11. Rising After All
Resurrection is the climax when the hero must have her ultimate and most perilous encounter with death. The ultimate battle also is a metaphor beyond the hero’s own existence, and its outcome has greater implications for her Ordinary World and the lives of those who live with her or the lives of those she leaves behind.
If she fails, others will suffer, and this increases the stakes on the hero and grips the reader so they feel a part of the greater conflict and also share in the hero’s hopes, doubts and fears. Ultimately the hero succeeds, destroying her enemies, emerging victorious from battle reborn with new allies, a true resurrection.
“When the bats saw the beauty of daytime, filled with gorgeous blooming flowers and soft green meadows, they offered to take the fairies for piggy-back rides through the woodland. Naeltim, the sylph of the air, gave them the perfect breeze to fly.”
In the end, Doris faces a perilous encounter with death in flight on the back of a bat. But this turns out to be marvelous because she’s flying piggy-back on a bat through the woodland just like all the other fairies. Her duck-size isn’t a problem. She’s not like any other fairy and that’s okay because no other fairy would ever have thrown a party and baked honey cakes the way Doris did, creating peace and community between the bats and the fairies. Naeltim, the sylph of the air, made sure Doris didn’t fail by providing the perfect wind for her flight, and ultimately, her resurrection.
This is Part 11 of a 12 part series.
Be sure to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9 and Part 10, if you missed it!
