The Mystic Poem's Awakening

“So, this is the village,” Santiago said. “I hope you realize we’re probably going to die here.”

Melissa looked at him and rolled her eyes.

“Shut up,” she said. “Have some faith in me, why don’t you?”

The two of them were standing on a hillside overlooking a small hamlet surrounded by fields. A nearby river supplied water to the villagers who lived there. The day was warm and sunny, as it always was in this area of the world. This was, after all, the Mediterranean. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

The village itself did not appear to be particularly well-defended, though it did look like most of the houses had been fortified with stone walls, which meant that they could be used as makeshift fortifications if need be. For now, however, nobody seemed to be paying much attention to them as they stood on their hill overlooking the village. Everyone was going about their business and seemed content to ignore them.

Melissa turned and looked at Santiago with an incredulous look on her face.

“What?” he asked defensively. “We are going to die here! I mean…look at us! We have no armor! No weapons! Nothing whatsoever! And you barely even know what you’re doing! We should have stopped for supplies or something…or at least thought this through a little better! Now we just look like two morons who wandered out into the middle of nowhere because they thought it would be fun or something!”

Melissa sighed heavily and shook her head slowly back and forth for a moment before responding to him.

He’s right…I should have planned this better…she told herself silently.

If anything happens here…I am SO dead…and then my mom will kill me too when she finds out what has happened…and then my dad will kill himself too when he finds out what has happened…and then my aunt will kill herself too when she finds out what has happened…but more than anything else, they will all blame me for being so stupid and careless in the first place!

Santiago began ranting again as Melissa tried desperately to think of a way out of her predicament:

“And then people will find our bodies out here days later when it starts to stink because we haven’t showered in weeks, since we prioritized video games and junk food over more practical things. We didn't even bring soap. It's like we're completely unprepared for this adventure," he complained.

"Oh come off it already!" Melissa shouted suddenly. "You're just trying to scare me into forgetting about this whole thing, aren't you? Is that it?" She glared at him angrily for a second before turning back towards the village once more: "Well forget it," she said firmly. "We're not leaving."

"That's really funny," Santiago replied sarcastically after catching his breath again. He pointed towards the village below them once more before adding: "Look down there Melissa; do you really think anyone down there is going to take us seriously when they see us? Did you ever stop to think about THAT?" He shook his head slowly back and forth before continuing: "You know who else didn't ever stop to think about that? The founding fathers!" He paused for a moment before adding: "And look what happened to them!" He nodded his head solemnly before continuing: "Their heads were chopped off by their enemies one by one until everyone had gone except for one person who was spared because he agreed not to start another revolution against England."

“All right already! You win! Let’s leave! Jesus Christ Santiago, give me a break would ya? You act like everything is always such a big deal all the time; like everything is always either life or death or whatever else whenever we go somewhere together! Do you want me to apologize for having chosen your dumb ass as my companion today?" She faced him directly and stared him down defiantly as she continued: "Because I'm not going to. So get over yourself already would ya?!"

"Fine!" Santiago shot back defensively after taking a deep breath himself in order to keep from shouting back at her: "Just fine! Have your little adventure then..." he said shaking his head sadly back and forth just like Melissa had done earlier on...before adding:"...but when it goes bad remember who told ya so."

* * * * *

A young girl walked alone towards the house where she lived many years ago before setting off on an adventure she would later regret having ever embarked upon by herself in the first place, after everything went wrong and after making several mistakes along the way while attempting dangerous feats which only ended up making her situation even worse. Despite knowing better beforehand than to try something so reckless without thinking things through first, she had been unprepared and both she and her companion had faced numerous hardships, dangers, and difficult choices, all the while reminding each other of their mistakes and lack of preparedness, hoping