Of Mind Palaces and Broken Things:
Fortress [noun]: 1.A large fortified place
2. Any place of exceptional security; stronghold.
No matter how high or sturdy your walls are, in the end, it boils down to one fact- No Fort is Impenetrable. It may take days, months or years for it to come crumbling down, but eventually, it does. And that's the gist of it.
Mind palaces are quite quaint. Not everyone can build them. People opt for more open, cozy structures, preferably with wooden patios and huge French windows. They've got a welcoming aura to the point of being downright vulnerable. But then, the ordinary masses never have to contend with an unbroken litany of taunts, insults and abuses, an endless ridicule for their brilliance, for who they are.
The whole idea behind erecting a fortress up there is simple. Nothing unwanted breaches the walls, and nothing escapes, ever.
So, those select few, why do they take the pains to build up a bloody thing in the first place?
A fort, or The Mind Palace, if you will, is built as a last resort, a refuge, a safe haven. When the jabs of freak show, disgrace and disappointment become unbearable, when the feeling of worthlessness permeates throughout the being, one can hide in those tall towers or sulk in the gloomy dungeons, whichever feels home.
Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a fortress. The foundation is laid brick by brick, stone by stone. And that's a pity. Because the insults stop and wait for no one, and by the time the castle is built, the damage is already done. The sculptor-mason-builder is already broken, hanging on to sanity by a thin thread. And that renders the whole exercise moot. What a fortress can do now is shield the sculptor-mason-builder from further damage.
But as we said earlier, No Fort is Impenetrable. Repeated blows bring down even the sturdiest of monuments. But, God forbid, that happens, the thread snaps, and all bets are off.
And that's why Sherlock Holmes is lucky to have a guardian in the form of an ex-army medic, defending his mind palace, protecting his sanity and keeping him from tipping over the edge, relatively on the side of the angels, even though, clearly, Sherlock Holmes isn't one.
And, why not?
After all, Friends protect People.
A/N :Please Review. It would mean a lot.
Ta!