The Battle of The Watcher

There is a wide-open field, it’s browning now. The once crisp and vivid grass has worn with 29 years worth of trampling feet. Tall trees surround it. They arch over the edge of the field and the leaves fall in shades of crimson and gold. In any other surrounding they might be considered beautiful but here they are slowly withering with the lack of natural sunlight. It’s a wet day. The ground is damp and muddy with tears and the sky is a dark shade of grey, the sign of more to come.

Thoughts are swooping like birds through the sky, some landing in the empty vast space on the edge of the field; others reach their destination and are grasped by the waiting messengers at opposite sides of the rough terrain. The forces of rationality are encamped on the left of the biggest oak tree. Their tents sprawl many miles and are buzzing with the sound of laughter and preparation for another assault. They wear cloth of blue and purple, silk and satin. In the most opulent tent at the centre of the camp their leader, Captain Common Sense is huddled around a map with her most trusted advisers; Happiness and Contentment.

“Today we will have our victory. Today we will free the Watcher from the reign of the terrible forces of despair. Good will prevail”. Cheers erupt from her companions.

The Watcher is the voice in the sky. They have never seen her but they are guided by her thoughts. They know that she favours the forces of rationality but she feeds both sides and so the stand off has lasted longer than either side anticipated.

“Captain” The messenger arrives with the new thought. “The Watcher has supplied us with medicine to make us stronger.” The messenger passes a scroll to the Captain. She unfurls it and reads aloud. “I feel sad”. She thumps her fist on the table carefully avoiding the mass of objects. “It’s as we feared, the Watcher has been infiltrated, by the other side. We must make our final assault. We must free her”.

On the other side of the field the Leader of the forces of despair is stood on a small embankment looking out over the space between the two armies. She is a striking figure against the gloomy grey, clothed all in black with a high collar of intricate lace.

“Commander Depression” The messenger cautiously interrupts her thoughts.

The Commander turns her misty blue eyes on the messenger. She composes herself.

“Yes. What is it now?” She sighs.

“Today’s thought has arrived. The scouting party has returned from the upper fields. It would seem the Watcher has sent them supplies”. She explains in an almost inaudible voice.

"What sort of supplies” She exclaims.

 “Medicine. It’s meant to make them stronger” She spluttered.

“And the thought?”

“I’m sad”.

A small flicker appears at the edge of her lips, which could have been mistaken for a smile.

“Excellent”.

The tents that line the camp of despair are a little less grand than their counterparts. To the uninformed eye they look like wisps of material floating in the wind, abandoned and ravaged by the elements. But this is all part of how things are over this side of the field. There is no laughter here. There is tumbleweed, which nobody has the energy to consider amusing. There is only the empty ticking of the passing of time and the cogs turning together not in companionship, but simply to achieve the end goal.

"What have you got for me”? The Commander appeared in the tent as if she had been there all along.

Anxiety jumped and Compulsion felt the need to tap the nearest tree 5 times, just in case.  

"Good and bad” Anxiety mutters. “On the one hand we’ve got the thought we wanted. But Fear and Bad Thoughts have returned from the mission. They’ve got the medicine and there’s talk they might be getting reinforcements. What if they do then we’re all just going to…” Depression held up her hand mid sentence.

"Thank you Anxiety. I am well aware of what is at stake”. She furrows her brow and massages her temple deep in thought.

"The Watcher is pacing today. The clouds suggest tomorrow’s thought could go either way. We need to act now”. Compulsion repeats this three times to make her point.

"So. Today is the day. I can’t say I am happy about it” Depression picks up a nearby goblet and drains its contents. “Gather our forces. We march at midday”.

Captain Common Sense is at her desk methodically mapping the day’s progress.

“Bad news Captain”. She motions the messenger to sit opposite with her hand, not taking her gaze away from the conundrum in front of her.

"Happiness has fallen and Laughter and Joy are seriously wounded. We’ve captured Anger and Disillusionment, Calm is dealing with them now.”

“Happiness”. She allows the emotion the briefest of seconds to wash over her and wipes it away. “We all must die in the end”. She reasons.

“Have the reinforcements arrived?”

“We’ve had word that that Love and Passion were delayed in the woods for some illegible reason and Friendship and Support got into a heated debate about the difference between Empathy and Sympathy. Although being twins I can’t see how anyone can tell the difference”. The Messenger handed the Captain the note.

"Well there’s no time to lose. We have engaged in battle we must carry on. If I give up then where is hope”.

"Actually I think I saw Hope in the woodland engaged in battle with Apathy”.

“Fetch my helmet. I must track down Depression.”

