Somewhere right now, a boy stares out across the ocean. He is in between his zoom class where he will be lectured on nonsense by an uninterested blurry face, and his parents who are hyperventilating about whatever news broke today.

He is too young to conceptualize it, but deep down he knows that the old people are lost. A whole generation taken by navel gazing and guilt. He takes a deep breath. This is the only peaceful moment he gets this morning. He looks out across the sea.

He feels something deep in him pulling him out towards the emptiness. Something magnetic in his blood sending him towards the unknown. It’s been ages now since he’s been allowed to explore the hills over the ocean with his gang of other boys his age.

He sees an eagle perched on a cliff, surveying the horizon just like the boy. There is a sparkle of recognition in the boys icy eyes.

One day he will break through the torpor he has been trapped in by his elders and go across the horizon, maybe into the stars, to commit acts of daring, just like the ancients who still live in his spirit.

He is too young to know it consciously, but his body already knows a new age of exploration and heroes is dawning. His grip tightens and he exhales. The eagle swoops down for its prey.