Chapter 2 – Drew's Desire For Freedom
20 years later…
Up in the bell tower at St. Luke, the camera pans over to a young dark-haired man with a boyish looking face and an oddly shaped mouth, now known as Drew. He walked over towards a short and thin yet slender female gargoyle with wavy, curly dark brown hair that had her her mouth open as a white bird's head emerged from its body. It then chirped with joy upon seeing him.
"Hey there, little guy. You ready to fly today?" he whispered.
The bird then looked down on the ground with fear as he turned back at Drew nervously.
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try now, would it?" Drew replied assuredly as he picked up the bird gently in his hands. "Why, if I picked today to fly, oh boy, this would be it. The Feast of Fools. There are a lot of jugglers, music and dancing… Besides, nobody wants to be cooped up here forever."
The bird then closed his eyes and started to flap his wings. And before he knew it he was soon hovering in the air effortlessly. The bird then opened his eyes and looked down to see that he was actually flying. He then looked at Drew in surprise as the two of them laughed. Then he soon flew away as Drew watched with a smile on his face. He soon gazed at the morning sky with a dreamy look on his face, wishing he could escape too.
The shorter female gargoyle named Anne then emerged from her sleep as she opened her mouth and started to spit out a bunch of white feathers from her mouth.
"Man! Yuck! That is so disgusting!" Anne grimaced as she started to spit and hack uncontrollably and then a lanky and thin male gargoyle with a long and pocked face with two small horns and short dark black hair named Ivan looked at her with an annoyed expression.
"Well, that's what you get for sleeping with your mouth open," Ivan scoffed.
Anne then gave Ivan a dirty look and laughed haughtily. "Ha, ha, ha. Go scare Dr. Dan."
She then peered down at the town square curiously. "So what's going on down there? A riot? A fight?"
"It's a festival," Ivan interjected flatly.
"Yeah, the Festival of Fools," Drew sighed.
"Well all right! Let's break out the champagne and have a party!" Anne hollered excitedly.
"It's a real joy to watch the people out there partake in these exciting events," Ivan mused.
"Well the food, wine, music and fashion ain't bad either," Anne chuckled.
"Yeah, watching," Drew groaned dejectedly as he walked away.
"Oh, look, a man's toupee," Anne remarked briskly as she then was about to throw a small pebble at an unsuspecting man. Ivan then quickly grabbed her arm and glared at her, causing her to flash a sheepish grin.
Ivan and Anne then turned around to see Drew walk away sadly.
"Hey, buddy, what gives?" Anne frowned.
"I hope he's not sick," Ivan replied worriedly.
"Oh, please. I'm sure he's just fine," a voice rejoined and another female gargoyle named Marlena appeared with long, light blonde hair and a sweet, maternal face with large, angelic wings. "If spending the last 20 years listening to you two yapping away hasn't made him gone insane by now, nothing will."
"Drew always likes to watch the Festival of Fools with us. It's what he looks forward to every year," Anne griped.
"What good is it to watch if you never get to go?" Marlena sighed exasperatedly as she stormed into the bell tower.
Anne then rolled her eyes and scoffed. Just then a flock of birds settled on her and then she gave them the evil eye. She then started to wave her arms around frantically and angrily.
"Will you please just get off me! Go! Shoo! Fly away, you stinking buzzards!"
"Well, at least he's not stone like us," Ivan sighed.
It was then that the gargoyles followed Drew into a small room. Drew then approached a large table where he had a miniature wooden town set with miniature wooden figurines that he had crafted by hand. The gargoyles then looked on at him sadly as they felt sorry for him. Marlena then decided to walk over to Drew and talk with him.
Marlena then sauntered over to the young man and stood next to him, her hands on her chin.
"Drew, what's wrong? You can tell me what's on your mind," she inquired sympathetically.
"Well, I just don't feel like simply watching the festival," Drew grumbled petulantly.
"Well, haven't you thought of actually going there instead?" Marlena suggested.
"Yeah, but… I don't think I will ever fit in with everyone else. It's not like I look the normal type," Drew answered with a resigned shrug.
"Oh, Drew," Marlena sighed as she petted him on the head sympathetically.
Just then, Anne's voice screamed out loudly.
"Oh my God, just leave me alone, you stupid pigeons! Can't I have a single moment of peace without one of you sitting on my big head!"
"Oh, Anne," Drew chuckled as he and Marlena started laughing.
"I think it would be a really good idea for you to go to the Festival," Anne remarked as she and Ivan approached Drew and Marlena.
"As your friends and guardians, we insist you attend," Ivan said to Drew.
"You can have all of the wine and women you want," Anne explained to Drew.
"And you can even learn about the different cultures and ways of life in our marvelous city," Ivan added.
