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Yesterday, on my way back home from school, I saw a dolphin on a tree.
My grandpa always picks me up from school, and then we walk back home, arm in arm. Grandpa has beautiful blue eyes, like water. My eyes are brown. I wish I had eyes like his.
When I saw the dolphin on the tree, I pointed at it and and told Grandpa to look. But he couldn’t see it!
My little brother, Ola, always gets his clothes stained with all sorts of things. He’s really talented at that.
I played hopscotch with Ola today. He jumped around like a kangaroo. At some point, he tripped and fell into a muddy puddle. “Mom is going to get mad at you!” Then I noticed an enormous mushroom on his T-shirt. He didn’t believe me. Back home, Ola let me draw a basket around the mushroom.
At first, Mom wasn’t happy about the mud stain, nor about my black marker basket around it. But she took a closer look and cheered up.
Then she showed us something on her neck, behind her hair. There was a special shape, red and unlike anything I could think of! “It’s nothing bad, is it, Mommy?” Ola asked. Mom didn’t answer, but grabbed Ola and lifted his hair to show he had the very same shape on his neck! She told us it was a birthmark. I was sad I didn’t have one. “Not fair!” But then Mom grabbed my hair and lifted it up. And there it was: a red birthmark!
I told Grandpa about our birthmarks. It turned out he didn’t have one. I felt a bit sad for him.
“We look nothing alike, and we don’t even share a birthmark. How come you’re my grandpa then?” “What we share doesn’t have to be visible at first glance. It’s like the shapes you notice.”
My friend Emi plays the shape game with me. I think she’s the only person who really gets it. The walls are covered with all sorts of wonders! Same goes for the desks. The other day we discovered dried chewing gum that looked like a shrivelled leaf.
The teachers don’t like us playing in class. We’ve been learning the multiplication table lately. When I look at 6 times 6, I see two snails or a pair of sunglasses. Then a butterfly spreads its wings—36.
Yesterday after school, I went to Emi’s to play. She showed me a hole in the sidewalk in front of her house. And it was just as she’d promised: an open book!
Today after school, I wrote a poem.
There was an old polaroid camera at home. I took a picture of Mom’s neck birthmark. Our birthmark!
Now, every time I see an interesting shape, I document it with my camera.
So far, I’ve collected: a cloud that looks like the moon, a pancake in the shape of a cat’s head, a cat sprawled over the floor like a pancake, a stone shaped like an apple, an apple shaped like a star, ants swarming into a beautiful swan, and a melted ice cream unicorn.
I hung up the pictures I’ve taken around my room.
Emi suggested that I think about making an exhibition. She offered to help.
We chose the date and handwrote the invitations. We drew small maps on them with our itinirary. Itenerary… Itinerary! Grandpa taught me this word the other day. It means ‘a route.’
On the day of the exhibition, I woke up impatient and looked out the window. It rained! I started to cry.
“No one will come to my exhibition in this weather!” But Mom assured me we would have a great time anyway. “We’ve got umbrellas and rain boots!”
Together with Grandpa, Mom, and Ola, we made tiny sandwiches in different shapes with colourful veggies: bright red bell peppers, crunchy green cucumbers, and creamy yellow cheese. There were also golden-brown cookies, fluffy pancakes with a secret ingredient—cinnamon!—crispy crackers, and all sorts of nuts. Everything looked like a rainbow on the table.
Despite the rainy weather, so many people showed up!
There was Emi and her parents; many of our classmates; our teacher, Ms. Stacey; our neighbours, Mr. And Mrs. Fern; the freckled twins from across the street; the very tall Ms. Black Poodle and her dog, a black poodle; Ms. Hairdresser; and a lot of crows sitting on the fence and watching curiously.
The gallery tour started in the courtyard of our building. It wasn’t even raining anymore!
We handed out post-its and pens to everyone. “Please give names to everything you notice around you!”
Emi, Ola, and I started running around, sticking papers to things, and soon everyone else followed!
Grandpa discovered an oil stain shaped like the Eiffel Tower. And Ms. Black Poodle even found a scratch on a car that resembled her black poodle!
We finished the tour in front of Emi’s house, where the book lay on the sidewalk.
Each guest took chalk and wrote their name in the book. After all, every person is a story.
I was taking pictures of all our discoveries and everyone’s faces. Maybe they will inspire another gallery!
Mom took a picture of Grandpa and me. I watched it closely and realised: we had the same smile!
We started making up stories together. One story was about two pirate girls who sail the world, rescuing turtles and dolphins.
I walked over to the tree and drew a frame with my fingers around the dolphin. Then Grandpa finally noticed it!