It was not long before the muse saw a dangerous idea. The slimy black creature had sharp spines for fur and massive bat wings. Even scarier, it had a mouth filled with more sharp teeth than it could fit. It chomped on the forest plants and left corrupted plants in its wake. They shone blue and black as if covered in oil.
The beast was too gigantic to fight, so the muse ran away. It ran into a few more dangerous ideas, but fled at the first sign of trouble. The muse dared not try to see what the dangerous ideas were for fear of being spotted.
Soon, the muse found dangerous ideas smaller than its foot. Feeling bold, the muse began hunting them. It conquered larger monsters and learned the tools it needed to succeed. Its body changed as it grew up.
The muse’s short tail became as long as its body for balance and fluffy like a cat. Its hair turned into vines, which weaved into the shape of a cone. The vines were full of venomous thorns, which made the muse infectious. The ideas it touched had the same effect. The muse had grown them to deal with dangerous ideas at a distance. It still avoided beasts anywhere close to its own size.
Learning to craft weapons and armor was important. The muse tried to take items from one human to another, but it didn’t work. The items it had spent days creating were turned to dust. The muse watched the dust blow into the cosmic winds. Humans could only conquer ideas with the lessons available to them. What a human does not know, it can not use.
Items would sometimes survive, but their shape would change. The muse was excited when it first saw a muse using a powerful item with a young human. The muse thought it could jump to an older human to craft a powerful item to use with kids. However, that muse forgot to mention an important detail. The items were from a lesson that had been passed from father to son, so they had the tools.
The muse ran into more dangerous ideas as it grew up. Many had warned that would happen, and it came true. It was a great relief to find a teenage human where there was little sign of corruption. A giant tree grew in the middle of a lush forest. Other muses flew through the skies, but they were all younger. Surely, this was a creative soul whose forest it traveled. The muse entered a meadow of blue flowers with an orange center. Staring at the flowers, the muse’s mind flooded with a rush of memories.
“Is it you?” the muse asked.
It looked around again to check the forest. Now, the muse recognized the rounded triangular leaves. With a spirited smile, the muse flew to the tree towering over the forest. Hovering before the massive tree, the muse held a hand out. A tunnel of light swirled by. In the muse’s mind, the life of the tree was rewound to its earliest days. As suspected, this was the tree it had helped to grow when they were both babies.
“It’s so good to see you!” The muse lunged into the tree and hugged it. A light shone through the cracks in its bark. Then, a deep hum throbbed through the forest.
Below, a pink and yellow mist rolled over the trees. The muse backed away and flew over the canopy. The joy of creativity had swept through the forest. Other muses created things from the fog to keep the human inspired. The muse held an arm out toward the tree to see the human world. A curtain of blue smoke lifted from the tree and showed the muse the human’s life.
He was riding a bus, watching the city scroll by through the windows. The other muses wanted to keep him inspired until he could create. They also competed with each other for his attention. The muse refused to let them have all the fun.