Scott Iskow
smiskow@wam.umd.edu
***
Disclaimer:
All characters herein are my own creation.
"Gargoyles" is the property of Disney/Buena Vista.
***
Rated PG-13, for two or three swear words.
***
"You shouldn't trust the storyteller; only trust the story."
--Neil Gaiman
"The Hunt"
***
He'd been treading
through the snow, searching for his lost companion. The stuff was
up to his knees and kept rising. If he didn't find shelter soon,
he would freeze.
In the distance, he
saw a cave, and instinctively headed toward it. Optimistically, he
hoped he would find his friend there, safe and sound.
He made his way to
the entrance. The snow that piled up in front spilled inward.
He rubbed his blue
hands/talons together, blowing on them.
Then, he peered down
the cave, realizing only then how it extended. There was a turn,
and he could see light reflecting off the wall, originating from somewhere
out of sight. He hoped that it was his friend, and he walked toward
the light, eager to see her alive and well.
He turned the corner
and…
"Don't move."
His friend was nowhere
to be seen. Instead, there was a human, heavily clothed before a
small fire. He had a gun, aimed rather accurately for the newcomer's
head.
"Please," he said.
"I am only seeking shelter until the storm passes. I mean you no
harm."
The human stared at
him with distrust. "How do I know you won't try to kill me for food
or something?"
"Because I am a gargoyle,"
said the blue creature. "It is not my way." The human still
did not lower his weapon. "Please, tell me your name."
"Josh. I'm Josh."
"Hello, Josh.
I was named Touchstone by my rookery parents. May I sit down?
I am very tired."
"No. You'll…
You'll kill me!"
"Only if you look
like you're about to get careless with the weapon. I won't hurt you.
Please, put it down."
The human kept the
weapon trained on the newcomer for an eternity of seconds. Then,
reluctantly, he dropped it.
"Thank you," said
Touchstone.
Josh didn't look at
him. "I was out of bullets. I would have fired if I had bullets."
"I see." After
some silence, Touchstone said, "How long have you been here, Josh?"
"I… I don't know.
It seems like forever. I… I came here with my family. We were
on a skiing vacation."
"Skiing?"
"Yeah. Skiing.
You know, surfing the snow?"
"It doesn't sound
safe."
Josh gestured at his
leg. His ankle was bound with a makeshift sling. "No shit."
"You humans risk your
lives for the most peculiar reasons."
"Oh yeah? Why
are you all the way out here?"
The gargoyle looked
at the fire, then up at the human. "For all I know, I'm here to help
you."
"Ha. Hah!
Right."
"You don't have to
believe me. I know the truth."
Silence.
"So," said the human.
"So," said the creature.
"You're a gargoyle,
eh? Why?"
"Why are you a human?"
"Um… because I was
born that way."
"Just as I was born
a gargoyle."
"But… look at you!
You're not normal."
"How do you mean?"
"You know. You're
not human."
"Well, you've got
me, there. You are correct; I am not human."
"But you can talk."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"For the same reason
that you can talk. I learned how."
"But… you shouldn't
have. I mean, humans are supposed to be the only intelligent life
on this planet. What are you, some kind of alien?"
"No. The Earth
is my home, just as it is yours."
"It doesn't make sense.
I mean… how could you just come out of nowhere?"
"We didn't."
"Then, where did you
come from?"
The gargoyle shrugged.
"Where did *you* come from?"
"Okay, that's really
getting on my nerves. Cut it out."
"Very well."
"Let's just… Let's
just keep quiet, okay?"
"If you wish."
An hour passed, and
the gargoyle was growing restless. It made the human nervous.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm looking out for
my friend. I'm very concerned for her wellbeing."
"You mean… there's
more than one of you?"
"Certainly."
"She's probably frozen."
"I sincerely hope
not. She is… my friend."
"Ah."
Silence.
"Why wouldn't you
answer my question?"
The gargoyle looked
at him. "Hmm? You mean the one that questioned my right to
exist?"
Josh began to sweat,
in spite of the cold. "No… No, I didn't mean that!"
"Do you want an honest
answer from me?"
"Well… yeah."