"You can even play pin the tail on Dr. Dan. At least that's what Ivan and I do every year," Anne replied.
"And while you're at it, you might even catch a couple of great musicians too," Ivan piped in.
"Take it from an old timer, Drew. Life's not a spectator sport. If watching is all you're doing, you're just going to watch your life fly by without you," Marlena informed Drew sagely.
"Yeah, you're a fully grown man. As for us, we're just a bunch of marble statues just there for the architecture," Anne rejoined sardonically.
"But if we are not men, do we not bleed? If we are made of stone, do we not breathe?" Ivan commented as he then shoved a bucket down on Anne's head.
"Drew, it's not that complicated. All you have to do is grab some fresh clothes and just go out-" Marlena proposed.
"Thank you so much for your words of encouragement, guys, but you're forgetting one important thing," Drew admonished them as the gargoyles grinned sheepishly.
"What?"
"My master, Randy," Drew sighed as the gargoyles groaned in disappointment and Anne rubbed her chin.
"Oh right, that nutball."
"When Randy says that you're not supposed to leave the bell tower, does he actually mean… never ever?" Ivan asked Drew quizzically.
"Never ever. And he hates the Feast of Fools. He would be really upset if I asked him permission to go," Drew answered as Anne flashed an impish smile and she rubbed her hands evilly.
"Who says you have to ask?"
"Oh no, you must be joking," Drew stammered in fear as Anne grabbed a dark blue cloak. "You just sneak back in."
"It's just for the afternoon," Marlena interjected.
"And you sneak back out," Anne chuckled deviously.
"He would never know you were gone," Marlena remarked.
"And what if I get caught?" Drew gasped in horror.
"It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission," Ivan shrugged casually.
"You can just grab a cloak and slip out into the open square. Nobody will recognize you," Anne offered. "And best of all, what Randy doesn't know won't hurt him."
"Ignorance is truly bliss," Ivan replied as Anne grabbed him and gave him a noogie. "Come here you."
"It's like you said, Drew. Nobody wants to be cooped up here forever," Marlena said and then Drew's eyes blazed in determination as he got up.
"You know what?" he said in a firm voice. "You're right. I'm going to get out of this bell tower!"
"Yeah!" the gargoyles cheered as they led him out of the room.
"I'll march down those stairs!" he yelled passionately.
"Yeah!"
"And I'm going to-" Drew continued but then he ran right into a familiar figure.
"Good morning, Drew," Randy announced with a stern, cold expression.
"Oh my God, Master! I had no idea you were coming!" Drew gasped as he glanced towards the gargoyles that were now turned back into stone.
"Whom were you talking to, dear boy?" Randy inquired, tilting his head to the side.
"Um… my… friends," Drew replied sheepishly.
"Your friends, huh?" Randy chuckled as he knocked on Ivan's head. "They're made of stone, correct?" He then held up Drew's chin with a smug expression.
"Can stone talk?"
"No, it can't," Drew answered with a frown.
"Smart lad," Randy replied with a smirk as he walked over to a small table. "Now let's have lunch."
"Yes, Master," Drew sighed as he then took a seat in front of him and began to set up. He then placed a basket in front of them as Randy took out a book.
"Let's begin your alphabet, shall we? A," Randy announced.
"Abomination," Randy answered.
"B."
"Blasphemy."
"C."
"C-contrition."
"D?"
"Damnation."
"E?"
"Eternal damnation."
"F?" Randy queried as he took a sip of wine.
"F-festival?" Drew answered as Randy spit out his wine in shock.
"Excuse me?" he demanded as he then got up.
Drew then gawked in horror and shame as he scrambled to cover up his mistake. "F-forgiveness?"
"You're thinking about going to the festival," Randy growled angrily as he started to walk away and Drew followed him.
"But Master, you go every year," Drew argued as the pair started to go down the steps.
"I'm supposed to go. I'm one of the political officials of this town but I don't enjoy a single moment of it!" Randy explained exasperatedly. "There's nothing in there but a bunch of drunken, licentious idiots with no morals or values and breed like a bunch of cockroaches. All they ever care is to satisfy every single one of their base desires and have no regard for their immortal souls!"
"Please, Master, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," Drew begged and wheedled as he and Randy went out to the balcony walkway.
"Drew, my boy, you must understand," Randy sighed dejectedly. "When your heartless mother abandoned you, anyone else would have drowned you. And this is the thanks I get for taking you in and raising you as my son?"
"I'm sorry, sir," Drew whispered as he knelt down in front of him as a sign of penance.
"My dear son, you have no idea what it's like out there in the real world. I do, I do," Randy replied sympathetically as he gazed out into the square.
