"The Messenger Who Did Not Become a Hero" by Douglas Watson

One of my most recent writing goals was to subscribe to a lit mag.  After months of vacillating, I finally settled on One Story.  Only the rocket scientists among you will figure this out but the gist is that you receive one story every three to four weeks.  I love that I know I'll read the entire thing and it's also pint-sized cute.  Note comparison size with equally esteemed literary magazine in picture below.  

 

Now on with the story.  It should go without saying that lovers of literature should have the patience to give stories a minute to form before we make any rash decisions.  That being said, aspiring writers are berated and barraged with the lament that WE MUST GET TO IT! or terrible things, things much worse than eternal oblivion, will befall us.  Who can blame me if I've become part of that culture where something must explode or die or cheat or implode in the first sentence, lest we should become momentarily bored?  

If, and I still think it's a big if, an immediate inciting incident is one of the rules, then Watson breaks that rule.  We have (gasp) about a page and a half of backstory before the proverbial crap hits the fan and everything changes for our new friend, the unnamed messenger.  

First line: There was a messenger who was stuck working for a no-good king.  

Inciting incident: The messenger lays eyes upon the woman of his dreams, she of the wispy-hair and revolutionary predilection.  It is love at first sight.

Surface problems (spoiler alert): His true love is shot and dies in his arms.  He is captured by the king who he betrayed and banished to Sumatra.  His ship wrecks.  He has his Tom Hanks moment in the sun.  Like Tom, he seeks salvation and travels over harsh lands until he comes upon the city of Our Zurich.  I realize that this all sounds very morose but it's actually hilarious if you get this kind of humor.  I laughed out loud in several places.  

Story-worthy problem: In the messengers's own words to the people of Our Zurich, "Are you misspending your life?"  It is, I think, probably the question of our time.  I love that Watson put this SWP into the context of a different era because it wouldn't have been as effective if the messenger was some poor 21st century office worker trapped in a cubicle.  The resolution is satisfying because it is not entirely fulfilling for the protag.  His life was not wholly misspent.  He had awoken.  He had escaped.  The flip side of this is that he waited too long and was old, so he soon dies, but not before he realizes that, "Life thrummed in all things."  

It's an unexpected, poignant, funny and weird story that I hope everyone will check out.