"All right, then.
The answer, very plainly, is that I don't know."
"Ah."
"But what about you,
human Josh? Where did *you* come from? Do you truly know?"
"Yeah. Yeah,
of course I do. In the beginning, God created the garden of Eden,
and two human beings: Adam and Eve."
"How do you know this?"
"Um… because that's
what's written."
"But you weren't there."
"…No."
"But you believe in
what's written."
"Yes."
"Interesting."
Josh found himself
growing defensive. "Look, it's as good an explanation as any.
But what about you? The scriptures don't say anything about you or
your kind. You're all a bunch of anomalies. You shouldn't be
here, speaking in front of me. It doesn't make sense."
"Is that so?
Then, perhaps your 'scripture' is only one version of what happened."
"Don't… Don't you
wonder where you came from?"
"Of course.
It is not beyond our capacity to question the nature of our existence.
If you asked any other gargoyle, though, they would not have an answer
for you."
"And you do?"
"No. I only
have possibilities. Would you like to hear one?"
"Sure. I mean,
why not? We're not going anywhere, right?"
"Right."
***
In the beginning,
there was God.
For reasons beyond
our reckoning, He created the heavens and the earth. He made the
stars in the sky and the dirt in the ground. He made plants, and
animals, and finally humans.
But you already
know this. Let me tell you the part that you don't know.
All life began
in Eden, God's garden. There, He planted the seeds that would eventually
grow into all life on this planet. First came the plants, so that
the humans could breathe. Then came the animals, so that the humans
could eat. Then, at last came the first human, crafted so meticulously
out of the clay of the earth to be just as God imagined it. He was
the first living thing to be named.
God was proud of
His garden, and all that grew there. And He was proud of Adam, whom
He molded from the earth. Now it was time to name His creatures,
and He decided that Adam should have the honor.
"Name my creatures,"
said the Lord. "For all things must have names."
And Adam proceeded
to name the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea. He named all
the animals that live and breathe that humans know of today.
But there was one
that he didn't name.
There was only
one other animal that God crafted as meticulously as the human. The
creature, winged like a bird, clawed like a cat, and erect as a human,
waited anxiously to be named. But Adam saw the creature, and he said
he would not name it, for he was angry that God made another so alike himself.
He was angry because he saw that God could love another.
And the Lord said
unto Adam: "You have wounded me, for I put so much care into this creature's
creation, and you refuse to acknowledge its existence by giving it a name.
Why do you hurt me?"
And Adam told the
Lord that there should be no other creature so similar to humans, for he
feared that God's favor would someday shift from one to the other.
Thus, the creature should be erased.
And God spoke unto
the creature: "What say you?"
And the creature
said: "My Lord, You have created me with the other animals, and then You
have created humans. I am no more important than the birds of the
air or the fish of the sea. Do as he wishes, for this is his world,
not mine."
And the Lord spoke
to Adam: "What do you wish me to do with my creature?"
And Adam told Him
that, so long as he was awake, he wished never to see the creature.
And God listened
to Adam, and made it so that the creature slept only while man was awake,
and awoke only when man was asleep.
And the creature
had no name.
God felt sorry for
the creature, for it was the only one of His creations that had no name.
He spoke to it:
"I am sorry that man has treated you this way. So I present to you
a gift. You shall have the one thing that man shall not. You
shall be able to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Your eyes shall be opened to the world, and you will know what man does
not."
And the creature
said to the Lord: "My Lord, I want but one thing, and one thing only.
I want to know why man hasn't given me a name."
And the Lord said
to the creature: "This, and all other things, shall become clear once you
eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil."
And the creature
ate from the tree, and his eyes were opened.
And God created
Eve, and man and woman were both naked and unashamed of their nakedness.
There was still
a serpent in the garden, and he saw God make a gift of the forbidden fruit
to the creature, and he was jealous.
He spoke to the
woman: "See how the one without name has become God's favorite? He
has been allowed to eat of the forbidden tree, and he has become like God.
See what hangs around his waist? He is no longer naked."
But Eve told the
serpent that God's wishes were not hers to disobey. She cared nothing
about the other creatures, for she was of man, and man was in God's greatest
favor.
