepathically, so they would invent machines that could send a message anywhere in their world in a fraction of a second.

Jaren remembered the difficult time he had had selling his first book to the publisher.  “Even as a fantasy,” the publisher had argued, “the idea of a world without magic is too unbelievable!”

“But isn’t that the challenge of fantasy writing?”  Jaren had asked. “Making the unbelievable believable? Give me a chance and I’ll prove that it can work!”

Lucky for both of them, the publisher had agreed.

When Jaren flew home that night, he met Liliana, also on her way home from work. Hawk and eagle soared together, enjoying the view and each other’s company.  As they flew, the greatest fantasy writer of all time began formulating the plot of the next story of the incredible fantasy world he had created, the impossible world called Earth.