talisman or power object
Unusual Birth
The Hero's journey
There are many different ways a hero can begin a journey. Sometimes it's traumatic other times it's fantastic.
“Boy! Aliens? Jamal, you need to get out baby. Your dad ain’t coming back. It’s been almost seven years. You’re getting older Jamal; you can’t sit around and wait for your dad to come back. There comes a time when everyone, even you, has to grow up. That means accepting the truth about things."
“Now listen, we’re running real short on money baby. I need you to take the TV down the block to that pawnshop along with that bag of old clothes in your closet. You can put 'em on the cart and push it down the sidewalk. It’s real important Jamal that you do this okay? I want you to start having some responsibility around here.”
supernatural helper
The hero often has a weapon or a special object that will aid them on their journey it is often the supernatural helper who tells the hero how to use the object
When the homeless man handed Jamal the beans, he whispered into his ear the magic word, very softly so that the beans could not hear him.
“…And whenever you are ready for them to do their magic all you have to do is toss them into the air, and shout the word grow. Then the seeds inside the beans will know it’s time to give up being a seed. For you see, the seed can never know for sure what it is to become, only that it must grow, and when that time has arrived that is what it must do, as sure as the wind blows and the sun rises.”
There are oftentimes strange things happening on the day of a hero's birth.
Jamal was always a special kid. Even the Universe agreed. On the day he was born it snowed. Now, for Atlanta, snow was nothing special. But you see, the only thing no one could figure out, was how in the middle of August on the hottest day Atlanta had seen since 1918, it could be snowing! All summer long it had been hot. Candles suddenly melted with no warning into pools of wax, and every time it rained, the falling water would evaporate before it reached the ground. Today was hotter than that.
“THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIVES. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO DIFFERENTLY?” an old homeless man walked downtown with this sign across his chest.
the call to action
Crossing the Threshold
See exclusive footage from the day Jamal was born!
Eventually, our hero leaves his familiar surroundings and embarks on a WONDROUS journey using all he has known about this world to navigate the next one.
the hero is usually helped out by someone old and wise, with a mystical power about them and ushers them into this new journey
As Jamal made his way home with the $50 he came upon a man asking for spare change.
“Excuse me, but could you spare some change? I haven’t eaten in two days,” the homeless man asked. This homeless man was no ordinary homeless man, but in fact the exact same Jim, who fourteen years earlier on the day of Jamal’s birthday had carried the sign on the corner of downtown in the snow on the hottest day in August since 1918, but of course, Jamal didn’t know this.
“Um, na I don’t. Sorry about that, but you know,” he shrugged and passed on.
Hero's are all around us. Sometimes they don't wear a cape or a costume. Sometimes...they look just like you and me. But there are things that are always true with a hero, regardless of whether or not they're super.