Wilson And The Helping Friendly Book example essay topic

The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday INTRODUCTION WilsonWilsonWilsonWilsonWilsonOnce upon a time there was a mountain that rose out of a vast green forest. And in the forest there were birds and lakes and rocks and trees and rivers. The forest was also inhabited by a small group of people called the lizards. The lizards were a simple people and they had lived in the forest undisturbed for thousands of years in utter peace and tranquillity. Once a year when spring came, and the first blossoms began to show, the lizards would gather at the base of the mountain, to give thanks for all that they had. They thanked the birds and they thanked the lakes and they thanked the rocks and the trees and the rivers; but most importantly, they thanked Icculus.

Icculus lived at the top of the mountain, or at least everyone thought so, for no one had actually ever seen him. But they knew he existed, because they had the Helping Friendly Book. Icculus had given the Helping Friendly Book to the Lizards thousands of years earlier as a gift. It contained all of the knowledge inherent in the universe, and had enabled the Lizards to exist in harmony with nature for years. And so they lived; until one day a traveler arrived in Gamehendge. His name was Wilson and he quickly became intrigued by the Lizards way of life.

He asked if he could stay on and live in the forest; and the Lizards, who had never seen an outsider, were happy to oblige. Wilson lived with the Lizards for a few years, studying the ways of the Helping Friendly Book, and all was well. Until one morning when they awoke and the book was gone. Wilson explained that he had hidden the book, knowing that the Lizards had become dependent on it for survival. He declared himself king and enslaved the innocent people of Gamehendge. He cut down the trees and built a city, which he called Prussia.

And in the center of the city he built a castle, and locked in the highest tower of the castle lay the Helping Friendly Book out of the reach of the Lizards forever. But our story begins at a different time, not in Gamehendge, but on a suburban street in Long Island, and our hero is no king sitting in a castle, he is a retired colonel shaving in his bathroom. Colonel Forbin looked square in the mirror and dragged the blade across his cold creamed skin. He saw the tired little folds of flesh that lay in a heap beneath his eyes. Fifty-two years of obedient self-restraint, of hiding his tension behind a serene veil of composure. For fifty-two years he had piled it all on the back burner, and for fifty-two years it had boiled, frothing over in a turbulent storm inside of him.

It had escaped through his eyes, reacting with the cigarette smoke and the fluorescent lights and slowly accumulating into a sagging mass. He ran his dripping palm across the stubble on the nape of his neck and thought again about the door. He had discovered the door some months back on one of his ritualistic morning walks with his dog McGrupp. It had started out as a typical stroll with McGrupp bounding joyously ahead of the preoccupied colonel. As they reached the apex of the hill, he saw it and he knew it had always been there, and felt foolish for overlooking the door for so long. At first, he tried to ignore it, but he soon found that it was impossible, and slowly his newly acquired knowledge transformed his dreary life into a prison from which there was only one escape.

And on this morning, Colonel Forbin stepped through the door. LIZARDS Passing through the corridor I came upon an aging knight Who leaned against the wall in gnarly armor He was on his way to see the kingWilsonWilsonWilsonHe led me through the streets of Prussia talking As he tried to crush a bug that scurried underneath his bootheelHe said there was a place where we should go So he lead me through the forest to the edge of a lagoon by which We wandered 'til we reached a bubbly spring The knight grew very quiet as we stood there Then he lifted up his visor and he turned to me and he began to sing chorus: He said I come from the land of darkness I said I come from the land of doom He said I come from the land of Gamehendge From the land of the big baboon But I'm never never going back there And I couldn't if I tried " Cause I come from the land of Lizards And the Lizards they have died And the Lizards they have died And the Lizards they have died And the Lizards they have died He told me that the Lizards were a race of people practically extinct From doing things smart people don't do He said that he was once a Lizard too His name was Rutherford the Brave and he was on a quest to save His people from the fate that lay before them. Their clumsy end was perilously near The Lizards would be saved, he said, if they could be enlightened By the writings of the Helping Friendly Book In all of Prussia only one existed And Wilson had declared that any person who possessed it was a crook [chorus] The Helping Friendly Book, it seemed, possessed the ancient secrets Of eternal joy and never-ending splendor The trick was to surrender to the flow We walked along beneath the moon He lead us through the bush 'till soon We saw before our eyes a raging river He said that we could swim it if we tried And saying this the knight dove in forgetting that his suit of arms Would surely weigh him down and so he sunk And as his body disappeared before meI bowed my head in silence and remembered all thoughts that he had thunk [chorus] But Rutherford and Forbin weren't alone. And suddenly an unexpected movement caught his eye. On the far side of the river he saw a shaggy creature standing in the weeds who stared across at Forbin with an unrelenting gaze. A gigantic mass of muscles and claws.

