Gavin Guthrie – Zuzu’s Petals
A long time ago, Gavin Guthrie lived in a peaceful town in Texas on a planet called Earth. All was right in the world, until an army of barbaric aliens descended upon the civilized lands and began to take over, continent by continent. Gavin was at a loss, but as he was well trained and prepared, he decided to shelter in place. He patiently waited for an opportunity, any call to action that would allow him to defend his planet.
On the other side of the world, Fairy Queen Eleanora’s land was being overrun. Her defenses were depleted, and she sought help from someone she knew she could count on: Princess Christine of Grand Prairie. After an arduous journey, to her dismay, she discovered that the princess had gone missing from her palace. The queen was out of options, and went into a deep state of meditation to deliver a prayer for support into the unified field.
Gavin, hunkered down in his studio in faraway Dallas, sprung from a deep sleep to a specter of Princess Christine above his mixing board. She convinced him that he was the hero the world needed to defeat the alien invasion. It was suddenly morning, and Gavin wasn’t sure if the vision that seemed so real was actually a dream. What he was sure of was that he needed a piece of paper, on which he promptly drew a map that presented a clear pathway. Although skeptical, he donned some improvised armor, packed the map in his vest pocket, and set out to save the world.
He traversed varied terrains, increasing his strength, improving his weapons and armor, and battling stronger aliens along the way. Gavin followed the map through island chains, an oceanic maze, a desert complete with a pyramidal dungeon and talking sphinx, a pygmy village, and a volcano guarded by a possessed dragon. Through all these tribulations, though, he had still not found Princess Christine. At the end of his map (and his rope), the princess appeared to him again, this time handing him a flower. A few petals fell off, and as Princess Christine asked him to fix it, he snapped out of his funk, stealthily hid the fallen petals in his pocket next to the map, and promised Christine he would save her.
Noble Gavin knew what to do. He headed back to the Palace of Grand Prairie, and there he found an unimaginable being guarding the throne room. As he looked up, starting from the floor, he saw a massive body, intimidating armor, imposing arms, and terrifying fists covered with spikes. It was as if the aliens studied our fantasy literature and created the most heinous conglomeration of scary beasts it could imagine… until it got to the cute bunny face. Gavin knew he could defeat this creature. But after a critical blow, instead of falling, the bunny head popped off to reveal a swollen, cartoonish praying mantis face with much scarier tactics. Gavin felt himself reaching the limits of his power when he beheaded this evolution. He knew he had to press on as a three-eyed, unicorn-horned dragon grew out of the armor. He gathered his wits and pressed on, dehorning the dragon and poking all three eyes. After watching the body dematerialize, Gavin burst through the throne room door, expecting to finally meet the princess in person. I’ll be damned if she wasn’t in another castle.
Gavin had had enough. He screamed at the sky through an open window that he demanded an end to this occupation, and to have the princess back. He felt his body tingling, and he watched his hands begin to vanish. He was suddenly inside a room in a strange spacecraft, facing what appeared to be the lead alien. This creature defied description, and Gavin had a gut feeling that he could not defeat it with might. They communicated telepathically, and as Gavin felt he was losing his grip on his mind, he reached in his pocket. Instead of the flower pedals, he found a curious ocarina, so he pulled it out and began to play. The spellbinding melody was the boss alien’s kryptonite, who immediately writhed in agony. Gavin played on, and as he hit a key change, the alien cried uncle. He released the princess and vowed never to darken Earth’s doorstep again.
I don’t want to ruin the story before Gavin’s book and inevitable movie adaptation, but Gavin and Princess Christine teleported back to the palace and lived happily ever after. Gavin immortalized the ocarina melody once safely back in his studio, and I’m deeply appreciative to be able to present the song that saved the world on Source Foray.
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