Jacob's Ladder, one boy's story

...being a tale of how one kid realized he might be righter, and those who critiqued him wronger...

JACOB'S LADDER, one boy's story

Mark Teague  September, 2010

 

      Jacob was a troublesome child. Well, not troubleSOME, especially, as much as troubLING. He was a child, like many, who had no end of questions. But his questions were of the sort that no child ought to ask. His were not of the "Why is the sky blue?" genre, but more of the "What is the sky?", and on one occasion, "Why is there sky?" It seemed he had a very specific agenda, that being to cause the most adults the greatest possible amount of consternation.

 

       Then there was this other habit. After hearing his Sunday School teacher tell the Old Testament story of Jacob's Ladder, his mind slipped into a perverse sort of overdrive, caused perhaps by the fact of a Biblical patriarch having been named after HIM! For the remainder of the class, it was a progression of steadily worse puns:

 

What are you drinking? Jacob's water.

What's that dark patch behind you? Jacob's shadder.

Are you less happy today? Jacob's sadder.

 

       As a twelve-year old, just beginning to have the first inkling that girls might not be wholly repulsive, and given to the natural but unseemly talk that twelve-year-olds of both genders are given to, his puns occasionally took on a less childlike hue:

 

Jacob's badder. Jacob's laid 'er. Jacob's had 'er. Jacob's lighter. Jacob's slaughter. 

 

        Did anyone witness this behaviour? Jake Zapruder!

 

       On and on his mind went, further and further from what would be generally considered normal--a word he positively loathed--and toward the bizarre.

 

       Despite his hatred of the word, though, Jacob considered himself, in his heart-of-hearts, a fairly "normal" kid, though it did not escape his awareness that few of the adults who shared his space would concur. But it was not his will to give such consternation, nor did he take any especial pleasure in it...often! His curiousity merely ran into...well, CURIOUS paths!

 

      It was in just one such day, in which Jacob considered the whole earth as an enormous pit from which he could never escape, that he conceived his plan. And what a plan!

 

      If everything he encountered, taken together, constituted a pit, then he would have to erect a ladder. "Prison of my creation, escape similarly so", he muttered, though not aloud. From that day, he began to see those vexing traits of his as talents, rather than drawbacks. If certain adults, and even many of his peers saw his mind-drifts as annoying, doubtless others could as easily see them as amusing, couldn't they? With that empowering realization, although even he had not yet realized it, he had tentatively placed his foot upon the first rung of what would become the second phase of his life. The Escape.

  

       From the preponderance of questions, which got under the skin of adults too occupied with their own stuff to trouble themselves with his, he deduced that he had a quick and far-reaching curiousity.

 

Second Rung.  

 

        From the way in which one thought flowed into another, often leading him down paths he'd not ever otherwise have dared imagine (let alone explore!), he discerned that most valuable of gifts, the ability to connect disparate parts one to another.

 

Third Rung.

 

       And from his willingness to admit that every problem had a solution, and that the solution was often as  easily arrived at as the problem (presuming that both were of his own creation, as in this latest case, they were), he discovered an hitherto unknown energy and perseverance to his constitution. The key to solving a problem is, first, in admitting that there is one!

 

Fourth Rung.

 

       Deduced. Discerned. Discovered. What a powerful cadre of notions these were! But he knew that, unlike a tangible ladder, which had a fixed length and a definite terminus, he might not ever reach the end of this upward path. Nevertheless, he did not permit himself to become discouraged. He knew, in that special place we all have but have too often or for too long ignored, that Great Things lay in store for him, if he but persevered. This he had every intention of doing.

 

       If he could only think of enough words starting with "D"...

 

Reviews

[emmajoy]

That Jacob certainly had a mind of his own, a tricky little character who jigged to his own musical shadow, for sure. I like the way this story moves, almost simple at first then, moving on to a far deeper place, one I'm not really sure I understand but then, Jacob probably wouldn't want me to. He had a means to an end he accepted would never finish, that's what most problems appear to be more often or not .. and then, that ending .. 'D' .. could represent simplicity, a youngster's ordinary wonder, or, Death or Destiny or Deity .. will have to re-read it to decide or just leave your write as a mystery.

[Zeek4]

I liked the style of your writing very much, but I am not sure what it all meant in the end. My stories tend to be more meat and potatoes so I''m sure the meaning is there I just haven't acquired the skills to find it.

[Samuel Dickens]

Hmmm. I've read it twice and can't quite figure out what it means or where it's going, but as always with your writing, it is skillfull and thoughtful.

[Cherrie Palmer]

very cool take, I liked it, but then your work is always good.