So the serpent
went to Adam, and pointed out the creature as it slept. "See what
hangs around its waist? The creature has eaten of the forbidden tree,
and is now as powerful as God. It has become God's favorite, and
now you are no more special to Him than the birds of the air or the fish
of the sea."
And Adam looked
at the sleeping creature, and he was angry. He ate of the tree and
knew that he was naked. He gave fruit to Eve, and she knew that she
was naked. And the serpent ate whatever was left.
And God was walking
through the garden, and called for man and woman.
"Where are you?"
said the Lord. "Why do you hide from me?"
And Adam said that
they hide because they are naked.
And the Lord asked
them: "Have you eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evil?"
And Adam said that
they had only eaten the food allowed to man and beast.
But Eve saw that
God was angry, and Eve said that the serpent had tried to convince her
to eat of the tree, but she had refused.
And God said to
them: "The serpent has tricked you. Now, you cannot stay, for the
garden was made for perfect creatures, and now you are not one of them.
So I will send you out into the world, without the protection that I would
have given you."
But Adam said this
wasn't fair. That it was the creature's fault.
And man was exiled,
and the serpent was punished.
And the creature
slept.
That night, the
creature awoke, and God came to it.
The Lord asked
him: "Do you know why you were hated so by man?"
"My Lord, I do
profess that the fruit has not enlightened me so much."
"Then, listen:
Man saw you as something that you were not. Man saw you as superior.
He feared losing my favor, all the while forgetting that it was man that
was created to be most perfect. Let it be known that man will always
fear others like him."
So the Lord named
the creature Himself, and gave the creature his first duties.
The creature would
guard the entrance to the garden. He gave the creature eyes of fire,
whose brightness would turn outsiders away.
He was the first
gargoyle.
***
Silence.
"I don't like that
story," said Josh. "That's not how humans really are."
Touchstone rubbed
his hands/talons over the fire. "You don't like it because it's not
true?"
"Well… yeah!
I mean, Adam didn't eat the fruit first. Eve did. You're making
it all up!"
"Am I? I never
said it was true. Besides, do you humans not have your own stories?"
"Well, fairy tales
and shit. But we never tried to pass them off as fact."
"What makes your creation
myth more true than mine?"
"Because… Because
it's been around longer!"
"How do you know that?"
"I… We don't.
But that doesn't change anything."
"Is that so?
How does not knowing something imply that it is true?"
"Look, just be quiet,
all right? You're trying to confuse me."
"No, human Josh.
I'm trying to make you think."
"Just shut up, okay?"
"Very well."
Another hour passed.
Touchstone's wings hugged his body. Unlike the human, with layers
of clothes, Touchstone wore only a loincloth. He rubbed his arms
and breathed out smoke.
"How long before sunrise?"
asked the gargoyle.
Josh checked his watch.
"I don't know. Three hours, I think. I don't know what time
the sun comes up around here. How come?"
"If the blizzard doesn't
stop by then, you'll know why."
The gargoyle was looking
again at the entrance of the cave.
"This friend of yours,"
Josh said, "You're really close?"
"Yes." The gargoyle
looked at him. "It's your turn."
"My turn?" Josh asked
nervously. "My turn for what?"
"A story. Tell
me a story."
"No. I can't.
I have no stories."
"Really. Then
how do you know my story's not true without any of your own to contradict
it?"
"Well, I *know* stories.
I just don't have anything original."
"Is that what it takes
to tell a story? Originality?"
"Well, yeah.
Nobody wants to hear the same thing over and over again."
"Really? But
that's all there is."
"What?"
"I've read some of
your books. You've written stories of the past, present, and future.
You've written stories of time and space. You've written stories
in, out, and beyond the mind. Do you truly believe there is an idea
that hasn't already been explored?"
"Well…"
"Humans and gargoyles
alike get ideas *from* ideas. The only 'original' thing we can bring
to an idea is our own point of view. So, given that, do you still
think that you have no stories to tell?"
Josh sighed.
"All right, all right. I'll tell you a story. Jesus…"
Touchstone moved closer
to the fire. "Excellent."
