My friend told me a story he hadnāt told anyone for years. When he used to tell it years ago people would laugh and say, āWhoād believe that? How can that be true? Thatās daft.ā So he didnāt tell it again for ages. But for some reason, last night, he knew it would be just the kind of story I would love.
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When he was a kid, he said, they didnāt use the word autism, they just said āshyā, or āisnāt very good at being around strangers or lots of people.ā But thatās what he was, and is, and he doesnāt mind telling anyone. Itās just a matter of fact with him, and sometimes it makes him sound a little and act different, but thatās okay.
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Anyway, when he was a kid it was the middle of the 1980s and they were still saying āshyā or āwithdrawnā rather than āautisticā. He went to London with his mother to see a special screening of a new film he really loved. He must have won a competition or something, I think. Some of the details he canāt quite remember, but he thinks it must have been London they went to, and the filmā¦! Well, the film is one of my all-time favourites, too. Itās a dark, mysterious fantasy movie. Every single frame is crammed with puppets and goblins. There are silly songs and a goblin king who wears clingy silver tights and who kidnaps a baby and this is what kickstarts the whole adventure.
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It was āLabyrinthā, of course, and the star was David Bowie, and he was there to meet the children who had come to see this special screening.
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āI met David Bowie once,ā was the thing that my friend said, that caught my attention.
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āYou did? When was this?ā I was amazed, and surprised, too, at the casual way he brought this revelation out. Almost anyone else I know would have told the tale a million times already.
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He seemed surprised I would want to know, and he told me the whole thing, all out of order, and I eked the details out of him.
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He told the story as if it was heād been on an adventure back then, and he wasnāt quite allowed to tell the story. Like there was a pact, or a magic spell surrounding it. As if something profound and peculiar would occur if he broke the confidence.
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It was thirty years ago and all us kids whoād loved Labyrinth then, and who still love it now, are all middle-aged. Saddest of all, the Goblin King is dead. Does the magic still exist?
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I asked him what happened on his adventure.
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āI was withdrawn, more withdrawn than the other kids. We all got a signed poster. Because I was so shy, they put me in a separate room, to one side, and so I got to meet him alone. Heād heard I was shy and it was his idea. He spent thirty minutes with me.
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āHe gave me this mask. This one. Look.
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āHe said: āThis is an invisible mask, you see?
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āHe took it off his own face and looked around like he was scared and uncomfortable all of a sudden. He passed me his invisible mask. āPut it on,ā he told me. āItās magic.ā
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āAnd so I did.
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āThen he told me, āI always feel afraid, just the same as you. But I wear this mask every single day. And it doesnāt take the fear away, but it makes it feel a bit better. I feel brave enough then to face the whole world and all the people. And now you will, too.
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āI sat there in his magic mask, looking through the eyes at David Bowie and it was true, I did feel better.
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āThen I watched as he made another magic mask. He spun it out of thin air, out of nothing at all. He finished it and smiled and then he put it on. And he looked so relieved and pleased. He smiled at me.
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ā'Now weāve both got invisible masks. We can both see through them perfectly well and no one would know weāre even wearing them,ā he said.
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āSo, I felt incredibly comfortable. It was the first time I felt safe in my whole life.
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āIt was magic. He was a wizard. He was a goblin king, grinning at me.
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āI still keep the mask, of course. This is it, now. Look.ā
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I kept asking my friend questions, amazed by his story. I loved it and wanted all the details. How many other kids? Did they have puppets from the film there, as well? What was David Bowie wearing? I imagined him in his lilac suit from Live Aid. Or maybe he was dressed as the Goblin King in lacy ruffles and cobwebs and glitter.
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What was the last thing he said to you, when you had to say goodbye?
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āDavid Bowie said, āIām always afraid as well. But this is how you can feel brave in the world.ā And then it was over. Iāve never forgotten it. And years later I cried when I heard he had passed.ā
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My friend was surprised I was delighted by this tale.
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āThe normal reaction is: thatās just a stupid story. Fancy believing in an invisible mask.ā
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But I do. I really believe in it.
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And itās the best story Iāve heard all year.
