The Mantle

A short story written by: BlueHelix

Throughout human history there has a mantle of responsibility has existed as a constant reminder of who we are to be. A man would pass his blessing and man hood down unto his firstborn son, and he would do so to his. Even today we see people teaching their young about the world and the challenges they will face, so one day they will be ready to take upon the mantle.

I never had a father to show me the way. He died in a forest fire when I...well he was young. I had to create my own mantle to show me the way. It was the only thing that helped me through...most times. I can't say I've lived a perfect life. Yeah I was blessed to have friends who would have my back, and even someone who could have one day been like a father to me. But, I always kept my distance. Even to my friends I was cold. I tried to be serious and I couldn't let anyone get in my way from proving myself and fulfilling my mantle. Only my mantle was programed into my head. I sought out to join the league but it wasn't my own idea.

Then when I was finally free, I felt lost. Alone. Scared. I felt I couldn't be trusted, and that I was an outcast among the world. A leper, a fool...

But my friends still wished to help me, but still my head was harder than I wanted it to be, and set off to find and somehow repair my life by finding what should have been me. And for five years I searched, and five years I was ditched, betrayed, and hurt. But I must have thought that my head was stronger than my bow, but eventually I was lost.

They tried to help.

I turned them down, but someone was able to break though my thick head, and finally I found what I was searching for. But I didn't know what to do next. And for years to come I was back at square one. The man who could have been my mentor and my guide though my dark times still held the lamp and offered to pass his mantle onto me. But I rejected it. I still wonder at night if I should have said yes, and maybe I could have seen the other side of the mountain.

But what if it was empty like the side I face?

My arrow shoots straight, and my eyes grow hard. I find myself in a never ending quest to fulfill my goal and dream. Not to find and take up someones mantle, but to pass mine down. A girl I watch will one day grow up and become a strong woman. But I hope that when she does, that when I pass my mantle onto her, she will still call me daddy.