The hideous beast reared back and hurled himself in the water and swam toward the region where Rutherford lay. And in a flash, the beast was gone, underneath the surface to the frosty depths below while Forbin, bewildered, waited alone. The seconds dragged by in what seemed like hours till finally the colonel felt it all had been a dream. Defeated, he bowed his head then turned to go. Suddenly with a roar, the creature emerged before him and held the brave knight's body to the sky. And the creature laid the knight upon the shore.

And the colonel fell beside his friend in prayer that he'd survive. And Rutherford, brave Rutherford was alive. Forbin and the unit monster were crouched over the soggy knight carefully removing his bulky helmet when the colonel heard a sound behind him. He turned around and came face to face with an enormous shaggy horse-like creature covered from head to tail with alternating blotches of brown and white. It was a two-toned multi-beast, and atop the multi-beast sat the most beautiful woman the colonel had ever seen. After fifty-two years of undaunted bachelorhood, the colonel felt a feeling rush over him as he had never felt before.

TELA The sky is burning in this lonely man And I kneel by the river and I feel the sand and the wind The wind from beyond the mountain The wind from beyond the mountain And she comes to me in this lonely land And looks down from the multi-beast on which she rides like the wind The wind from beyond the mountain The wind from beyond the mountainTela was born in a vulgar crooked hut In the shadow of Wilson's castle Venomous scorn from a life of bitter toil In the shadow of Wilson's castle Glory esteem fueled by her hatred it grew Swelling to the point where it would Burst at the seems there was nothing she could do Tela Tela jewel of Wilson's foul domainTela Tela jewel of Wilson's foul domainA lullaby the breezes whisper And I look into her eyes and my frozen heart begins to thaw And burns, 'til layer after layer melts away into a pool A sky blue mirror of her eyes And my soul is made of marble but in her gaze I crumble into dust And drift away on the wind The wind from beyond the mountain The wind from beyond the mountainTela grew strong from her struggle to endure In the shadow of Wilson's castle Time touched her wounds and shelter proved the cure In the shadow of Wilson's castle Each passing day seemed to feed the brazen serpent locked inside And liberate the spirit she'd concealed for so long There was no place left to hide Tela Tela jewel of Wilson's foul domainTela Tela jewel of Wilson's foul domainA lullaby the breezes whisper Tela reached out her hand and helped Forbin on to the back of the multi- beast, and together they rode off into the forest. As they rode, Tela explained to him about Wilson and the Helping Friendly Book. She told the colonel that she was part of a revolution to overthrow the evil king. The leader of the revolution was a Lizard named Errand Wolfe who was out to avenge the death of his son Roger. Roger, she said, had been executed by Wilson at the age of fourteen on suspicion of treason. He had been abducted from his home and hung in the public square.

The two rode on in silence, deeper and deeper into the heart of the forest until they came to the outskirts of a small community. Tela explained to Forbin that they had reached the base of the revolutionaries. The colonel looked up and there in the center of the clearing stood Errand Wolfe. He was a small man but his presence was overpowering. He seemed to emit a kind of violent energy that sent chills down the colonel's spine. And as the multi-beast moved towards him, he raised his fist in anger, and his voice filled the forest.

