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The Tower of Tel Afoon

There’s a princess, see, trapped, in a tower in distant Tel Afoon. A damsel, in much distress.

Now, the princess and our hero are star-crossed would-be lovers. Accept that like you accepted the tower, OK? come on, it’s a story. So like I said, they would have been lovers, except someone was trying to be noble. Or was too timid. Nevermind. The point is that now, as she stands in the high window of the unassailable tower, they see each other. And they recall that they should probably have been lovers, and that there’s no real reason they shouldn’t be so now. Except, you know, life. And the tower.

Our hero thinks the noble thing to do would be to rescue her. Of course, he’s not sure he should try. He knows that only she can actually get herself out of the tower, and she’s the only one who can decide if and when she’ll do that. He supposes he could wait for her outside the tower, ready with the horses and the sunset, but he’s not sure how long he’d have to wait. Or if he should. Perhaps, he thinks, he can climb in the back window and see what’s keeping her, maybe offer her some companionship and comfort as she struggles with her big and frightening decisions. Maybe get some, too. If not a knight, perhaps a knave.

Hardly a worthy quest, to travel to distant Tel Afoon for a spot of nookie. Even if it is fabled, long-sought and long-denied (star-crossed, even) nookie. Which doesn’t mean it isn’t a worthwhile quest, if you know what I mean. Just not, umm, noble.

Our hero reflects that nobility isn’t neccessarily all it’s cracked up to be. That if he was less noble to begin with (timid, timid), there might have been no tower or distress. But he suspects that knavery, tempting as it is, isn’t really good for the complexion either. Perhaps, he should just walk away, and seek damsels elsewhere, without the weight of starry destiny overhead. Already there are indications, like cards pinned to a telephone booth, telling him of very nice ladies who would like to meet him. One of them, they say, is tall.
(Which our hero takes to mean that he is being called upon to solve someone’s problem).

Or perhaps he should forget the stars and the cards and simply enjoy the sun, which (although quite fond of dark cloud veils) now shines warmly upon him. He wonders, though, if it shines on him more than on anyone, and whether it might rain.

And as he sits buried in a heap of perhapses, the tower still looms.