Chapter 1: Hero Is a-Slitherin

Were you scared of the dark as a child?

Or even now?

That might be one of the most common fears we have as humans - the fear of what cannot be seen.

Or more accurately, what might be lurking in the unseen.

I loved the dark as a kid.

Let me clarify - there were moments where I imagined something lurking in the corner of my bedroom or closet and felt unsettled, but the force was strong with the logical side of my brain (didn't I just have the lights on and see nothing there?) and after praying that the Lord keep me safe, the fear went away.

No, to me, darkness was a tool. It was my secret weapon for winning countless games of hide and seek: pick the darkest place possible and see if anyone dares to find you. I suppose some devious part of me realized that most other kids didn't try to overcome their fear; I could use their imaginations to my advantage.

Add a history of jump scares to your repertoire and that pretty much seals your win.

I am the danger, as Batman would say.

As I matured into a more conscientious adolescent though, winning hide-and-seek ceased to be my sole reason for living.

About time.

But my affinity for the dark remained.

For when there is no threat of someone seeing you, you can watch them as they really are. When they are natural. I found this endlessly interesting. It was like watching a movie in real time - after all, don't we watch most films sitting in the dark?

Looking back I think there was also a safety to the dark. I was choosing for them not to see me. There was no threat of them choosing not to see me. Closing social gaps was not a gift of mine in elementary school, so it felt more comfortable to just alleviate it altogether.

Plus, there was a mystery - a drama - in being able to slip into the shadows, to disappear where no one else dared to go. To not be completely known.

To entice those around to ask questions and wonder.

I've never been an open book - I'm a closed book with an entertaining, witty riddle to open.

The trouble with this? Exactly what I used as a tool in hide and seek.

People's imaginations fill in the gaps, often based in fear. In lieu of asking their questions directly to me, assumptions were made, and years of high school passed before classmates started saying, "wow, you're actually really nice," "you're actually funny," "why haven't we spoken before this?"

It hadn't occurred to me that people might be thinking negative things about my closed book.

Fast forward to 2022 when my whole family took the Hogwarts House Quiz. Yes, a silly thing that should have no standing on what people think about you. Because it's for a fantasy world.

But I got Slytherin.

The house with the highest potential for turning out villains.

And there was this look, a fleeting look but one that I caught, when the negative connotation for Slytherin was assigned to me.

That perhaps I was more of a villain than my family and friends knew me to be.

Let me state for the record that liking dark clothes and artistic shadows and theatrical mystery does not make one evil!!

So I wrote the song "Hero Is a-Slitherin'" (spelled as such for copyright reasons) to remind everyone what they should have learned from the Harry Potter story: that personality and style don't indicate evil.

Heart condition does. Faith center does.

Slither responsibly, my friends.

Stream "Hero Is a-Slitherin'": https://ffm.to/talon-david-hero-is-a-slitherinnn

Watch the official music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcGmolzT1RI