This boldness tempered with caution stood out on Saturday May 4,2001, when "the rescue" occurred. As I have earlier written, I was spurred on by destiny to save the life of an anonymous female admirer. Its was like the Scrubs episode in which Turk, a brand new resident physician jaded and disillusioned by all the pain and suffering he tended to on Christmas Eve, feels an urgent compulsion to run to a distant light as he gazes pensively into the hospital's distance on Christmas Day. Like I felt during "the rescue," the revived Turk just knew he had to sprint to that spot, where it turns out a helpless, distraught women is giving birth.
In the Scrubs episode, protaganist J.D. closes the installment with a voice-over: "So I guess Turk was right after all. Miracles do happen. I think you just have to be willing to look for them. During "the rescue," I figured that my damsel in distress was a stripper/prostitute--the miracle I looked for, my being so mindful of reality that my enlightenment would illuminate the path for all within days.*L*
In the Music Video MY HERO, by the foo fighters, a similar rescue is depicted. In the opening sequence, a tall, strapping young man leaps out of a back alley, resolutely sprints down a sidewalk, through a parking lot, then down a street as the strong, percussion-led intro is played. He reaches his distraught wife/partner outside a burning building, then unflinchingly races in.
Too alarming know to talk about
Take your pictures down and shake it out
Truth or consequence
Say it aloud
Use that evidence
Race it around
The hero enters a room and picks up a baby from its crib.
There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
With the baby tucked upon his shoulder, the hero exits the building.
There goes my hero
He's Ordinary
He hands the infant to his woman, then rushes back into the fiery building.
Don't the best of them bleed it out
While the rest of them peter out
Truth or consequence
Say it aloud
Use that evidence
Race it around
The hero enters a bathroom and gathers a small dog.
There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He's ordinary
He exits the building, hands the dog to its owner, then-perplexed-searches the crowd for his woman, who tells him "I love you," or something (I'm not skilled at reading lips), then rushes back to the building.
Kudos my hero
Leaving all the best
You know my hero
The one that's on
The hero frantically searches drawers amidst the burning building.
There goes my hero
He's ordinary
He finds the object he searched for- a photograph of his wife--then exits fatigued and limping. He embraces his lover and baby, as the crowd congratulates him. *L* I'm not sure of the symbolism, but I think he rescued the woman's self -perception, represented by her portrait. At any rate, the main point is that the hero does everything heroically, leaving nothing undone. *L*
This is my sixth manuscript, only my first one was published. That is available for purchase on line at Dorrance Publishing.com: "My Quest: A Retrospective Journal."
ReplyDeleteIn that publication, I recount my experience as a first year law student at Georgetown leading to my suicide attempt just as the school year began.
ReplyDeleteI bring up these two depictions of heroic acts before recounting my own act of "heroism" on the night of May 5th, 200l. On this "rescue," I felt more alive than ever before or since.
ReplyDelete