"A Special Type of Choice of Object Made by Men," Sigmund Freud (1910)

[H]e comes, as we say, under the dominance of the Oedipus complex . . . [if] these impulses do not quickly pass, there is no outlet for them other than to run their course in fantasies: that of saving the beloved woman in order to win her love and obtain a baby from her, and, as a reaction to his hostility toward the father, the fantasy of saving him from a life-threatening danger by some heroic action.

Rescue Fantasies

The sound of that creak reminded her of the slightly off kilter sound that a metronome makes when the weight is set a little too high. Each duration between tick and tock lasting almost imperceptibly longer than the last. Stumbling back. Lurching forth. Stumbling back. Lurching forth.
                                         Back.
                                                      And forth again until she wondered if she had ever really heard any sound at all. But there he was. Right there. Right there in front of her as she peered through the fence. Watching him. So small. So very very small. His toe dragged in the dust as the swing swung its last swing. The sound of that creak made her queasy.