Childish Stories

[Third Loop]

Childish Stories

I want to tell you about my childhood process for going to sleep.

Often as a child I would have difficulty going to sleep. Rather than read I would make up a story in my imagination, and during this story and most times after finishing it I would go to sleep.

I developed a universe within which these stories occurred. My favourite author as a child was Issac Asimov and I developed a universe similar to his galactic empire. As the protagonist of my stories I was the emperor and over the years I developed and fleshed out this empire.

The empire was old and so was I. Unlike most people I had lived thousands of years and was instrumental in the formation of this empire. Many stories about that. Developing and forming the empire was exciting work but once it formed, the task of governing was very boring and mundane. I retreated and left the public facing tasks of the empire to others.

After a while my stories began taking on a theme. I was the hiding emperor. While I was supreme ruler of my empire I became unknown to the majority of my subjects. My story each night would be me taking advantage of my obscurity and venturing out to a different part of the empire undercover..

I would be like undercover boss in that I would assess the health of that section of the empire by becoming a common person to see what life was like. Every story needs drama so I would uncover an injustice and would work to solve it. I would eventually get into a predicament where the injustice and opposing forces were so great that it couldn't be solved by an ordinary person.

I would signal to my watchers. They were a group of covert elite imperial agents assigned to watch over me but not interfere. Once I signalled, I would bring the full weight and power of the empire to bear on the situation. I would watch as the antagonists realized that they had messed with the wrong person. My story would conclude and I would go to sleep satisfied and content that justice was served.

I did this story telling for a long time, eventually I no longer had trouble sleeping and stopped my stories. Many years have passed since I was in that universe and I have forgotten the majority of those stories and details of the empire. But I look back with fondness at that empire and the theme of justice that often put me to sleep.

[Týsköll]

I enjoy this, intriguing. A shame you didn't write any of it down, it sounds like some immersive world building was going on.
I wonder if it was helping to deal with what you might've seen as a real world that was a bit broken.

[Third Loop]

I enjoy this, intriguing. A shame you didn't write any of it down, it sounds like some immersive world building was going on.
I wonder if it was helping to deal with what you might've seen as a real world that was a bit broken.

No, I don't think I was consciously influenced by real world issues, I drew on a lot of concepts from my science fiction interests.

I never really considered writing down any of the stories, but I did realize that some authors my have been similarly inspired in childhood.

I'm not sure how good my stories were , nor how much original content they had, but yes, sadly they are lost to my mind. The only thing about that empire that really stuck with me was it's design.

The Empire consisted of three zones. At the center was a small restricted zone. This was the seat of the Empire and my home. There was very little traffic and only those on imperial business. It was heavily patrolled. Surrounding this was the second zone. It was like a free trade zone, the hand of the Empire was light, it was the center of commerce, science, and innovation. Private interplanetary travel was permitted. Surrounding that was the third defensive zone. It was the largest zone and the hand of the Empire was heavy upon it. Interplanetary travel and shipping was only done on imperial ships and the borders were heavily defended. The revenue from the defensive zone paid for all three zones. Not sure why that design stuck with me, but it did.

[xadih48782]

This post is a reflective autobiographical story about childhood imagination and bedtime storytelling. The author describes creating an elaborate science-fiction universe inspired by Isaac Asimov, centered around a hidden emperor who secretly traveled through a vast galactic empire to uncover injustice. These imaginative narratives became a nightly ritual that helped the writer fall asleep, sanford bismarck blending themes of secrecy, power, justice, and adventure. The post ultimately reflects on nostalgia, creativity, and the comforting role imagination played during childhood.