Avery

A Story by Abishai100

A Northern Ireland 'intelligence-man' becomes a Notre Dame pundit-writer developing a mystique-novella about a beauty of dogma proportion.

An Irish vignette set in Notre Dame and inspired loosely by Dubliners.

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Amlan Satan began writing his book about the beautiful and elusive Irish woman, a feminine-mystique 'amalgam' of his years of exploration of Northern Ireland during his work as a blood-diamond infiltration-agent with Interpol-relations in the UK, destabilizing rogue terrorist groups destroying progress between Sinn Fein and IRA and British Parliament. Amlan worked under the Interpol-relations code-name Storm-Shadow. He'd worked there for about 5 years as a guerrilla-intelligence expert while coordinating theatrical costumed heists of blood-diamonds from UK bank safe-boxes with acid-guns. Now, Amlan was retired from gov't-infiltration assignments and took up a teaching position at Notre Dame, teaching courses in political psychology or writing/literature and began work on his novel of the alluring/symbolic/elusive Irish feminine-mystique woman of a thousand forests! Notre Dame was the ideal setting for his exploration into the heart of Irish Catholic imagination...and mystery.

It's ironic to note that India's independence movement against British rule in the 20th Century held many guerrilla-parallels to the Irish resistance against British Protestant rule in the UK. Amlan, half-Algerian (father) and half-Indian (mother) had family-relations involved in the Quit India movement against British rule and developed his post-Dartmouth political espionage interests in Irish Catholic politics in the UK. He drew inspiration from India's symbolic freedom struggles to craft his personal fascination with Irish mystique as he's now teaching this political writing course at Notre Dame. He joked to his Notre Dame Fightin' Irish students, "Look how similar the flags of India and Ireland appear to anybody!"

Notre Dame Fightin' Irish of course boasted a storied national college football program in the United States, such a rich program boasting incredible legends in the sport including Joe Montana (QB) and Lou Holtz (coach). Notre Dame is an Irish-Catholic American university offering its students a broad education and immersion in both academics and athletics, which is what drew the intelligent Satan (Amlan) to the iconic school. He himself regularly attended Fightin' Irish games in the second half of the year to cheer alongside the legions of fans. Notre Dame even boasted a national TV contract with the American broadcasting legendary network NBC. Amlan considered this the ripe environment to craft his work on the nature if Irish folklore and political imagination.

SATAN: The Fightin' Irish have been good for many different eras, and I recall with fondness the era of the Colorado-rivalry!

As Amlan Satan sat in the Notre Dame library conceiving of methods for his plot-outline for his new Irish novella about the haunting elusive iconic symbolic beautiful Irish redhead woman, he decided one late afternoon in that university library that the name of his novella would be Avery, and it would be the name of the Irish female-protagonist, the subject of his work. He felt fortunate to be in the United States, where literary/academic stimulation would offer him such rich environments to foster his now innate ability to re-present socialized insight.

SATAN: I've been a good painter-artist, and to develop my inspiration for Avery, I'll be making paintings of Irish women!

In fact, Amlan Satan (code-name: Storm-Shadow!) developed multiple handsome and illustrious paintings/portraits of enchanting Irish redhead women who might serve as the bust-inspiration for his feminine-mystique constructed Irish fantasy and political-psychology novella Avery. Notre Dame would be so proud of him, he thought to himself in glee! Meanwhile, his writing students at Notre Dame loved his little Irish red-women paintings.

SATAN: I believe I've become a 'nerdist' of the Irish imagination now, and as a practicing Catholic, I'm fit into Notre Dame!

Amlan gave himself a pseudonym for his novella Avery, a story about a foreign guerrilla-intelligence agent named Damian from Algeria who works inside the Northern Ireland P-IRA groups working with Sinn Fein to destabilize financing of ex-IRA who're working as defectors with British Protestant non-police thug-gangs called Tans; Damian is really a modern-day real-life 'pirate' by nature and when he meets the young and beautiful Belfast beauty Avery, he falls in love with her and promises he shall renounce his connections to the IRA. He even dresses up like a pirate for his maiden Avery, singing to her pirate-songs and sharing with her daydreams about sailing away from the Kingdom on a special golden ship. Therefore, Amlan's pseudonym for his Irish-fantasy novella Avery became 'Scruffs' (a very 'pirate' sounding name!).

SATAN: As the pirate 'Scruffs' in Belfast, the once-obsessed guerrilla-intelligence man gifted an emerald ring to Avery.

Amlan Satan (code-name: Storm-Shadow) wrote about 100 pages of his novella Avery and felt like he'd been making extraordinary literary and personal psychological progress, drawing on his own personal experiences as an Interpol-relations agent in Northern Ireland (UK). His students read along his writing progress in his Notre Dame writing course and commented on the literary appeal of 'Scruffs' and the amusing parallel to Professor Satan's own pseudonym (Scruffs) and were eager to determine the final outcome of the destiny of this allusory intelligence-man in Belfast who meets the haunting/symbolic Avery. Everything was going beautifully for this Notre Dame Fightin' Irish man/professor Satan, until he met a beautiful Irish-Catholic woman who walked into his office one day, informing him that she'd been following along his online course notes/materials regarding the progress of his novella Avery; she told him her name is actually/ironically Avery. She was beautiful! Avery insisted Professor Satan refer to himself to her as Scruffs (his pseudonym).

AVERY: I got you a copy of Peter Pan & Wendy.
SCRUFFS: Why, Avery?
AVERY: You find me beautiful, Scruffs?
SCRUFFS: You're very confusing to me now.
AVERY: You're working on your important novella!
SCRUFFS: That must be the reason.
AVERY: You draw from your own work in the United Kingdom.
SCRUFFS: Sure.
AVERY: Well, I'm shocked a man not from Ireland's so drawn to Irish fantasy!
SCRUFFS: There's some parallels to my own Indian heritage is why, Avery.
AVERY: Oh.
SCRUFFS: Why're you so curious about my novella?
AVERY: My name is Avery!
SCRUFFS: So you're charmed by the entire Irish mosaic I've constructed, eh?
AVERY: You're a very popular professor.
SCRUFFS: Why, thanks!
AVERY: So, you haven't asked why I got you a copy of Peter Pan & Wendy?
SCRUFFS: I suppose you're musing I'm like Peter Pan...and you're Wendy!
AVERY: Well, my name...is Avery.
SCRUFFS: Are you some kind of Irish-Catholic sympathizer of the Troubles?
AVERY: I'm versed in Belfast brigade politics, sir.
SCRUFFS: Cool!
AVERY: You find me too young for you...intellectually?
SCRUFFS: No, on the contrary, I recognize you're only about 3-4 years my younger.
AVERY: And I seem curious/inquisitive about Irish writing to you (political psychology)?
SCRUFFS: Confessedly, yes, Avery.
AVERY: That's why I want you to have this copy of Peter Pan & Wendy.
SCRUFFS: Where'd you get it?
AVERY: It's a family heirloom from Ireland.
SCRUFFS: So you're from Ireland.
AVERY: I'm in love with you.
SCRUFFS: You think you're Wendy, my dear Avery.

Amlan married Avery and completed his novella Avery which won him the Pulitzer Prize. He decided his shift in life from guerilla-intelligence to psychology-writing at Notre Dame reflected his gifted fascination with the 'heartbeat' of democratic insight. Avery (his wife) became the muse he'd sought and ironically reflected the adventures of the fictional/translated/allusory character 'Scruffs' from his award-winning work Avery. He decided his work with IRA-d was now a mirror for American design.