Allow Me to Demonstrate

“I can state unequivocably that Little Plump Jo did not cause The Glitch in the Fog Lake,” asserted Intellectual Dabrowski “and if you allow me five minutes I can demonstrate the reasoning for my belief using this ripple tank.”

Intellectual Dabrowski was one of the five Dabrowski Dogs, the canine writing companions of Little Plump Jo, who was the current Artisan in Residence at Malory Tennyson’s Cloudbank Cabin for Arthurian Studies. Because dogs hear a different range of sounds the dogs were able to communicate not only with their mistress, Jo, but also with Malory Tennyson and the fictional Arthurian characters who inhabited Cloudbank Cabin.

Cloudbank Cabin overlooked the Fog Lake where the original characters reenacted the epic tales of the adventures of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Writers, painters, musicians, and filmmakers had come to work at Cloudbank Cabin for hundreds of years.

During the time that Jo had been in residence, there had been a disastrous occurrence - The Glitch in the Fog Lake. The Glitch had affected the climate (it was no longer Camelot perfect all the year), the landscape (great boulders had tumbled into the Fog Lake) and even the order in which events were happening.

Intellectual Dabrowski was aware that many of the Arthurian characters were holding Jo personally responsible. Sir Bors de Ganis was very vocal about the matter. Everyone relied on the dependable Sir Bors to know exactly what would be happening next and to ensure that his cousin, Sir Lancelot du Lac, would be there at the right time and place to kill a dragon or rescue a damsel. Sir Bors did not appreciate the uncertainty of the times and needed someone to hold accountable. Quite a large crowd had gathered behind him.

Although he lamented Little Plump Jo’s lack of research and haphazard writing style, Intellectual Dabrowski was not prepared to accept that Jo could have caused The Glitch.

“This ripple tank represents the Fog Lake. You can see the ripples flowing out in a regular pattern with regular space between each ripple. That is how the Fog Lake is when there are no disruptions. And that is how the Fog Lake appeared when Jo first came to Cloudbank Cabin five years ago. She wrote poetry and created art relating to the story of the tragic death of Elaine of Astolat.”

Intellectual placed a small boat with a tiny figurine lying in it on the surface of the water in the ripple tank. It floated smoothly from one end of the tank to the other, carried by the ripples, without causing any disruption to the pattern.

“When Elaine’s body was lying in the barge floating down to Camelot she was in the flow of the original story and was not causing any distortion. But just look at what happens when Elaine stands up boldly in the middle of the Fog Lake and asserts that she will no longer perform the role of Elaine the Fair, the Lily Maid of Astolat! She will no longer nurse Sir Lancelot for months of end, fall in love with him and die of unrequited love. Her body will not be floating down to Camelot. She will now be known as Lady Charlotte-Elaine, Lady of Shalott and entrepreneur owner of Charlotte’s Web Weaving.”

Intellectual placed a larger figurine in the center of the ripple tank and the ripples were diverted around the figurine creating a new pattern.

Someone called out “That figure is twice the size of the other one!”

“Well, yes!” conceded Intellectual, thinking on his feet. “Elaine’s whole personality and presence were magnified greatly, when she took control over her own story, and the effect of her actions increased.”

He placed a ring of figurines depicting knights and ladies around the Elaine figure. The ripples around each one were distorted but then they were further influenced by the collisions with the ripples moving out around Elaine.

Sir Bors challenged “But Little Plump Jo wrote it and she made it so!”

“Rubbish!” returned Intellectual. “Little Plump Jo records the actions she sees you all performing in the reenactments in the Fog Lake. Lots of writers and artists and musicians come here to work and what they do has no effect on your actions. You did not go blasting off into space when C. J. Cherryh wrote Port Eternity. You did not get sucked into computer games when Felicity Pulman wrote her Shalott Trilogy”

Your own actions affect what happens in the Fog Lake and a particular character changing or enlarging their role can affect everyone else and also change the rhythms of life in the Fog Lake.”

“As an excellent example of that,” continued Intellectual, “ look what happened when Dagonet the Jester expressed his opinion that he should be the overall narrator of the story!” Intellectual placed a tumbling mannikin form on the outer edge of the ripple tank. It cartwheeled around the edge causing ripples that affected each of the figurines as it passed them.

“But what about outside influence?” asked Sir Bors. “Little Plump Jo keeps on inventing all these new characters. Surely it is her fault if one of those characters upsets the Fog Lake.”

Now Intellectual was really having to think quickly. He had to concede that there were some characters in Little Plump Jo’s stories who had never been part of the original myths, legends or even possible histories. Portly Scribe Aforementioned and the Exwyrminator were new additions.

“They were all there already!” declared Intellectual. “You just did not know their names. That is why the Names and Backstories Movement happened. Previously unnamed characters began to demand their right to have their own name and backstory.

As Sir Lancelot du Lac said in his impassioned speech at the Names and Backstories Protest March:

‘I regret to say that I have failed to give regard and dignity to hundreds of unnamed characters. I acknowledge that I have lived a life of privilege. I have a name, a title, and a detailed back story and I have been served by characters with no backstory. How many nameless opponents have I defeated in tournaments? How many nameless men have I slain in battle? Is it any more wrong to slay someone who has a name than one who does not? How many nameless people have cooked my meals, cleaned my rooms, repaired my armour, cared for my horses? Even my horses and dogs have names. Heureux, my companion dog even has his own back story. And is this right? No, every character deserves the dignity of having a name and a back story!’

“And as you probably remember The Glitch in the Fog Lake happened before the Names and Backstories Protest March. It happened during the Trial by Combat which Sir Lancelot fought against Sir Mador de la Porte to determine the innocence of Her Majesty Queen Guinevere on the charge of poisoning Sir Mador’s brother, Sir Patrise.

And was it outside influence that caused it? No. It was Sir Lancelot’s refusal to comply with the traditional storyline. Instead of winning easily and accepting Mador’s yielding with only a slight scratch to his thigh, he chose to step into the full force of Mador’s sword stroke and nearly died as a result. Again an act of defiance of the original scripts caused the disturbance. And because Sir Lancelot is a key character the effect of the disturbance was catastrophic!”

Psycho Motor Dabrowski rushed toward the ripple tank and dropped his ball into it. It landed on top of the Lancelot figure, knocking it over. The resulting huge splash caused a domino effect, knocking over all the figurines in the tank and even caused items that had been sitting on the rim to fall in.

“There!” said Intellectual Dabrowski. “See how it works!”