The last three shots listed to the left. I need to be better than that.
It's not that I'm not good. I'm very good. One of the best. But them? They're better. They're better than the best. So that means I need to be better.
Not that I mind them being the best. I love them because they're the best. But when they're out there, besting the rest, they expect me to have their back. They need me to be the best too. And the best doesn't list to the left three times in a row.
When I first picked up the bow, the first obstacle was notching. Hooking the arrow into the bowstring, perching it against the bow shaft, making sure it stayed there. Then, once I'd mastered that, the trouble was finding the strength to draw the bowstring back. When you fight against physics, physics usually wins. After that, aiming. That always came easiest to me. I just had to open my eyes, and I always trust my eyes. Then, let it all go, and if you did it right, your arrow would find its mark.
Four actions made up the process of firing an arrow from my bow. Pull the arrow from the quiver. Notch the arrow in the bow. Draw back the string until it's taut. Release the arrow at your foe. Mastering the bow was to turn those four actions, those four fumbling actions, into one fluid moment.
Pull. Notch. Draw. Release.
Practice that until it becomes: fire.
The last three shots listed to the left. I need to be better than that.
The bullseye is the central point of the target, but even the centre of the target has a centre. The exact centre. So that's where I aim, but when I list to the left, I still hit the bullseye, but I miss the bullseye of the bullseye. As the old saying goes; the left of the exact centre is still left of the exact centre.
Each arrow represents another second with my friends. My best friends. And they are the best, in all the ways. More than that, each arrow represents another citizen of Eternia who gets to take up tomorrow and spend their day with their best friends. Any arrow that misses is a moment stolen from us, and any arrow that lists to the left might well have missed.
I don't have magical powers or space-powered-alter-egos. I have my bow, and my quiver, and my friends. They need be to be the best. I will be the best for them.
Fire.
Right in the bullseye of the bullseye.
