The Cure

Cluttered

"...so, that being said, I would like you all to take note of the carefully interwoven symbolism in the book. Note how the author repeats the metaphor of the dove to relate to Serenity's purity, sanity, and overall cleanliness in every aspect of her life. And, just as the dove ascended to the clouds, so did Serenity when she died. Make sense?" Professor Kent explained. He drew a simple outline of a dove, and next to it an "equals" sign and a quick stick figure of a girl. Underneath the girl he wrote "Serenity."

"Now. I want you all to think about how you can use symbolism in your own projects. To think of a figure that you can liken your character, characters, or any other entity— even a strong, recurring emotion— to. To help you with this, I've printed out a series of character sheets for you all to fill out as homework. If you look on the page, you can see it's really difficult— your name goes here, and the date..." Professor Kent paused, waiting for the students to finish laughing before he continued on.

Wheeft. Levi whistled, the noise echoing from the back of the class.

"Felicity! You've mentioned before that the main character in your book is very typical of a fantasy novel. He's got your standard knight-in-shining-armor characteristics. He is brave and tough, and he's about to face the biggest challenge he's ever had to face— both mentally and physically. Now, the different thing about him is he's... what was it? Deaf? Right. Your character is deaf. And he's got to challenge— and defeat— the main protagonist in your story, the monarch of the land he lives in. But the monarch is a sorcerer who can make himself invisible. Now..." He chuckled, scratching the side of his nose casually. The class had laughed at that bit.

"...Now I can imagine, that of course, your character is rather discouraged, not having the benefit of being able to hear while up against someone who can make himself invisible. And now he's got to rely on a sort of sixth sense he has, which he feels is undeveloped and may not help him. I would guess, even, that maybe he's afraid for his life at this point. He's crumbling under the pressure, he's having a breakdown... so, Felicity. In the midst of his breakdown, imagine his thought process. Feel it, channel it— get in his head, get in his personal business. Looking through his memories, his emotions, the challenge— what thing, what object, if you will, immediately comes to mind?" Professor Kent looked at Felicity. She had spent most of the time turning a shade of red, having been singled out and her story explained to everyone in class. She cleared her throat.

"Um... Well, I suppose— I suppose I think of a lion, the one from the story where he gets a thorn stuck in his paw— Wow. Which actually gives me the idea of a mouse. A seemingly unhelpful friend who helped retrieve the thorn from the lion's paw." Felicity said, a bit amazed. Well, that was easy, she thought.

Wheeft.

"Excellent! See, people? Symbolism. It helps. Felicity, be sure to write that down. Ideas are slippery, they'll get away from you if you don't stick them somewhere.

"Alright then! So class is over, sorta— actually, a half hour early— but I don't have anything else to mention. Take character sheets on your way out, people! They're being graded!" Professor Kent called out over the ruckus of students putting things away and zipping backpacks.

The students all filed past Professor Kent's desk, taking a sheet of paper and exiting the classroom. However, once Felicity passed by, he asked her to stay for a moment. Felicity happily agreed; they frequently had lunch together, often with Levi, and they were all rather good friends. Felicity looked over at Levi, who was leaning against the doorframe as if waiting for her.

"I'll meet you at the cafeteria— caf, caf— cafeteria, Lissy. I'm pretty starved." Levi said, and Felicity smiled, nodding at him. He walked away, out of sight as the classroom door shut.