[[“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”]]
With a dramatic flourish of his hands he strode out onto the sidewalk, his words echoing out towards a less than thrilled audience of passerbys. He chose to believe that their glances were acknowledging, if perhaps not adoring. It was tragic, really, to see such a half-hearted response to one of his most famous works. At the very least it should have conjured forth faint smiles. Knowing gazes. But this, this was none of that.
He felt a bit hurt. It was for the public’s benefit, as much as his own, that he stood proclaiming these words to the heavens. For, in his eyes, the reality behind his summoning was not altogether disagreeable. Figures from across all manners of time and space, gathered together in the name of both cooperation and conflict. Behind it all, a shadowy cadre of figures whom had trapped them. Bid them to dance as puppets on performance. It had a nice ring to it. A certain appeal. The execution could be better, for it did not seem as though there was artisan’s hand behind the curtain. Would the majority of actors on stage truly be motivated to do aught but rebel against their boundaries? What of the others, who found contentment in idleness? Where was the motivation for them to act? Altogether, they had been given little in the way of stage direction. There were plot threads which still had yet to manifest. Nevertheless, he could appreciate the effort behind it all. It would yet serve as a worthy fount of inspiration. That much he felt sure of.
If he could find no real problems with simply being here, his displeasure must then have come from how he arrived. How he had been called forth as an ordinary participant. Him? Really? Who on earth would summon the greatest writer the world had ever known, simply to cast him as a stock character? It was difficult to regard as any sort of cosmic irony. It simply felt like a disservice to his name. To his legacy. It simply felt, well… It simply felt depressing, to be honest.
[[”What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”]]
These words rang as true as the day he had first penned them. Indeed, if only his name lacked recognition, that would have been a lesser disservice. His summoners, however, had gone a step further and denied his skill as an author. From separate sides of a screen there could be no debate in the matter. It was simply said and done as he was released into the city.
Honestly, he wouldn’t have found issue with helping them if only they had asked… Yet here he was, cast to the wayside. Here he was, still standing in front of the building’s entrance and making a slight bit of a scene. With an overly boisterous sigh he brought his hand to rest across his face, attempting to stay focused on the positives.
To be among the common people, could certain have some benefits. Such a position would not stop him from observing events as they unfolded. If anything, it simply meant that they would be unfolding in his midst. All the better to more closely observe his principal characters. Indeed, from up close he could come to know them in ways a distanced hand could only dream of. He could be a shoulder to lean on, or better yet a sympathetic ear. Yes, perhaps it was best to regard this as a boon. An exercise in more hands-on authorial intrusion.
A small grin began to spread across his lips as he recalled the one real direction the scientists had given him. “Keep things interesting”. Certainly, that was his intention from the very beginning. William Shakespeare was not a man who could stand to disappoint his audience, whether for their sake or his own.
So it was that he set out in search of worthy protagonists.
“Salutations! Er, yes, you there. Pardon the intrusion, but do you have a moment?”