***
This is a true story.
I'm just going
to tell you what happened, and that's it. Everything has a name.
Everything happens for a reason. There are no creatures that man
doesn't know about. There are no gargoyles.
So, with all of
that stuff out of the way, I'll begin.
The story is about
Jacob and Esau, sons of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham. The bible
tells us that they were rivals all the way back to the womb. Scholars
believe that Jacob was supposed to be the first one to come out when their
mother went into labor, but Esau was a brute and threatened to hurt their
mother unless he was the first one out. Jacob was holding on to Esau's
heel when they left the womb, and that's how Jacob got his name.
The rivalry continued
into adulthood, when Esau became a skilled hunter and Jacob became a quiet
man who dwelled in tents. Isaac favored Esau, because he loved to
eat of the game he hunted. But their mother, Rebekah, favored Jacob.
Esau had a birthright,
because he was the firstborn. Now, the bible has us believing that
the birthright rightfully belongs to Jacob. After all, he was supposed
to be the firstborn before Esau threatened him. One day, Esau came
back from the hunt, completely famished. So famished, in fact, that
he thought he was seconds away from dying. Jacob was cooking some
pottage or porridge or some such thing, and Esau demanded some. Jacob
offered to sell him the pottage… in exchange for his birthright.
What does Esau care? He's about to die! So Esau agrees, and
doesn't realize until later that he's been fooled.
Now, Isaac had
grown old, with his sight failing him. He told Esau to hunt for him,
and prepare the food the way he liked it, and then Isaac would bless him.
Rebekah, hearing this, wanted the blessing for Jacob, so she prepared the
food and disguised her favorite son so that he *felt* like his brother.
Now, the bible
would have us believe that Isaac knew that he was giving his blessing to
the wrong son, but that's not how it's written. Anyway, Jacob makes
a hasty exit, only for Esau to come in seconds later with his food prepared
and everything. It's almost comical. Isaac is confused, because
he's already eaten, and already given the blessing to who he thought was
his favorite son. When Esau found out he was tricked out of his blessing…
well, that was the last straw.
Esau was enraged,
and Rebekah was sure that Esau would kill Jacob if he was found, so she
sent Jacob away to her kinsman, Laban.
On the way, Jacob
had a divine encounter. I won't go into much detail about it.
Essentially, he climbed a ladder to heaven and found angels ascending and
descending from it. Once there, he was given directions by God, and
was assured that God was with him, just as He was with Isaac, his father,
and Abraham, his grandfather.
Anyway, Jacob spends
the next twenty years in service to his kinsman and married and had children.
He grew wealthy by being intelligent, and had a large herd of cattle and
sheep.
But one day, God
told him it was time to go back to his home, and Jacob knew he would have
to face his brother again. Jacob lived in fear of the moment when
the two of them would meet, because he was sure Esau would not have forgiven
him. He set up camp outside of town, and was told by a messenger
that Esau was going to meet him the next day with four hundred men.
So Jacob decided to divide his cattle and sheep into two groups, so that
if Esau found and destroyed one group, the other could make an escape.
That night, Jacob
stood alone by a river. The bible doesn't say why he was there.
Maybe God told him to go there. I don't know. What the bible
*does* say is that he wrestled with a man there. It doesn't say who
attacked first. It doesn't describe the man. It simply says
that "a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day." But
Jacob was strong. Somehow, he overpowered his opponent. Seeing
that he was about to lose, the opponent touched Jacob's hip, instantly
injuring him. But day was approaching, and the man told Jacob to
let him go. Jacob refused to let him go unless he was blessed.
So the man asked for Jacob's name, and Jacob told him. The man then
declared Jacob's name to be changed to Israel. It means "victor,"
I think. Then, Jacob asked for *his* name, and the man said, "My
name? Why do you ask me for my name?" Then, the sun came up,
and the man was gone.
The next day, Jacob
was ready to face his brother, no matter the consequences. To his
surprise, Esau embraced him and was happy to see him and had missed him.
And so, Jacob survived his homecoming.
***
"So? How was
it?"
Touchstone blew on
his talons. "It fell apart at the end."
