"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man...a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. This is the twilight zone." --Rod Serling
I was a very fortunate child: when I was little, my mom would work all day while I went to school, and every weekday at 3:00pm, my grandma or grandpa would pick me up, and I would go to their house until my mom got off work. It was a blessing: My grandma and grandpa spoiled me. Sweet tea was always brewing; food was always cooked; desserts were plentiful; and it was here I was introduced to such amazing shows like Star Trek (original and next generation, mind you), The Twilight Zone, First Wave (if you know that show, I'm impressed in a very nerdy kind of way), X-files, Frasier, Toonami on cartoon network (DragonBall Z, Gundam Wing, etc..), and others I'm possibly forgetting. My grandma also took the liberty to introduce to video games--yeah that's right, my grandma played video games, and it would be present tense if her fingers weren't shaking so bad from old age.
You name it, I'm pretty sure I played it. Duck Hunt, Punch out, and Mario were just opening acts: WITH my grandma, I played Zelda I-IV (she has the original gold one for Nintendo), Gauntlet I and II, in which I still hear those famous words in my head, "Blue Wizard, you are about to die," Final Fantasy (all of them up until the playstation was introduced), Breath of Fire, Chrono Trigger, Lufia I and II, Mystiq Quest, Secret of Evermore, Secret of Mana, and ...oh I could go on and on. Nerding you out yet? Listen to this: Final Fantasy 4 and 6 were introduced into the U.S as Final Fantasy 2 and 3. And out of all the Final Fantasy games that are out there, FF6 is the only one that I know for super nintendo that is actually two-player. Why am I telling you this? Well, so there I was, a kid at the tender age of 8, playing FF6 with his grandmother--at the same time. How epic is that?
I guess I'm writing this because I've been looking back at all the things that have molded me into who I am--and who I will become. Over New Years the Sci-fi channel had a Twilight Zone marathon, and all day my grandmother, my mom, and myself watched it. Don't ask. We didn't have anything better to do really, sad I know. But watching those episodes, those episodes in which I had seen a hundred times, plucked at the strings of sentimentality and nostalgia. And I began to wonder: How much has this influenced me? Where has this come from? And what does it mean?
And no I'm not talking about my likes and dislikes. Yes, obviously I like Star Trek now because I watched it as a kid. I'm talking about my need to write, my compulsion to put words down on paper, well, in this case, type words down onto a computer screen; I'm talking about my love for a great story, for those romantic endings you only see in books and movies, for loving to see new worlds develop on screen, in a book or game... You know, after saying all that, I don't know if that's why I'm writing this... hmm...
When you walk into my grandma's house, you immediately set your feet in the living room. A fireplace is to your left with two huge loveseat rocking chairs; past it is the kitchen. Also, this might be bad if thieves want to rob the place--I'm basically giving you the layout. Anyways, behind the loveseats, next to the fireplace, are stacks and stacks of books from mystery, to thriller, to romance, to fantasy, to whatever, book after book after book. But that isn't all. Downstairs in the basement there another two massive shelves about a wall's wide long full of books, some I can't believe my grandma even has (she has an old Winston Churchill book. Looks rare and important, don't really know for sure though). What is it about those books when I see them that evokes such a sadness, such a...dare I say...longing in me? What do those books, TV shows, and video games have in common? I think I know...
Why am I really writing this? It's simple: I miss a great story. I miss great writing. I miss playing a game for hours because I submerged myself in that world and not my own. I miss those times when I was with my grandmother as a child, reading, watching Captain James T. Kirk and the Enterprise tear the galaxy apart in search for answers to the riddles of the universe. It sounds comical, but perhaps that's why I have a compulsion to write, a need to put my thoughts down on paper, hoping one day I'll come up with the next great story. But it's more than that isn't it? Being home this break reminded me of all the things I had forgotten, of all the great stories that I missed out on as I got older, lost to time. In essence, I was a kid again. And it felt so good to remember the past and forget about the present. Being an adult sucks, and writing places me into a world in which I can feel like I was when I was ten: I can forget about reality and bring a great story to life like the old games I used to play, like the Twilight Zone, like the amazing books I read as a child.
My advice to you reading this: Do something you loved as a kid that captured your imagination. Watch your favorite TV show. Read your favorite book. Play the old school video game you always wish you had the time to dig out. Rediscover what were your great stories, what caused you to leave the shallow waters of reality and into the deep end that is fantasy and creativity. What do you miss the most since you've become an adult? Find it. And then bring your great stories to life and enjoy the brief respite from the mountain of reality.
So in true Twilight Zone style, I'll finish with this:
"Here is a simple man, plagued by the great beast that is time, whose only wish is to recapture the wonder of his past by swimming through the streams of sentimentality and nostalgia. He is a raconteur, and his words have taken on a life of their own... He has written himself into the Twilight Zone." --Matt (Hey, I gave it shot).
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