WILSON Oh out near Stonehenge, I lived alone Oh out near Gamehendge, I chafed a bone Wilson, King of Prussia, I lay this hate on you Wilson, Duke of LizardsI beg it all true for you Talk my duke a mountain, Helping Friendly BookInasfar as fiefdom, I think you bad crook Wilson, King of Prussia, I lay this hate on you Wilson, Duke of LizardsI beg it all true for youI talked to my son Roger, Rutherford the same [or 'I talked to Mike Christian, Rog and Pete the same'] When we had that meeting, over down near Game (henge) Wilson, King of Prussia, I lay this hate on you Wilson, Duke of LizardsI beg it all true for you You got me back think in' that you " re the worst one must inquire, Wilson Can you still have fun? Wilson Can you still have fun? Wilson Meanwhile, in the main square in Prussia, the state of the revolution was taking another turn for the worst. A crowd of townspeople had gathered to witness the hanging of Wilson's accountant, Mr. Palmer. It seemed that Palmer had been a revolutionary himself and had been extorting Wilson's money to fund the revolution. Palmer stood on the scaffold with Wilson and the AC / DC Bag, an electrified robot-hangman with a black bag over his head.

Wilson seemed pleased as he began to speak. AC / DC BAG Mr. Palmer is concerned with the thousand dollar question Just like Roger he's a crazy little kids " ve got the time if you " ve got the inclination So cheer up Palmer, you " ll soon be dead The noose is hanging, at least you won't die wondering Sit up and take notice Tell it like it is If I were near you I wouldn't be far from youI " ve got a feeling you know what you did chorus: AC / DC BagAC / DC BagAC / DC Bagac Bag (2 x) Time to put your money where your mouth is Put 'em in a field and let 'em fight it outI'm running so fast my feet don't touch the groundI'm a stranger here I'm going down Let's get down to the nitty gritty Let's get this show on the roadI " ll show you mine if you show me yoursI'm breathing hard - open the door [chorus] Brain dead, and made of money No future at all Pull down the blinds and run for cover No future at all Who would " ve thought it, that's where I am No future at all Don't sweat it, that's where I am Whoa, carry me down, down, down, down By that night, news of Palmer's death had traveled back to the camp. Spirits were low and Colonel Forbin felt devastated. Even though he had only been in Gamehendge for one day, he had already developed a deep hatred for Wilson.

He wanted desperately to help the revolutionaries, but without Palmer, it seemed hopeless. He wandered slowly through the camp and passed Errand Wolfe, sitting by the fire with Rutherford, who had returned that afternoon. He walked on and soon found himself outside of Tela's hut. Forbin knocked and walked in. Tela sat behind a makeshift desk in the center of a room that was littered with small cages containing spotted stripers, a tiny three-legged breed of animal. The unit monster sat in the corner.

The colonel took a step toward Tela and spoke. 'I needed to come here tonight' he said, 'to tell you that I've fallen in love with you. ' He looked to her eyes for approval but her face remained frozen in an expressionless stare. An awkward blanket of silence fell over the room and hung for a long moment before being shattered by the sound of the door swinging violently open. It was Rutherford the Brave.

The ironclad knight rushed across the room and gripped the throats of Tela and the unit monster in each of his mighty hands. They struggled to break free but even the unit monster was no match for Rutherford's power and soon it was over. The bodies fell to the floor in a lifeless heap. Colonel Forbin stepped forward from where he stood in the corner unable to contain his confusion and rage and screamed 'WHY?' His question was answered by Errand Wolfe who had quietly slipped through the doorway during the confusion. 'She was a spy,' he said, and explained to Forbin that she had been sending information to Wilson using the spotted stripers as carriers. Roger's death had aroused his suspicion, and Palmer's had confirmed it.

The colonel stood in silence in a world that had turned up-side-down so many times that he no longer knew which way was up. It had all seemed so simple when he first arrived. Good versus evil, and of course he had sided with good as he had done all his life. And now, he stood and stared into the eyes of Errand Wolfe and he saw evil. The entire picture began to seem like an enormous puzzle with one piece missing, and the colonel knew what that piece was. 'Within twenty-four hours,' he said to Errand Wolfe, 'You will have the Helping Friendly Book.

