The Running Man

Background To The Story (from Michael Gerard Bauer)

‘At the centre of the story is my early childhood memory of searching the mulberry tree in the backyard of our family home for silkworms. I remember praying to find just one silkworm, but of course there were none so it ended in tears, anger and bitter disappointment. That night my brother came home with a box of silkworms given to him by some ‘mysterious stranger’. I thought it was a miracle. Later, the same mulberry tree became home to a large lizard (real or imagined) that terrified me. Because of these two memories, the mulberry tree seemed to symbolize something about hope and fear, innocence and experience, good and evil. At first I wrote a poem about it; then I thought it might make a good short story. As I thought about it more, other images and ideas began to tie into the story – the vision of a man shut away in his room raising silkworms, words and themes from one of my favourite poems ‘The Silkworms’ by Douglas Stewart, and other people and events from my childhood, including of course my own ‘Running Man’. I started to see links and connections that began to weave themselves together into a longer story. I began the novel, because I felt there was a story there worth telling and I wanted to see if I could find it, and more importantly, write it, so that others could find it as well. I also wanted to write it because, unlike Joseph in the story, I never spoke to my Running Man or found out why he ran or even what his name was – and I kind of wish I had.'