**1. The Ordinary World**
Hero was just a normal girl. Hero was, at this point in time, not particularly heroic.
Her life was prosaic, mundane, and routine.
This, she lamented, made it hard for any heroism to manifest.
"I feel like there may well be some latent heroism within me," she thought.
However, it was not easy to tell if that were truly the case because she hadn't yet been tested.
"If only something would come along to test me," she thought.
[[2. Call to Adventure]]**2. Call to Adventure**
Hero was, suddenly and rather unexpectedly, confronted by a challenge - and not one that could be overcome by staying here in her comfort zone. She would have to embark on an adventure.
Initially, it seemed like she was going of her own volition. However, she couldn't deny that perhaps it was a benign agent causing her to leave.
Upon reflection, she thought, it was possible that the agent was not so benign after all.
Perhaps it was pure chance that she had been mixed up in this? Or maybe her own wandering eye had lured her away?
It was hard to tell exactly what had nudged her out of her groove but one thing was for sure... she had been called to adventure.
[[3. Refusal of the Call]]
**3. Refusal of the Call**
At this point, Hero decided to dig in her heels.
"Just because I've been called," she thought, "that doesn't mean I have to do exactly what is expected of me. I'm not a performing monkey."
"There could be perils like spiders and trolls out there. No. I'd be crazy to do anything other than stay here, where it's safe," she thought.
"It'd take a squadron of storm troopers murdering my legal guardians with a flame thrower to make me leave the comfortable busom of my home right now," she decided.
These last thoughts, it would later emerge, were as prescient as they were improbably specific.
[[4. Meeting the Mentor]]**4. Meeting the Mentor**
It was decided. Hero was going on an adventure.
However, she wasn't ready to leave just yet. She still felt disastrously unprepared for the task ahead.
Luckily for her, a personal trainer conveniently emerged to offer her his services. He was surprisingly grizzled and wizened for a personal trainer. If anything he had more of a "mentor" vibe. In certain lights, he could easily pass for a she. Or even a they. Or even a map.
Whatever the light, they definitely had a "mentory" quality - as if they had something important to impart that would help Hero to tackle the challenge ahead.
[[5. Crossing the First Threshold]] **5. Crossing the First Threshold**
Now Hero was ready and committed to her adventure. Things, she felt, were really about to kick up a gear.
"My balloon ascends," she mused metaphorically. "My ship sails. The romance begins. The wagon starts rolling. There's no turning back."
"If life had a central conflict, a theme, and character development," she thought, "now would be the perfect time by which to have started to develop those things in earnest."
[[6. Tests, Allies, Enemies]]
**6. Tests, Allies, Enemies**
Having set out on her adventure, Hero found herself facing new challenges. The nature of reality had changed.
"The rules are different here," she thought to herself. "I have a feeling that this stage of the journey may take a while."
"M'lady, you would appear to be in need of a squad," said a passing squad.
"Handy!" she thought, as they convened in a nearby seedy tavern to discuss the obstacles to come.
If her acquaintances could be considered the cast of her life, that cast had just increased in number.
In the coming days, Hero found herself beset by a series of tests. She felt like Bilbo Baggins, facing trolls, spiders and unfriendly wood elves. "Thank goodness for this new crew," she reflected.
As time went on, some of her friends turned out to be foes, and vice versa. "People can be so predictably unpredictable," she thought.
[[7. Approach to the inmost cave.]]
**7. Approach to the inmost cave.**
Having overcome those hurdles, Hero found herself preparing to approach the inmost cave.
"It's important to note," she thought, "that I am not at the inmost cave yet. Rather, I am preparing for it and approaching it."
As she got closer, the nature of the challenge ahead became slightly more clear.
"In certain lights," she realised, "this cave could easily be mistaken for a bad guy's base or even a dragon's lair."
Semantics aside, Hero was certain that this was the most dangerous spot in this entire realm and was certain to be the place where the ultimate goal of her quest was located.
[[8. Ordeal]]**8. Ordeal**
Hero entered the inmost cave. "I have a bad feeling about this," she said.
In a stroke of supremely bad luck, the inmost cave just so happened to contain her greatest fear.
"This feels," she thought, "like I'm in the belly of the whale. This is truly a black moment.
Things were super hard now. In fact, things were now so tough that she felt she had truly hit rock bottom.
"If I survive this," she thought, "I'll be forever transformed and will no doubt emerge a Hero.
The ordeal she underwent here was a transformative one. The experience would go on to inform every decision she subsequently made.
[[9. Reward]]**9. Reward**
"I've been through a lot," Hero thought. "I hope all of this effort pays off somehow."
At that moment, the object she had been searching for the entire quest finally presented itself. All she had to do was reach out and grab it!
She felt like Luke finally obtaining the plans to the Death Star or Dorothy escaping from the Wicked Witch's castle with a pair of ruby slippers.
"This has huge ramifications for my story," she thought to herself as she turned around to embark on what was sure to be a quick and easy journey home...
[[10. The Road Back]]
**10. The Road Back**
"Wow," thought Hero. "Here I was thinking we were coming to the end of my story, but from this vantage point it looks like I'm just at the start of Act Three."
Although Hero longed to be back in the Ordinary World, a series of inconvenient dangers presented themselves on the road back.
It turns out the awesome McGuffin she had obtained in the previous step was still being sought after by other parties.
She felt like Bilbo Baggins being caught in a conflict between the dwarves and the Lake Men demanding compensation for their role in the downfall of Smaug.
Hero would need to keep her wits about her if she was to escape back through the threshold with her life and the reward intact.
[[11. Resurrection]]**11. Resurrection**
At this point Hero discovered that she about to meet her final test.
The dark side was about to get one last opportunity to test whether or not she had learned the lessons of her ordeal.
"This," she realised, "has all the hallmarks of the climax of my story. This is truly the final exam."
In this final battle, Hero was fortunate enough to go through one more resurrection.
Later, some would argue that it had been more of a metaphorical resurrection than a literal one.
Either way, it was a miraculous, near-death escape that paved the way for a very satisfying ending to her story.
[[12. Return with the Elixir]]**12. Return with the Elixir**
Hero emerged triumphant from her final test and made it back to the Ordinary World.
"I am," she reflected, "a very different person to the Hero who left this place what feels like a lifetime ago."
"I guess I've grown and matured as a result of the journey I've taken," she concluded.
The reward she had brought back for her community would improve life for everyone. Some would later describe it as a boon. Some said it was an elixir. Others said it was a metaphorical elixir that was, in actuality, more like knowledge or insight.
Whatever the case, it was an awesome ending to an epic story.