"Excuse me?"
"The execution is
fine, up until it reaches the climax--the fight with the man until daybreak.
Afterwards, it seemed like you just wanted to finish as quickly as you
could. Don't feel bad about it. A lot of stories are like that.
They build up to a point, possessing so much energy, and then it's all
used up by the time they've arrived. Otherwise, I'd have to say it
was a decent retelling, but it was nothing new."
"'Nothing new'?
This, coming from the… the *thing* that ranted and raved about how *unimportant*
originality was? You don't even follow your own advice!"
"Didn't you hear what
I said *after* that? That we must bring a part of ourselves into
the telling of every story. It's our own unique point of view.
The most interesting parts of your telling were the small digressions when
you allowed your own ideas to surface."
"The story was *fine*.
I didn't have to change it. You… you've *butchered* Genesis!
You've changed it so much that I can hardly recognize it!"
"Was I consistent?"
"Huh?"
"Was I consistent
with the changes? If you hadn't already read Genesis, how would you
judge my story?"
"Look, gargoyle--"
"My name is Touchstone,
*human*. We both have names. I have respected you thus far
by using yours. Please do me the same honor."
"All right.
Touchstone. You have to understand that if I accept the premise of
your story, I'm denouncing years of devotion to my religion. I must
believe that events occurred the way the bible describes them, otherwise
I have no faith."
"I'm not asking you
to believe anything I say, Josh. Only that you accept my story for
what it is: A point of view. An idea. Maybe even a *possibility*.
All stories, even your bible, are collections of lies. It is the
*seed* of truth within them that draws us to them."
"Look, just don't
challenge my faith, okay? I don't know how long we're going to be
stuck here, so I don't want to question the nature of God during the moments
I might need Him the most, all right?"
Touchstone looked
down at the fire. "The blizzard has stopped."
"What did you say?"
"The blizzard.
It's stopped. We may leave."
"Wh… Why didn't you
say something?"
"Because your story
wasn't finished. Because I knew that you would regret not finishing
it."
"I wouldn't have cared.
I'm not a storyteller. I'm just your typical human being who thought
for all of ten seconds that he knew how to ski. We don't *all* like
to hear ourselves speak."
"Maybe you should."
"Yeah? Why?"
"Because if more humans
spoke, then perhaps there would be less violence."
Josh stood, angered.
"How can you judge an entire race of people? You're not even one
of us! How do you get off thinking that you know so damned much?
What makes you the expert on human behavior?"
"Books. Research.
Sometimes personal experience."
"But you're forgetting
one thing: You're *not* human. You can no more talk to me about humans
than I can talk to you about gargoyles. You know *nothing* about
us!"
"Perhaps you're right.
Though it is difficult to forget that I am not a human." Touchstone
stood, rewrapping his wings around himself. "I must go find my friend
now." He looked toward the ground that Josh stood over. "Your
ankle seems to be feeling better."
"What? Yeah,
I guess." Touchstone began to leave. "Hey, wait just a second,
pal!" He caught up with the gargoyle. "The story you told…
where did you hear it? Who told it to you, anyway?"
"No one told it to
me. I made it up."
"But… you admit it,
then. It was lies."
"It was a *story*,"
Touchstone corrected. "Just like your 'fairy tales and shit.'
But just because I made it up doesn't mean that something similar didn't
once happen. It cannot be proven false. That's its seed of
truth."
"But you missed the
whole point," Josh said as they walked. "You can't make up biblical
stories. I mean, it's a contradiction of terms! The bible isn't
a *story*. It's… it's a *law*. It's teachings. It's not
meant to be fiction!"
"That is how I take
it. Are you condemning me for my point of view?"
"I… um…"
"Because I have read
some of your history books. I have read of a history of humans mistreating
one another for the most diminutive differences. I have read about
your persecutions, your slavery, and your genocide. All of this occurred
because of a refusal to accept another group of human beings for their
point of view. It makes me wonder: Would the Christians take up the
cross and don the white hoods against us? Would the Jews imprison
us in camps? Would the Blacks make us slaves? Would history's
lessons have to be learned all over again? That is why I have made
up a creation myth for gargoyles. I want humans to know that we have
beliefs, too. That our differences are only skin deep."
