”I don’t know how I’m gonna get all my stuffed animals home” a little girl thinks out loud.
At that exact moment in space and time she was lying on a big, very pink bed, surrounded by a multitude of stuffed animals in all perceivable colours. She was feeling content, yet the distant fear of having to leave her stuffed animals behind was slowly creeping into the crooks and crannies of her young mind. Though still encapsuled in the harmony of those just awakened, she let loose a small sigh. Stretching her small, lithe body she again eeled her way into the soft, warm world of the stuffed animals, absorbing their safety and silent friendship before swimming into a deep, dream-filled slumber.
The name of this child was Staci Alice, a somewhat unusual name for a Japanese girl.
Her parents had both been studying abroad before they met each other, and wanted to impress upon their surroundings the profound influence this experience had been for both of them, thus naming their only child after two special friends they had gained during their travels.
They were both passionate artists, intent on going through life as explorers, drinking in experience and releasing it through their creativity, as free as possible from the chains of routine and social norms. Luckily they were considered successful artists in the economic sense, – their work appreciated as good by those who judged these things, and would sell for a lot of money when the couple made that opportunity possible. And thus they were granted a larger measure of freedom than many others in their age and situation. Due to this, they were just now visiting a small Moroccan town called Essouira. Known for it’s attractive, though windy beaches, endless backstreets worming their way through clusters of small white buildings housing – among other folk – a large society of artists, it seemed a perfect place to explore for her parents. Another deciding factor was that one of her father’s greatest heroes: Jimi Hendrix, had fallen in love with the place, spending many months on the beach, drawing inspiration from the crashing waves, smooth roofed mosques and the big, glass water pipes filled with strong Moroccan hashish.
They arrived about two weeks ago with all the unvoiced grandeur befitting such a group. All a bit jet lagged, they taxied from Marrakesh out towards the great, blue Atlantic. During the tiresome airport pilgrimage, Staci Alice had felt like she was dreaming. Her only hand luggage was Leon, a big stuffed panda bear with knowing black, button-eyes, which she carried in one hand – his paws bouncing slightly off the ground as she moved her tiny feet. He was her bestest friend as they were filtered through the swarming mass of perspiring human matter, and then into the smelly taxi, slowly making their way toward their destination.
Once there, they all felt golden. Her parents were enchanted, - marveling over the sheer majestic beauty of the nature surrounding the small town, and the feeling of old wisdom emanating from the polished, white plaster. Staci Alice was also elated, not so much because she was appreciating the divine quality of the nature they were cruising through – something she had given only small thought to – but rather the fact that she had spotted the top of a wildly coloured tent by the road, a place she somehow instantly knew to be a site of unimaginable wonder; a place she would have to visit as soon as humanly possible.
As they settled in for the night in a captivating small Riad – these hidden, inverted guesthouses, filled with the refreshing smell of mint tea, – she told her parents about her discovery, making them solemnly swear on all they had dear that they would take her there first thing in the morning.
Staci Alice couldn’t sleep that night, endlessly chatting with Leon about the wonders the next day would bring, yet she still arose with the pure, unmasked vigour only found in happy young children. Jumping into her parents bed she woke them both with kisses, hugs and the sheer radiance emanating from her small, glowing frame.
They were all captured in the moment.
After a quick breakfast consisting of crispy toast and strong mint tea they headed off towards the magical tent. All smiles they walked towards the city and was quickly snatched up by a passing taxi, the toothless driver mumbling happily though unintelligible in response to their attempt at giving him directions.
Somehow they got there.
They had been humping along a small dirt road for about fifteen minutes, not having the slightest clue if the parents’ poor french had any effect on the gnarled old driver, when they suddenly entered a wide clearing. The appearance of smooth ground rattled their still bouncing brains, not to mention the sheer sensory overload the colours before them presented.
In the middle of this brown, dirt-filled desert they were greeted by an enormous tent. It seemed to them that it was decorated by all colours perceivable to the human mind. Slowly, as if transfixed, her mother payed the old driver, and they gradually managed to get out of the car.
As the initial overload of sensory data settled, they looked at each other and laughed. Before them towered a huge circus tent. Around it were an already bustling crowd. Many probably experiencing the same elation the small family felt at that moment, the glory of coincidental surprise and the immortality of the moment.
