Philoscifi

On the brink of destruction, the world desperately needs a Hero. Phil Safari, a reluctant Candidate, must prove himself worthy to the gods by completing a Heroic Task: change 1000 lives for the better… or else! The following is part of the Safaris – a collection of Phil’s misadventures in Heroism. Find out how it all started and what he has learned about love, life, and the pursuit of happiness.

“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.” - Holden Caulfield, from The Catcher in the Rye, Ch. 22

I put the book down as I finished the last sentence. Well, I still didn’t like the book much, but it did get better at the end. Zaris might be a jackass, but he knew good books. As much as I dislike Holden Caulfield, I know exactly how he feels. You have no interest in “advancement” or get tired of the grind, and all you want to do is run away. But whatever method you choose - drugs, sex, or drifting around – the relief is illusory. You are falling off the cliff, and you don’t even know it. The funny thing is that Holden wants to be a catcher, but really, he is the one who needs catching.

Being a catcher isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Most people didn’t ask to be saved, so you often don’t get a word of thanks. And it gets tiresome to repeatedly save the same people – couldn’t they at least try to remember that there is a cliff there? In the end, each person is responsible for his own life.

Despite all his complaining, Holden has it far better than I do – he has a catcher. I know that the cliff is there, but after nearly 10 years of catching, I’m too tired to care. Who’s going to catch me?

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