Glasses of Sun

by Taylor Aboud

It was a summer evening, on one of those late August afternoons, I was ready for bed for I was only 2 years of age. My Father, a native of the lands Down Under, had exited the house without his fabled glasses - ones of the sun variety. As he reached to put them on I tried to warn him, but it was too late. All could see the pain in his eyes as he realized his grave mistake, and as he fell to the ground I rushed to his side. With the voice of a dying king he told me of the power of the glasses and how someday, if I did retrieve them, they would be mine. Of course, my Uncle (also Australian) looked down on the great king and swore I would never be able to succeed in my quest, but I would not be swayed from my path.

Once I had entered the house, there was no turning back. The lands of this great kingdom were vast and treacherous, with great mountains and plains, we were on our way now. After traveling for 2 days across the plains, we came to the desert. A very dark place like nothing you have experienced before, as we entered the towering lego trees seemed to loom over us with a foreboding look, even with their scattered placing, they seemed to trap us. We traveled up the path, but we came to a block, a pack of ferocious wolves were in our way. At first I tried to communicate with the leader, “Good Sir, I wish no harm upon you and your people and request safe passage through this forest.” His response was slightly jumbled but I believe I got the gist of it, “Hamrolds ams Is. Wahts yuos brengs us humsan, ns excghangi for saafes passaghes?” Good Lord, this grammar is not pretty, what else would you expect from a wolf named Harold? I’m not sure what he’s asking. As not to insult the King, I decided to offer him something of great wealth, “King Harold, I bestow upon you a portion of my great Kingdom, the most beautiful in the lands, in exchange for safe passage.” The King accepted my offer and invited me to his castle, but once I saw the room they had made for me, I knew I should probably keep going, so that's what I did.

After getting through some particularly thick mud spots that weirdly tasted like chocolate cake, we made it to Mount Bedicus. A climb to the top is a journey for someone with great bravery - easy. The climb back down is sure to provide an early grave. Honestly, I was scared. I had already almost died at the hands of the Wolves, been swallowed by the mud pits, and now I stand before this great figure. I knew going onward would be dangerous and possibly deadly, but I knew the King was relying on me to uphold his honor. As I marched forward I pulled out my climbing spikes, in hopes they would help.

The wind was like a whip against my face, halfway up the mountain and halfway frozen I was just barely making progress. As I climbed higher and higher all I could think about was my King and the nay-sayer, I knew failing would have grave consequences, but the doubt was still getting to me. I slipped. ahHHHhHHHhhHHHh! ……….. I was in heaven, floating to the clouds, here I come. I look down. OH MY GOSH I’M ON A BIRD. 15000 feet in the air I was riding a giant bird. As we reached the top I saw the glasses of sun. I stepped off Henry (yeah, turns out birds are better at talking than wolves). They were as magnificent as the King had said, though I realized we didn’t have much time left, so in exchange for a ride back to the castle I offered Henry the position

of head Financial Officer (I can’t believe he had been driving taxis up in the mountains when he had a degree in Finance).

Finally, my time had come. I thanked Henry for the ride and went into the castle, all the guards stood out of my way, for they knew of my mission. It looked like Harold and his subjects had been spreading stories of my mission, though if any of them are factual, I am not sure. I knocked on the King’s door, I could hear a frail voice beckoning so I entered. With all my strength I placed the glowing glasses unto my King’s eyes, ones like shining emeralds. I had done it, my legacy secured, my throne secured. As he smiled at me I felt all the doubt leave me (take that Uncle). I had not realized until that moment that as long as I worked for it and gave it my all, I would be able to achieve greatness. I di- … zzzzzzzzzzzz.

I believe many of you will agree with me that imagination is something beautiful. Even a “quest” as simple as finding a pair of sunglasses can be seen as a long and dangerous journey to anyone with an imagination, especially at an age where anything seems possible and so many ideas and concepts are still foreign to you. Although I can’t deny any of these occurrences or support them with substantial evidence (except for the part where I brought the sunglasses back), I can tell you that the mind is a very powerful tool. A tool that can create its own worlds, make its own enemies and friends , and change the lives of billions of people. If you have not taken anything from this story, just take this: all of history’s greatest discoveries started with someone imagining that it was possible.