They went inside.
Throughout the day they witnessed many wonders. It turned out to be a circus without any animals besides humans, a fact which Staci Alice’s parents were silently thankful for since they were opposed to the idea, and considered it to be unnatural and dishonourable labour forced upon innocent animals.
Among many other acts they saw fearless acrobats seemingly combating the very air of the towering tent in their inspired somersaults, strongmen bending and breaking objects of impossibly solid matter as easy as snapping twigs, and women with the superhuman fluidity of snakes, twisting their bodies to fit even in the smallest of spaces. All this was coupled with grand music and the noisy friendship of a loud crowd. Staci Alice found herself unable to stop laughing at the incessant clowns, constantly running around on the stage and in the audience, causing mischief.
As the show ended they walked towards the exit, four hands linked, smiles all around. Before they reached their destination a series of booths greeted them – inside were different games that would yield prizes if you won at them. They pounced on the opportunity. Her father tried his luck in a game where you were supposed to throw a ball and topple a triangle formation of cups, if you got them all down at once you would win a box of candy.
He did not win, and Staci Alice quickly got bored of the game. Grabbing her parents’ respective sleeves she dragged them away. Something had piqued her interest in the distance. This, coupled with a deep, unidentified feeling of attraction, made her hurry her parents along, dragging their sleeves behind her..
The last booth of the line was smaller than the others. It housed a game where you were supposed to toss small balls into a rotating pond of water, aiming for pitifully small cups floating sporadically around. If you hit one of these cups with every ball you would win a grand prize. Staci Alice looked up from her position, currently tiptoeing to study the game above the counter... The upper shelves were packed with stuffed animals! Creatures of all shapes and sizes stared down on her with glittering eyes. She smiled up at them, knowing that she had to have them all. Rapidly she turned to ask her trusted parents to win for her.
Again and again they tried, tiny balls splashing impotently into the spinning water, and though they were keen to indulge their daughter in her feverent quest, they were fast running out of money and soon decided to leave. In her desperation Staci Alice asked for one last try, she would try herself this time, as a last attempt to follow a path she subconsciously knew she had to follow. Her wish was granted.
Somehow she won every time.
Her small, stubby hands released the balls into the air with a power and accuracy her tiny arms should not have been able to produce. Every ball landed inside the tiny cups as if by magnetic force. The big, black-bearded man responsible for the booth had no choice but to hand out the stuffed animals, one by one. He had never seen anything like this in his life, silently praising his god, Allah, in gaping wonder, never once thinking of the lost profit this would cause him as he saw this small child hit the cups again, and again, and again.
Soon there were no stuffed animals left. She had won them all. The speechless parents silently piled the mountain of stuffed fabric on to each other, struggling like over-sized dung beetles with their furry load. They wallowed towards a taxi with their backs bent, intent on balancing the gigantic mass of stuffed animals, looking like cowboys swaggering into the saloon after long days on horseback. Staci Alice followed silently, her left hand grasping the hand of a small, grey koala, her right clutching the neck of a green, black spotted giraffe, a smile of wonder on her lips. The flabbergasted taxi driver stifled a quick paralyzing emotion of surprise and got to work, stuffing the prizes into the free space of his small car.
They went home in the silence of shock. Yet, after some time had passed they gradually loosened up. The parents’ frozen, unspoken fear of what they had perceived as an unnatural, and therefore frightening occurrence, melted in the healing hands of distance and time. They came to think of the incident as a simple case of extreme luck and fortune. It could happen to anyone, they told themselves. In fact, a mere day after the occurrence, the family was once again the happy lot they usually were, incident forgotten as they continued exploring the entirety of this newfound town, watching, listening, tasting, smelling and feeling the wonders which they were presented.
It was after one of these days of exploration Staci Alice was slumbering in her bed. Dreaming of smiling monkeys silently flying with her on wingless, green, gyoza-like creatures with white eagle-heads and rough, elephant-like skin, all heading for their lair on the top of a large blue mountain in the distance. The smell of melted sugar and sawdust filled her nostrils as they darted through the clouds.
