SHORT STORY: The Gatekeeper

I tucked my son into bed and he asked for a story. Tired, I stumbled around to find a book.  I read him “Banjo’s Dream,” but being a kid and not wanted to go to sleep, he asked for another story.  Here’s the tale I made up for him. 

“Once upon a time in a magical land called the Father of the Waters, lived a knight. For 17 years, the knight and his little brown dog had traveled across the beautiful land. The two of them were on a journey –a journey to cross the Father of the Waters.  They had a map that led them to a giant castle that protected the land of dreams.  While on their journey, the  knight and the little brown dog had fought monsters all along the way. But through faith and ambition, they had  finally made it.

A giant castle on a bluff loomed in the distance.  Next to it was a huge wall that prevented the knight from crossing into the land of dreams.

One morning, as the knight camped near the castle’s moat, he heard the drawbridge come down. The knight squinted and watched an old man on a cart roll out.  The knight walked up to the cart and asked the man, “how do I get past the castle walls? Do I swim the moat? Do I scale the walls? Do I shoot flaming arrows over the wall? ”

The old man, who looked familiar to the knight, said, “Beyond those walls is everything you ever want in life. But you can’t take the castle by force. You have to face and conquer the gatekeeper.”  The old man, knowing he had confused the knight, tipped his hat and rode off into the woods. The knight thought the old man was a fool for riding with gold without protection. But the gold didn’t seem to matter that much to the old man. He gained his strength and peace from somewhere else.

The dog looked at the knight with a puzzled look. “I don’t know either.  I have no idea what the old fool meant.”

So the knight tried to swim the moat. Alligators chased him out.

Then he tried to climb the wall. But he fell before he could climb very high.

The knight struggled to tear the wall down. But he couldn’t make the dent.  He sat in the shade of a giant Magnolia tree and heard the voice of the old man in his head.  “You have to face and conquer the gatekeeper.”

The gatekeeper. Who was the gatekeeper?

So the knight walked up to the giant wooden door and knocked on it.

Nothing.

The knight, who was at best stubborn, stood there and continued to knock.

Still nothing.

He looked around and saw boiling oil above him, arrows pointing at him from the walls and skeletons littered around the wall.

Knock, knock.  “I know you are in there. Open the door. Now.”

And once again there was nothing.

The knight decided to change his strategy.

“Hello? I’m sorry to bother you. But I humbly request a meeting with you.”

The door began to creak and open slightly. A man in a black robe with a shrouded face walked out onto the bridge.  The little dog gr0wled.

The knight lifted his visor and looked at the figure in front of him.

It was the gatekeeper.

“Why do you wish to pass?”

The knight shivered at the coldness of his voice.

“Um, um — I am seeking the paradise that lies beyond your walls.”

“I am the protector. I am here to prevent you from taking risks. I am here to keep you from reaching your destination.”

The knight was really puzzled. He expected the gatekeeper to be a monster.

“You and what army?” the knight sarcastically said.

The gatekeeper waved his arms. The knight looked around and saw something that shocked him. There were all his fears. His fear of failure. His fear of success.  His lack of organization. His lack of work ethic.

He snatched his sword and thrust it up, knocking the gatekeeper’s hood back.

There standing in front of the knight was himself.

He was what was keeping himself out.  He was his own worst enemy.

The knight humbly said, “Thank you for protecting me in the past. But I no longer need you. I am able to handle entering the land of dreams.”

The gatekeeper stood smiling and began to fade.  Along with him, the walls of the castle faded and the army disappeared.

The knight looked around. It was just him and his little brown dog.  The knight reached down and petted his friend. “C’mon boy.” And  after 17 years, they headed home.”