Chibi

It still hurts.

Mara

I know.

Chibi

Do you think I’ll get a scar?

Mara

Maybe.

Chibi

I don’t want one.

Mara

Why?

Chibi

Because then I’ll remember falling.

(Mara looks at the bandage around his knee.)

Mara

Maybe you’ll remember getting up.

Chibi

But I didn’t.

Mara

You did eventually.

Chibi

You helped me.

Mara

That still counts.

Chibi

Heroes are supposed to get up by themselves.

(Mara frowns.)

Mara

Who told you that?

Chibi

Stories.

Mara

Then they’re silly stories.

Chibi

Heroes don’t need help.

Mara

Everyone needs help.

Chibi

Even heroes?

Mara

Especially heroes.

(A soft buzzing interrupts them.)

A bumblebee circles the wildflowers beside the railway.

It approaches one.

Misses.

Tries again.

Misses again.

Chibi

It’s terrible at flying.

Mara

It’s flying.

Chibi

Badly.

Mara

Still counts.

(The bumblebee finally lands. The flower bends beneath its round, furry body.)

Chibi

It doesn’t look like something that should fly.

Mara

Maybe things don’t have to look possible…

before they can happen.

Chibi

People used to say bumblebees couldn’t fly.

Mara

Not quite.

They tried to understand them like tiny aeroplanes.

Chibi

But they’re not aeroplanes.

Mara

Exactly.

Chibi

So the bumblebee wasn’t wrong.

Mara

No.

Our explanation was.

(The bumblebee lifts awkwardly into the air.)

Chibi

Did anyone tell it?

Mara

Tell it what?

Chibi

That people couldn’t understand how it flew.

Mara

Maybe.

Chibi

What did it say?

Mara

Nothing.

Chibi

Why?

(Mara smiles.)

Mara

It was busy flying.

(Chibi laughs.)

A sudden gust catches the bumblebee.

It tumbles sideways and disappears behind the old railway platform.

Chibi

It fell!

They hurry around the corner.

The bumblebee sits on a wet wooden sleeper.

Motionless.

Chibi

Is it hurt?

Mara

Maybe.

Chibi

Should we help?

Mara

Maybe it just needs a moment.

They crouch beside it.

They wait.

Chibi

It’s not moving.

Mara

No.

Chibi

Did it give up?

Mara

Being tired isn’t the same as giving up.

(A long silence.)

Chibi

Adults forget that.

Mara

Sometimes.

Chibi

They always say…

“Be strong.”

Mara

Yes.

Chibi

“Don’t be afraid.”

Mara

Yes.

Chibi

“Don’t cry.”

Mara

That one’s especially stupid.

Chibi

Why?

Mara

Because crying doesn’t stop your legs from working.

(Chibi looks at her.)

Chibi

You cried yesterday.

Mara

Yes.

Chibi

Were you scared?

Mara

Very.

Chibi

But you kept walking.

Mara

So did you.

Chibi

I was crying too.

Mara

So?

Chibi

Then maybe being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared.

Mara

Maybe being brave isn’t something you are.

Chibi

What is it?

Mara

Something you do.

The bumblebee moves.

Its wings begin beating.

Once.

Twice.

It rises—

falls.

Chibi

Again.

It tries.

Falls.

Chibi

Again!

The wings beat faster.

The little creature rises from the sleeper.

This time…

it flies.

Chibi

It did it!

Mara

Yes.

Chibi

Do you think it knew it could?

Mara

I don’t think it asked.

Chibi

Why not?

Mara

Maybe bumblebees don’t spend as much time as people…

deciding what they can’t do.

(They watch it disappear toward the meadow.)

Chibi

Mara?

Mara

Hmm?

Chibi

What if you fall so many times…

you don’t want to get up anymore?

(Mara becomes quiet.)

Mara

Then someone sits beside you.

Chibi

And tells you to stand?

Mara

No.

Chibi

What do they do?

Mara

Stay.

Chibi

Until when?

Mara

Until you’re ready.

Chibi

And then?

(Mara offers him her hand.)

Mara

Then we get up together.

(Chibi takes it.)

Chibi

I think I understand Inner Fire.

Mara

What is it?

Chibi

The thing that makes you get up.

Mara

No.

Chibi

No?

(She points toward the meadow where the bumblebee vanished among the flowers.)

Mara

It’s the thing…

that gives you a reason to.

Chibi

Like the flower?

Mara

Like the flower.

🎲 PLAY EPIC. FEEL THE STORY.

Game: Pulp Cthulhu
Campaign: Mythveil Chronicles
Theme: August · Inner Fire · The Bumblebee Does Not Know

We tell stories about heroes standing.

We rarely tell stories about them falling.

About shaking hands.

Tears.

Fear.

The moment when someone simply cannot take another step.

But Inner Fire does not make us unbreakable.

It doesn’t mean we never fall.

And it certainly doesn’t mean we always have to get back up alone.

Sometimes someone sits beside us.

Sometimes someone takes our hand.

Sometimes all we have is the stubborn belief that somewhere beyond the storm there is still a flower worth reaching.

Inner Fire isn’t what makes you get up.

It’s what gives you a reason to.

👉 https://startplaying.games/gm/dunchan

Explore the complete dialogues, interdisciplinary research, psychology, history and philosophy behind Inner Fire and the living worlds of Mythveil Chronicles.

👉 https://www.patreon.com/c/mythveilchronicles_bydunchanhuntergames