Way, way back in time—before humans existed—there were gods and goddesses, according to Japanese mythology, and, according to the most important Japanese myth, Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, from whom the Japanese imperial family claims descent, became so angry with her manic brother, the Storm God, that she went into hiding. How she eventually returned to shine her light again on the world makes for a very interesting story, one that fascinated me the very first time I read it, way, way back in my time.
Eventually I had an idea: to write my own story about the Sun disappearing—but a story that takes place right here, right now: to marry this ancient Japanese myth with an American one. But do we have myths? Of course: the myth of the private eye (a personal favorite): the loner on a quest for the truth—to solve the mystery—but whose quest invariably leads him (or her) to discover a truth about himself (or herself). And so I wrote The Cat, the Sun, and the Mirror about Cool Cat and his search for the missing Lady Sun.
But why a cat?
Why not a cat? I needed a loner, and, as Bucky Katt says in the comic strip “Get Fuzzy”: “We cats work alone.”
My thanks to all those volunteers—both seen and unseen—who have made this performance possible.
Have fun!
— RAA (Robert A. Anderson)