An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

“Look, I am aware that you’re here for an epic tale of intrigue and mystery and adventure and near death and actual death, but in order to get to that (unless you want to skip to chapter 13—I’m not your boss), you’re going to have to deal with the fact that I, April May, in addition to being one of the most important things that has ever happened to the human race, am also a woman in her twenties who has made some mistakes.” 

From the opening sentences, the narrative is in the second person, talking directly to the audience. While April partially gives away the story’s main trajectory, these spoilers add to the story’s intrigue while introducing April and her personality. 

“It’s beautiful and it’s powerful and someone devoted a huge piece of their life to it. The local news does a story about it and everyone goes “Neat!” and then tomorrow we forget about it in favor of some other ABSOLUTELY PERFECT AND REMARKABLE THING. That doesn’t make those things unwonderful or not unique…It’s just that there are a lot of people doing a lot of amazing things...” 

When April first sees Carl, she believes him is an art installation. She appreciates the devotion that goes into making something remarkable, and how many wonderful things go unnoticed. The remarkable nature of Carl foreshadows how otherworldly his presence turns out to be—not an art installation but actually an alien. 

“So that’s how I felt when I saw it—a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor […] It just stood there in the middle of the sidewalk, full of energy and power. It looked like it might, at any moment, turn and fix that empty, regal stare on me. But instead it just stood there, silent and almost scornful, like the world didn’t deserve its attention.” 

April personifies Carl despite believing he is an art installation. While such sculptures are often personified, the feeling that Carl is alive hints at his living presence. Carl embodies energy and power in both his appearance and presence as an extraterrestrial.