She awoke again some time later, this time with the impatient need to do something. Remembering the issue she was pondering before, she repeated it to herself: ”How am I going to get all my stuffed animals home? Curling her lips and crossing her legs, she entered her thinking position. This had to be figured out soon as they were leaving the day after, and her parents had been adamant in insisting she only take Leon with her back home. Challenging the conundrum in her self invented lotus-like position, the small child seemed immersed in a seriousness not befitting her tender age, yet she went at it with the zeal and determination of an unyielding knight of the realm.
As she was thinking, feeling as if her very skull would crack from the effort, she felt a soft paw on her shoulder. Slowly turning she faced Leon; a moving Leon; a smiling Leon!
”Leon! she exclaimed,
”Hi Staci Alice” he replied with a deep rumbling voice; a voice she felt she had heard before, many times.
”I have chosen to show myself in this manner because we have a very important thing to talk about” he continued, easing his furry, black and white body down next to her, paw around the small of her back.
”You see, it was no coincidence that it was you who won my friends back at that circus”. He paused, button-eyes intent on the young girls face. Staci Alice could only nod, yet she felt a deep stirring of exhilarating joy inside her, flowing through her veins, a smile was in the process of conquering her young face.
He spoke again.
”My dear friend, you have been chosen by our council of foreign relations as a test subject to be offered a visit to our homeland, Pa. This is unprecedented in the long, proud history of our people, and I am incredibly proud that it was my child that was chosen for the honor”. Leon said, with a seriousness Staci Alice had not expected.
The fact that Leon was using this grown up tone made her pretty sure that this was an important matter. Already, the shock of her stuffed panda bear actually talking to her was being defeated by the innate wisdom and adaptability of her young mind.
”I would love to, Leon, but can I take my parents? They would be terribly worried for me if I left without them”, she said, easily matching Leon’s seriousness. Her budding intellect instantly recognizing the incredible opportunity she had been offered, yet also the implications it brought with it.
”Well, my friend, I understand off course, yet I am sorry to tell you that my homeland is only available for young children at the moment. How about you go into their room and let them know we are going on a trip together? Leon continued, his voice so deep and pleasant it felt like it was stroking the inside of Staci Alice’s small skull.
”O.K, I’ll tell them, but I’m not sure if they will let me go with you”, Staci Alice said, mouth slightly pouting.
Still sleepy-eyed she padded softly into her parents dark room, both of them breathing deeply, – swimming in the bottomless depths of their human minds, continually searching for something.
As Staci Alice jumped in between them she smilingly felt her father’s tanned arm wrap her into an unconscious, loving embrace.
”Papa, I have to ask you something”, she whispered into the ear that was not occupied by the pillow.
”What, sweetie? he mumbled groggily.
”Leon can speak! He asked me if I wanted to go on a trip with him and visit the country of the stuffed animals. Can I go, please, I promise I’ll be back soon” she whispered with the elated urgency of momentary joy.
Still caught in the soft, grey tentacles of sleep, her father mumbled something completely unintelligible into the sweet morning air. To Staci Alice, it sounded something like this:
”Mmmbajaaih, brummjah”.
”Papa! Staci Alice repeated, again pulling him slightly away from his dreamy state.
”Yes, yes, baby, go see the stuffed animals, say hello from me” he responded in the drowsy, yet impatient voice of a man caught between two planes of reality, then he swiftly let himself be overtaken by the currents of the subconscious, again diving into his own personal world of possibilities.
Staci Alice jumped out of the bed and ran back into her bedroom, happily calling to Leon.
”Leon, he said I could go!
Smiling knowingly, Leon arose. He seemed to have grown a lot in the short while she had been in her parents room. Behind him stood all the stuffed animals she had won, every one of them towering over her, looking down at her silently. Suddenly she could hear a slight, small, yet resonating sound emanating from the stuffed animals. After a while she could smell it. Taste it.
Feel it.
She watched with pure wonder in her eyes as a small, white hole was emerging from the air in front of her. She was not afraid, not with Leon by her side.
Soon the hole was big enough to walk through.
Grabbing her small hand with his huge paw Leon lead her through the gateway, her small feet dangling in the air as she felt the embrace of warm, unexplored white. ”Who would have guessed? She thought vaguely to herself;
”I did not have to worry about getting all my stuffed animals home after all”.
....
(paragraphs are screwed, I know).
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