In the woodland at the edge of the camp of despair an old woman stood watching the scene before her, wrapped protectively in a cloak against the wind. This was not the first time she had made the journey here, but today she fully intended that it would be put to good use. She edged carefully around the trees until she estimated she was exactly halfway between both camps and she began to walk… slowly. She closed her eyes as she did so; well aware that there was no use in looking where she was going. She was a pawn here; Fate would decide whether she would make it to the middle. Just as before she could hear the sounds of battle around her, nearly lost an eyebrow to an errant spearhead but was surprised to find that she had reached the middle with little or no maiming or loss of limb.

"I've never got to do this bit”. She said aloud to herself. She raised her arms and waited.

She didn’t have to wait long before the messengers from both camps came scurrying towards her, each trying to reach her before the other.

"Who are you?” They exclaimed in unison.

“I am Progress”. She announced proudly.

“And what do you want?” They asked.

"I need to speak with your Leaders. Bring them to me. I’ll be here.” And with that Progress sat down and pulled out a thermos flask and a day old cucumber sandwich, no crusts.

The Messengers looked at each other and then as quickly as they had come made their way back to camp.

Depression’s first instinct was to tell the old woman to leave and get back into bed but there was a part of her that was intrigued. She walked purposefully towards the centre of the field and could see Common Sense approaching from the opposite direction.  When they arrived Progress was still nibbling the corner of the sandwich and motioned them both to sit. Eyeing each other mistrustfully as they did so.

"So. You are Progress. Well given the progress my army has made today I assume it’s me you are here to see”. Depression smirked.

“Actually no. I am here to see both of you. Because what I have to say concerns you both. All I ask is that you listen. I will answer any questions you have but first you must understand the truth of it”.

"Very well” Common Sense nodded in agreement.

"Make it quick.” Depression sighed in resignation.

"First I should explain who I am and where I come from. I am Progress. It has taken me a long time to get here. I have nearly been to this point many times, but there have always been obstacles in my way. Today it would seem Time and Fate have finally made up after a silly disagreement over a game of boggle and here I am”. She smiled.

“Loving the life story obviously, but when are you going to get to the WHY are you here bit”. Depression interrupted.

"I am here because you need to know the truth. You need to finally understand so that peace will come to us all, and to the Watcher.”

“Of course that is what we are trying to achieve. But how can this possibly be something the forces of despair are going to be on board with. I mean clue is in the name really”. Common Sense interjected.

Depression stuck her tongue out and turned her attention back to the old lady who was now slurping the dregs from her flask.

“Because my dear, I assume you both don’t want to keep reliving the same battle over and over again”. Progress pronounced every word slowly, waiting for its effect to sink in.

“What do you mean the same battle? I mean we have been here for a long time but this is the first time our forces have actually engaged”. Common Sense had a habit of raising an eyebrow when people said ridiculous things, the eyebrow at this point could not get much higher.

"That is what you believe. But it is not the case. You are all creations of the Watcher. You are manifestations of her emotions. Every day you are slightly different because she makes it so, but still everyday you battle for dominance, lead by her thoughts and controlled by forces even stronger than you can imagine. One day you win, the next day you lose and to what end?” Progress sighed and looked between the women. Common Sense looked as if she had a headache and Depression looked a bit upset.

“But there is a way out. That is why I am here. You see the Watcher has made me. She has made Progress. That means that things will change. They will take time to do so. Particularly now Time has partially retired and has a busy schedule. But you can make this a whole lot easier for yourselves if you just put down your weapons and at least try and co-exist. You are two sides of the same coin, do you see that. The Watcher needs you both, but she needs you in harmony”.

“If that is so. Then how long have we been here. Who brought us here”. Common Sense enquired stoically.

“You have for many years co-existed. I am not saying it has been easy. There have been minor rebellions and such-like. But you have managed. Then something happened which changed. You see the tension between both sides was building. There were whispers that one side was going to overthrow the other and so this all began. Something altered in the Watcher. She was influenced by forces beyond our grasp.”

"There are other forces?” Depression exclaimed.

"Not in the sense you mean. I am talking about things called memories. Memories belong in another part of the Watcher’s realm but they impact on her the same way that we do. It seems something went wrong in the management of these memories. There was a breakdown in the system and the Watcher was unable to regain control”.  Progress explained.

“If that is what happened then why was medicine deployed to the other camp?” Depression said accusingly.

“Because that camp was contaminated. I am sorry to have to tell you Common Sense but there was a chemical imbalance in your water supply. Until recently the source could not be detected but it has impacted many of your forces”.

“I don’t know what to say”. Common Sense was lost for words.

“You have both taken the first step. You have listened to progress. You are now aware of the problems and outside forces are on their way. The Watcher’s battle may not be over but now we can try and work together instead of against each other”.