The Prince of Peril…

Yeah, that’s my son, the Prince of Peril. Which is what my wife an I have come call him, all in love of course, lol!

It’s a joy watching him play with his toys. He has such a vivid imagination. He reminds me of ME, ha, when I was younger. All of his toys are subjected to various forms of peril throughout the day. They’re either hanging off a cliff losing their grip, forced into multi-vehicle pile ups, taking cover from shoot outs, or fictionally blown apart from some invisible bomb!

There’s also a ton of dialog between his toys, mostly made up of declarations of war and destruction from the bad guys, desperate calls for help from those in need, and a valiant response from the heroes who usually wind up saving the day somehow.

It amazes me how at three years old, he understands the basic concept and typical flow of drama and is able to replicate it over and over.

His imagination isn’t exclusively violent I’m glad to say. Just like his dad, he likes to build more so than to destroy. He can spend hours upon hours with his Legos, wooden building blocks and Thomas the Train tracks, building vehicles, structures, and parts of cities with roadways and railroads crisis crossing the play area.

As I’ve stated many times before, my favorite part of the writing process is the development stage, when I’m creating characters and the worlds they live in. That’s when I revert back to being a kid the most. Spending hours daydreaming and envisioning countless elements for a story, breathing life into them, conversing with them, getting to know them, and ultimately coming to think of these “things” as my own children in many ways.

But just like my son, there always comes a time when I must put my creations through various forms of hell to tell my/their story. There’s death, destruction, a cry for help, and those who answer that cry to save those in need and vanquish evil.

Biggest difference between my stories and that of my sons is that, his always end with good defeating evil, a good, or happy ending. Which is a good thing, especially at his age. Mine, however, aren’t always so…optimistic, lol! It’s not that I have a problem with happy endings, just that I usually have some message or point I’m trying to get across about human nature and I find that cautionary tales seem to be the best teachers. I mean, the Bible is full of them, right?

Hmmm, I wonder why?

At any rate, as my son is the Prince of Peril, I most certainly am the King of it. Well, at least in my household, lol!