I was standing at the line of sidewalk where beach begins when I saw a man walking towards the beach with a bow and arrow. I thought, “That’s a compound bow.” Then I thought–I mean I really thought–about the profound influence D&D has had on my life.
Who would imagine a kid from Harlem might even know what a compound bow looks like? Moreover, that this would be the first thought running through my mind as the man approached the shore with the high quiet steps of a hunter stalking prey. I didn’t know what prey he was stalking. He had a single white arrow and a bow that, based on the size had a draw weight of close to 50 pounds. I am not supposed to know things like that. Given my earliest surroundings I ought to know how to size up a guy to know if he’s going to jump me. I ought to know how to play basketball and run fast, zoom down staircases, and hop fences–American parkour. I know some of those things. I received my Harlem education with open eyes. However, my afternoons and evenings were spent eyeballs deep in fantasy novels and the musings of Gary Gygax. Eventually I came around to video games. I lost my 3rd grade year on Pitfall. My writing was born out of a culture of dragons and pixel-driven video games. I never left that culture behind. It evolved as I did. The Dragons learned how to hack the internet. The video games found higher levels of resolution.
It was in that manner that I wound up on the beach watching a man with a compound bow hunting waterborne prey. He never did find what he was looking for at the shore. I’ve never quite figured out how to translate my past influences into a story that honors them. He moved on after a while. I’m still trying.