Just Another Day Postmortem

Just Another Day was a work of semi-fiction. Actual events blended with fiction. If you should find a few truths along the way, that is okay.

Just what the hell happened in Just Another Day's final chapter?

I get asked this question a lot. Like, three whole people already! Just Another Day came about in the aftermath of two sudden losses. My uncle and aunt passed away just a week apart in the spring of 2014. Not very long after which, a rather severe debate engulfed much of the family on Facebook. I eventually took it upon myself to quit the service. I would come to find solace in creative writing. I have always admired the serenity of Japanese culture and wanted to tell a story that began there. As the story came into fruition, it became clear that I myself was Aratana Hajimari - I myself would die that day. Nobody wants to picture their own death, but it presented me with an interesting writing challenge. Just how would I process everything in my final hours on Earth? And what ultimately caused my fatal heart attack? It led to a somewhat horrific third chapter. I knew that I would have to deal with something difficult. More difficult than my own death. The story sadly dictated the revelation that my eldest brother, Patrick, had passed away a year earlier. Having lived in Japan for twenty-something years, I had naturally lost touch with the family. It weakened my heart enough to become the catalyst for my own death later in that chapter. Foreshadowing can sometimes be a bitch.

Soarin' Around the World (Introduction)

An introduction to a story that I had originally intended to serve as a sequel to the Soarin' Over California portion of Departing a Day at Gridline Games. It deals primarily with a retrieval mission in The Ether. A dense, boundless region of the subconscious world where wayward travellers sometimes become lost without help from others.

Retrieval in the Dark

It was just another day in The Park. The energy so bright and inviting. The various life centers bustling with activity. I had arranged to assist in a retrieval mission. A poor soul had become trapped in The Ether and was draining the energies of others passing through the region. I learned everything I could about the individual in the library. He had died suddenly when his car slammed into an oncoming bus. It was a particularly brutal scene.

I centered my thoughts on the dense, unending region. His aura was easy enough to identify. A darkened blob. It appeared to me as if a black hole in deep space. I felt myself being tugged inward. I held my composure and allowed my energy to merge with his. Inside which, I discovered a dank wooded area. There were no signs of life, but there was a very muddy dirt patch. The dirt was like quicksand. I stepped around it as best I could.

There, off in the distance, sat a scared man clinging to a train ticket. I said to the man, "Why do you sit here in the dark?" He looked me in the eye and said, "I just wanted to go to the fair. I was going to meet someone special there." I looked around the man's self created landscape and said, "There's nothing fair about this place. If you don't mind me saying so, it's a dump." He let slip a light chuckle. In tears, he said simply, "You must love wordplay."

I said with enthusiasm, "If you follow me, I can unite you with many special someones!" The man lit up as I extended my hand and guided him away from the dank wooded area. We arrived back in The Park. His soul group was waiting for him there. Their energy manifested ever so brightly. It was a very good retrieval. Easier than most.

Upon returning to my personal sanctuary, I was taken aback by a calling from Earth. My son, Mike, had been trying to reach me for awhile. His thoughts articulated to, "Remember how much fun we had on Soarin' Over California, Dad? I'm still in disbelief. Disney closed it to make way for a new film. It's now Soarin' Around the World. Do you think it possible we could twist the hands of fate one more time?"

I was already there. I was everywhere. But for the sake of a story...