The world is cruel, the world is wicked, and it is I alone that you can trust in this whole city…
He then turns around to look at Drew and grins at him evilly and cruelly.
I am your only friend.
He then brushes Drew's hair tenderly and peers into his eyes.
I who keep you, feed you, teach you, bathe you, dress you… I who look upon you without fear…
He then starts walking away from him with his deadly gaze still on him.
How can I protect you boy if you don't always stay in here, away in here…
Randy then turns his back on Drew and walks back into the bell tower.
"Remember what I taught you, Drew."
Drew then nodded as he and Randy re-entered the bell tower and started to walk down the stairs.
You are deformed
(I am deformed)
You are ugly
(And I am ugly)
Drew and Randy soon re-entered Drew's room as they are standing in front of Drew's miniature town set.
And these are crimes for which the world shows little pity
Randy then looked at Drew intensely as Drew dropped his head down to the ground in shame.
You do not comprehend
(You are my one defender)
Randy then shakes his head as he examines a miniature figure of Drew.
Out there they'll revile you as a monster.
Drew then picks up another miniature of a baker with a solemn and melancholic expression.
(Only a monster)
Randy then rolls his arms up dramatically.
Out there they will hate and scorn you and jeer
Drew then puts down the miniature baker-like figure sadly and gazes at it longingly.
(Only a monster)
Randy then looks up at the ceiling while shaking his hands and then knocks away some of the figurines with his hand.
Why invite their calamity and consternation… stay in here
He then grabs the Drew-like figurine and slowly puts it back on the bell-tower set.
Be faithful
(I'm faithful)
Be grateful to me
(I'm grateful)
Do as I say… obey, and stay in here
(And stay in here)
Drew then sighed deeply as he looked down on the ground dejectedly.
"You're good to me, Master. I'm sorry."
"You're forgiven," Randy replied softly. "But remember Drew, this is your sanctuary."
And with this he left with a smirk.
Drew then heard the footfalls of his footsteps gradually recede and he glanced up with rays of sunlight now hitting the table.
"Sanctuary," he whispered.
Safe behind these windows and parapets of stone
Gazing down at the people below me
Drew then walks over to the balcony as he looks down at the townspeople passing by.
All my life I watch them as I hide up here alone
Hungry for the histories they've shown me
Drew spots many kids running around with ice cream in her hands and chasing each other all around the fountains and some others jump roping. He also sees some teenagers passing around weed and smoking and having keg parties.
All my life I've memorized their faces, knowing them as they will never know me.
Drew then looks on at the large crowd passing through the square as the camera soon gradually zooms out to view the entire town from above.
All my life I've wondered what it feels to pass a day not above them…
But part of them…
Drew then smiles widely as he flips onto the roof and skids over it with a wooden surfboard he created. He then grabs a pillar and slides down just as he meets his gargoyle friends and hugs Anne and Marlena.
And out there living in the sun
Give me one day out there
All I ask is one to hold forever
Drew then jumps off the bell tower and soon glides off into the air on his surfboard as he watches the people walk right by him unnoticed. He then notices a bird fly right by him and he catches some floating flowers and breathes in them. He then lands in the middle of the square and outstretches his hand as the camera pans out of the square.
Out there where they live on unaware
What I'd give, what I'd dare
Just to live one day out there
There is a long tracking shot of doctors, officers and other professionals sitting in tables at the Mandalay Café. Meanwhile elsewhere in the square there are a couple of experiments fighting and brawling with each other and a couple of drunken men joking with each other and playing hopscotch. There are also some young couples emerging out of a nightclub kissing, hugging and dancing with each other.
Out there with the doctors and the officers and their wives
Through the roofs and gables I can see them
Every day they shout and scold and go about their lives
Heedless of the gift it is to be them
Drew then jumps on a dark chestnut brown horse and he rides off to the west with the wind blowing in his face. He soon dashes through the Salem River with the rapids crashing over him and bends down over to the water. He then dips his hands in there and splashes his face.
If I was in their skin I'd treasure every instant
Out there, strolling by the Salem River
Tasting every morning out there
Drew is lying flat on his back across the prairie in the woods as several deer and horses gallop across the lands with butterflies spiraling in the center.
Like ordinary men who freely walk about there
Drew then levitates off the ground in a whirlwind as he starts to spin and rotate in mid-air with exhilaration and excitement with leaves, birds and butterflies scattering across the sky.
Just one day and then I'll swear I'll be content with my share
Drew then lands on the hospital wall as he starts to scale it up in a rapid pace and he soon reaches the top. He soon stands up as the camera soon gradually pans out and a flock of birds soon soar into the sky.
Won't resent, won't despair, old and bent, I won't care… I'll have spent one day out there…