' And even as the words were leaving his lips, he found himself running out the door and into the forest, not towards Prussia, but toward the great mountain looming in the distance. COLONEL FORBIN'S ASCENT Colonel Forbin stared up at the mountain And wiped away the beads of sweat That glistened on his brow His tired feet were buried in the quagmire And his bloodshot eyes saw all that lay between him And fulfillment of his vow And he felt his fingers wrap around a knotted root And pulled his body upwards To a sea green mossy boulder And he dragged his weary carcass [or 'shit-ass'] up the mountain And he climbed so slowly He climbed so slowlyAheadAheadSuddenly he heard the crack of thunder And the rocks began to crumble overhead And tumble down the mountain to the Dismal swamp that lay beneath the jagged cliffs through which his path had led And the earth began to quake beneath his feet And the mighty mountain changed before his eyes And he stood amidst a sea of dust and rocks and stones Cascading down the mountain And a thousand birds were headed for the sky. Oh... The sacred creed will be yours And if you wait until tomorrow The sacred creed will be yours To devourYoursTo seize And to obeyObeyWhen the dust had cleared, the colonel lifted up his head And was driven to his knees by a blazing beam of light And he saw the silhouette that stood before him And he bowed in reverence Trembling in the shadow of the mighty legend's formIcculus the prophet stood before his eyes Looking down on Colonel Forbin Where he shuddered in the puddles and the muck And he quietly addressed him And he spoke so slowly He spoke so slowlyAheadHe said Colonel Forbin I know why you " ve come here And I'll help you with your quest to gain the knowledge that you lack I call upon my faithful friend the mockingbird To fly and seize the helping book and bring it to your shack And a tree of knowledge in your soul will grow And the Helping Friendly Book will plant the seed But I warn you that all knowledge seeming innocent and pure Becomes a deadly weapon in the hands of avarice And greed The sacred greed will be yours And if you wait until tomorrow The sacred creed will be yours To devourYoursTo seize And to obey And to obey And the famous mockingbird swooped down out of the sky and landed on Icculus's shoulder, and Icculus whispered into the bird's ear, and it flew off toward Wilson's castle in the valley below.

FAMOUS MOCKINGBIRD Fly famous mockingbird Fly... Fly famous mockingbird Fly... Fly... Fly... The next morning at the camp Errand Wolfe and Rutherford stood frozen in awe as the famous mockingbird flew out of the sky and laid the Helping Friendly Book at their feet.

The quest for the book had dragged on for so many years that it's sudden appearance left the men staring in disbelief, unsure of what their next move should be. The shock wore off quickly though, and Errand Wolfe shot into high gear. He snatched up the book with one hand and the famous mockingbird with the other, and began to inform Rutherford of his plan. He would first kill Wilson, and then put the Helping Friendly Book to work for him. With Rutherford's aid he fastened the famous mockingbird to a pole, with glue and rubber bands, to insure the secrecy of his mission, and then set out to find the only man in Gamehendge who could handle the job of eliminating a King.

SLOTH They call me the sloth Way down in the ghetto Italian Spaghetti Singing falsetto Sleeping all day Rip Van Winklin " Spend my nights in bars Glasses tinkling'I'm so bad He's so nasty Ain't got no friends Real outcastyStay out of my way Or you " ll end up a cripple I " ll take this piece of paper And slice your nipple They call me the sloth Way down in the ghetto Italian Spaghetti Singing falsetto Sleeping all day Rip Van Winklin " Spend my nights in bars Glasses tinkling " Colonel Forbin stared at the fourteen bars that stood at the end of the cell. He ran his hand across the cold, damp dungeon wall and thought again about the door. He had traveled through the door out of necessity. Once he knew it existed, he simply couldn't leave it alone.

Just like Wilson. Just like Tela. Just like Errand Wolfe. And he sat in the dungeon, and he realized that he was back again through the door.

And through the tiny window in the corner of his cell, he heard the distant strains. ErrandErrandErrandErrandAnd from atop the mountain Icculus looked down on all that went on below him. And he smiled. POSSUMI come from atop the mountain baby Where the people come to pray I come from atop the mountain baby Where the people come to pray There ain't no truth in action " Less you believe it anyway I was riding down the road one day and Someone hit a possumI was riding down the road one day and Someone hit a possum The road was his end His end was the road So they say Whoa possum... possum, possum... POSSUMWhoa possum... possum, possum... POSSUMWhoa possum, possum Your end is the roadI was riding down the road one day and Someone hit a possumI was riding down the road one day and Someone hit a possum The road was his end His end was the road So they say Whoa possum... possum, possum...

POSSUMWhoa possum, Your end is the road Whoa possum, possum Your end is the road.