ORIGINS: When the Brush speaks, we listen. The girls were already there. All that was missing was some string for their eyepatches, and as soon as we gave them some slack, we took care of that. Life is more fun if you just use the rope to jump.
No, I won’t jump rope with you. Those birds can keep their air space for all I care. It’s not worth having one of my eyes pecked out. Now get out of my sight before they think that you and I are of the same feather.
No, thank you. The last time I jumped rope the sunset almost poked my eyes out. I like pretty colors as much as anybody else, but I would rather not see red in the flesh. Coloring books and pencils are good enough for me.
Sure, why not? I have always wanted to have my head in the clouds. I may lose my eyes to their ice crystals, but that’s the price you have to pay for shiny dreams, isn’t it?
Are you trying to turn your rope into a spring? How nice. If you succeed, would you mind lending it to me? I have always wanted to leap to the moon.
It’s not exactly a heartbeat, but at least it’s better than a flatline. You say that jumping rope makes you feel alive, and I will give it a try. Who knows, maybe someday I will find something that makes me happy. A drop of water in the desert. And I will borrow a cactus’ spines to keep it safe.
Don’t worry, my sloth. I will jump rope, and you can live vicariously through me. I promise you that it will be better than any book you might have read.
Sooner or later, I am bound to trip and graze my knees. That’s life. I will dust off the hurt and get back on my feet to keep jumping rope. I am not asking for a light at the end of the tunnel. When you have perseverance, you don’t need hope. But I wouldn’t mind having a canary. A melodious warning. So that I could brace myself for the fall.
Doesn’t this flower remind you of a gramophone? I am sorry, but I only have one life, and I don’t want it to sound like feet stomping on the ground. I would rather have a beautiful song, whose smell would make me feel at home. But I can’t keep you from jumping rope right next to my ear. So, be my guest.
Do you know why I am wearing this eyepatch? I heard somewhere that we can’t feel pain in dreams. So, I turned the light off, to try and convince myself that this moment in my life was just that. A dream. I needed a way out. The thinnest sliver of moonlight. The knowledge that sooner or later I will wake up from this bad dream, and I will still be as good as new.
Dreams are things we see behind our eyelids. Pretty colors we have no say in. And maybe it’s because I am an impatient child, a curious little cat, but my eyelids are always ajar. That’s why I have decided to wear an eyepatch to shut them properly. You see, I have never liked being told what to do. It makes my hackles rise. You can blame it on the clouds for spoiling me. But, from now on, I will color my dreams.
Have you ever been called a diamond in the rough? So have I. But here’s the thing. I would rather stay that way. I would rather not be polished to someone else’s liking. And if that means that I have to keep my dreams to myself, so be it.
Do you know what happens when you have stars in your eyes? Others are quick to bring you back down to earth because misery loves company. But now I know that everything has its place, and dreams belong behind closed eyelids. Because the only real island is Sleep, and happiness is a treasure that has to be buried out of other people’s reach.