A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

As Dex and Mosscap leave the wild and begin walking on the highway, Dex reflects how glad they are to be back on a smooth surfaced road where they can pedal the caravan more easily. Dex is particularly grateful for “signs people made to let other people know which way to go if they wanted to rest and eat and not be alone” (4). In this case, the sign tells them that they are 20 miles from the village of Stump. When Mosscap suggests that the sign to Stump is “prescriptive,” Dex counters that when one travels one needs signs: “You need to know there’s food and shelter where you’re headed. Which is why we make signs” (6). In addition to the physical reality of the sign, symbolically Dex hopes for a spiritual sign that will tell them where they are headed in life.

Throughout the journey, Dex has been seeking their existential purpose in life, but without a clear spiritual sign, they are not sure what to do next. Essentially, Dex wants to know where they are headed in life. Mosscap, on the other hand, tells Dex that it had “rarely had clear destination in mind before now. In the wilds, I simply go places” (5).