The story begins as so many stories have begun since our ancestors first told them in the flickering firelight of caves: long before his quest unfolds, the young hero learns that he is the Chosen One.
When he was very young, Alexandre Trudeau recalls, his father left on a long voyage to a strange and perilous land on the edge of the world. “When he returned, he was changed. He looked and smelled slightly different. He had a beard and a tan and a strange energy about him. He radiated a kind of power, seemed more aggressive and alive than usual … this was a new father, not the patient and adoring father of before, but the free spirit who had wandered the world. The lone traveller. The observer of things. The holder of secret knowledge.”
Alexandre also learns that shortly before he was born, his mother had also journeyed...
Patrick Brown was a foreign correspondent for the CBC for more than 30 years, often in Asia, including Bangkok, Delhi and, most recently, Beijing. He now splits his time between Canada and China as an independent documentary film maker. Follow him on Twitter @truthfromfacts
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