There’s nothing like prepping for a Christmas visit with the family to keep us busy… and then there’s all the editing I’ve been doing on The High Road and planning the books to follow. So with all of those thoughts of the people in my life, and the sky-riding tricks in my book, my mind naturally took the “powers we wish for” question in my last post and came up with a whole different wish.
Of course I’ve wanted to fly since forever; that’s always driven that story. But right now, I find myself thinking of another of the classic magical gifts. I’ve always liked the idea of being a shapechanger.
After all, this is a power so versitile many of us don’t think of it (or write about it) in its full form.
- Some people promptly think of Mystique (X-Men) and other tricksters who disguise themselves as people.
- Or there’s the whole world of animal changes:
- to travel unseen just “go crow” and flit by unnoticed,
- or shift to a hawk or bloodhound to improve the senses ,
- or use anything with wings to get around
- and even you need even more, add claws or an elephant’s size…
- And then there’s specific fine control, shifters who sprout claws on their human hands or will their wounds to close, and much more.
The classic question might be “invisibility or flight,” but a total shapeshifter would have stealth and mobility, plus healing as just the first of other bonuses to come with them. It’s hard to get more versitile than that.
And… thinking back over the musings from my last post, I know I’m most drawn to the animal side of that dream, for a whole set of reasons.
Yes, I can see myself just in the moment catching an updraft as a hawk. And, it’s one of those powers I could wish for knowing I can just shift secretly back and get on with my day—who wants to have the CIA banging on your door when you’re trying to write? But most of all, I like the whole world it unlocks the more I want to explore:
Imagine it. How does the city through a hawk’s eyes, sharper and all spread out below with miles all in view at once? Or to a rat, down there on the ground, snuffling its way through all the back corners and crates and refuse we’ve piled up? Just thinking of it reminds me how long it’s been since I’ve hiked through anything but blocks of concrete. But to look at every bush and know I could be a squirrel inside it… or not just walk past a lake but be a fish to see how deep it goes…
They’re simple dreams, I admit. As an adventure writer maybe I ought to be tracking down muggers as a wolf. (Or else identifying them for the police as a bloodhound.)
Still, there’s a whole world out there to explore, both by venturing farther out and by looking deeper into each thing there. And I realize that the more I’ve been writing, the more of that exploring I’ve let slip by. So if I wanted a gift to change my life, it would be tempting to not have to choose between them.
What would you wish for? What worries, hopes, and maybe regrets would draw you to one power or another—and how will we each make the most of what we have right now?
Merry Christmas, Happy (belated) Hannukah, and goodwill to all of you and yours.
–Ken
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