"Look, um, Touchstone.
Humans aren't like that anymore. We're not barbarians. Maybe
we used to be, but…"
"Do you remember how
you reacted when I challenged your faith? Imagine an entire world
believing as you do. Our mere *presence* contradicts everything that
your creation myths say. We would be hunted as though we were animals
for that simple reason."
"If that's what you
believe… then why bother? Why sit with me and exchange stories?"
"Because," Touchstone
said, "One human is much easier to reach than all humans."
They walked.
"Who was the man?"
Touchstone asked.
"Huh? What man?"
"The one who neither
attacked nor defended. The one who wrestled with Jacob."
"Oh. Him.
You know the bible doesn't say. I mean, there's enough evidence there
to make me think that he wasn't human. Maybe he was angel.
Maybe he was a physical manifestation of Jacob's fears. Maybe it
was God. I've given it a lot of thought, and I just don't know."
Touchstone smiled
secretively.
"What are you smiling
at?" Josh demanded. "What's the deal?"
"I know who the man
is."
"Oh yeah? Who?"
"He is a gargoyle."
Josh blinked at him.
"Hah! Right. Tell me another one."
"In my version of
the story," Touchstone explained, "He is a gargoyle."
"You're wrong."
"Prove it."
"What makes you think
it was a gargoyle?"
Touchstone looked
at him. "Before, it was 'he.' Now, he's an *it*?"
"I mean it. Tell me."
"No. It is a
point of view you won't believe. I don't want to waste any more stories
on you."
That made Josh upset,
and surprised to *be* upset. "Wasted on me? What the hell is
*that* supposed to mean?"
"The whole point of
telling stories is to have someone listening. An audience.
An open mind. You are not open to me *or* my point of view."
"Then tell me a different
one. Just keep away from the biblical stuff."
Touchstone shook his
head. "I will not be censured."
Josh grabbed his arm.
"Touchstone… please?"
Touchstone looked
at him and appeared to give it some real thought. "I cannot.
It's time for me to go home."
Over the next hill
was a lake, solid as glass. A boat sat there on the shore, with another
gargoyle standing in front of it. Touchstone was moved to see his
friend alive and well and ran to greet her.
"Rosalind," he said,
"This is my friend, Josh. We exchanged stories tonight."
Rosalind, green-skinned,
brown-haired, with horns that went around her head like a crown, eyed Josh
suspiciously, then said hello.
"Um, pleased to meet
you, um, Rosalind." Josh extended his hand, and Rosalind was surprised
at that. Warily, she extended her own and clasped his wrist affirmatively.
"It's almost sunrise,"
Touchstone mused almost absently. To Josh, he said, "Will you be
all right?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
He looked down. "Jesus, my family must be worried sick about me.
What am I going to tell them when I--"
A peculiar sound drew
his eyes away from the snow at his feet. The sound of grinding stones
and crunching gravel. He looked up, and he saw the sun shining behind
the two gargoyles, who now stood inanimate before him as statues.
"Oh, God…" He breathed.
The day had passed,
the night had risen, and they were on their way back to Avalon. The
human wasn't there when they woke up.
As the mists enveloped
them and they were in between worlds, Rosalind set down the ore and turned
to her rookery brother. "He was the first human I've ever shaken
hands with. And all you did was exchange stories?"
Touchstone also stopped
rowing. "We argued. We debated. We criticized.
And, yes, we exchanged stories."
"What was it like?
Spending all that time with a human?"
"It was confounding
and enlightening all at once. I honestly don't know if I reached
him."
"He was only one.
What is he to the millions who would fear and hate us?"
"Perhaps nothing.
Perhaps everything."
"You honestly think
we have a chance in this world?"
"There's always a
chance. But sometimes there's never an attempt." Touchstone
looked up at Rosalind. "But enough about this. What happened
to you last night, sister? We were separated somehow. I feared
you would freeze to death."
"Well, Touchstone,
it's an interesting story."
Touchstone, scribe
of Clan Avalon, smiled.
"Tell me."
***
-Scott