​​Valarie the Valkyrie

 Something about Psychopomp came easily to us...

Maybe we just love getting off our faces and dancing all night

Maybe we’re total mythology geeks who love immersing ourselves in the stories of the past

Maybe we want to go on a journey, to be a hero in our own quest, to escape for a while

Whatever the reason, when we created our characters and our journey it all seemed to fall together quite easily. It was all of the other stuff that was difficult.

They ran up to me, saying the White Rabbit had told them to find me. They wanted a carrot. They wanted to go down the Rabbit Hole. It was their turn, they should get to go next.

“Can you make sure this person gets through? He’s here to review the show”

“Can you please let my parents go through? They’ve travelled all the way from Leicester”

“My best friend is here for the show, can they go through?”

“My sister has never seen anything like this, can she see the show?”

They all keep talking at me. I’m trying to be in Psychopomp, to be the Valkyrie, but I constantly have to placate people, to tell them they’ll get their shot.

“I’ll get to you in ten minutes.”

“You’re next, I swear”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get to see the show”

“We have 3 more hours”

The hours start to blur into each other. I move from moments of total clarity, total focus on the person I’m performing to, to wandering off into my own little world. I tell someone to take my hand, and then forget to put my hand out. The the next minute I find myself giggling with a stranger, we’re both in on the joke and we’re loving it.

A month has passed by, and most of the encounters merge into one another. The Drunk Girl whose animated facial expressions amused me. The Intense Man whose eyes searched mine as I held his hand. The Happy Woman who was warmer than anyone I’d ever known.

What do I remember of Psychopomp? I remember feeling totally connected to those people who came outside with me, whilst simultaneously feeling that it wasn’t real. I remember my head getting really hot in my plastic helmet that I found on eBay for £5.49. I remember leaving at 5.30am as the Sun rose over London, with no idea how to get home. I remember a blur. I remember them all. I remember everything.