Today’s challenge from The Daily Post:
If you could bring one fictional character to life for a day, who would you choose?
My first thought was predictable: Mr Darcy. But really, what point would there be in that? I’m happily married, he is (presumably) happily married. Even if there were chemistry between us, it would only lead to heartache. And then there would always be the possibility that, regardless of how much like Elizabeth Bennett I think I am, Darcy might reject me. I’m not sure I could handle that.
Really, though, I would love to spend time with Nanny from Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer. She’s such a feisty old lady with such knowledge of nature and the land she loves. She could tell me about bees and organic gardening. I might even like to have Garnett join her, especially if we could meet at their homes and walk about the property, listening to the insects and frogs, breathing in the green of an Appalachian summer, and learning all of their favorite spots and the stories from earlier generations.
I think that might be the catch: I wouldn’t just want to pull one character out of her story and hang out for a day. I would want to enter into the story world myself for a day, wander about and immerse myself in the sights and sounds I’ve woven in my mind from the author’s words.
And if the character were just pulled for one day from their world into mine, wouldn’t they be distraught and worried they wouldn’t be able to get back? Would they just sit around all day, pining for their world and the people they love there?
As someone accustomed to living in fantasy worlds, Don Quixote would probably handle this abrupt change the best. I wonder how much the Spanish language has changed since the 17th century, and if we’d even be able to understand each other. Maybe I’d take him to visit my grandpa and then I could sit and listen to them talk about Spain. Then I would write a book about their conversation.
Yep, that’s my choice: Don Quixote and I take a trip to Florida to visit Grandpa.
I just hope they never make this movie.
Imperfect Happiness 
Jeez! You’re so much deeper with this than I am. I immediately know I’d pick someone from the Whedonverse (you know, like Angel from Buffy or Mal from Firefly) but I can’t even decide who I’d pick because his characters really upon each other so much. As the Shakespeare-buff I am, I’d like to pretend I’d pick Ophelia or Rosalind, but it just doesn’t sound as fun.
You may have just shamed me into reading some “respectable” fiction again quickly.
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If I had thought of Mal, I totally would have picked him…
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