17 Oct 2020, 07:30
Origin Stories
Jake didn't like October.
He had used to like it...back when he was home. Autumn was a season of cool breezes and light jackets, apple cider and colorful leaves. It was a great time to play outside, and to look around at a beautiful world.
At Hogwarts it was a good time to get your pants scared off by all kinds of magical beasties. Halloween decorations were scary enough in the MUGGLE world, but magic opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Even jack-o-lanterns could be scary when they turned to watch you as you walked by. Pretty much all the decorations could move by themselves if they wanted to, and they made Jake jump just about once a day. Then he sometimes got laughed at, and that was as bad as the scares.
That wasn't even the worst part. Halloween decorations may have been scary, but they didn't really hurt you. There was a ball coming up... A halloween ball. Jake still remembered the mask-erade that he had come wrongly dressed to the year before, but it wasn't just because of the embarrassing costume mistake. The nightmares that had followed were of fire and giants, and the time of year made him remember that first terrifying experience he'd had in this very school. Another ball was coming, just weeks away, and Jake was sure something bad was gonna happen. Something even worse. Flint, the worry-eater that Alan had gotten him for his 12th birthday, was very full. Right now, Freddie and Flint were keeping each other company in his backpack. Close at hand, even if they were where nobody could see them.
A fun activity would really come in handy right now.
Flag-making seemed like a great choice. It did have art in it. And making a flag just seemed fun. They always had flags at Quidditch games. At first Jake had been really excited. He could make a flag to wave for Alan! Alan's first quidditch game was coming soon, and Jake was both worried and excited to see it. Alan was so brave, and even though you might not know it when you first looked at him he was truly a Gryffindor lion. Now he was a Quidditch player and Jake wanted to cheer him on! But then he found out that they couldn't make just any flag. No, this task was more specific than that.
They had to make a flag about their origins.
Jake knew what origins meant. It was where you came from. What he didn't know was how to make a flag about his origin.
What did that even mean...? Sure, Jake knew what country he came from: England. But lots of the kids came from there. That was everybody, not just him. He knew what country his mum had come from, and his dad, but that didn't really mean anything to him. It was just a place they came from. They were from there, he wasn't. It wasn't his origin, it was theirs.
Jake looked down thoughtfully at the blank canvas. A blank page could be so many things...he knew that well. Over the summer, he had been relieved to find that his ability to draw had begun to return after months away, his head plagued by frightening images. A light had seemed to come back into the world after his birthday party, and then he had drawn and drawn - making up for lost months.
The flag could be anything, but Jake just didn't know WHAT.
Maybe his house was his origin. Or his bedroom. When he thought about where he came from, that was what he thought of first. Or maybe it was Wiltshire. It was where he'd spent his whole life, after all. Wiltshire, which felt so far away from here. Jake would often watch the owls fly and try to imagine just how far away it was - how long it would take them, flapping and flapping all the way back to that land where there were no balls that could hurt you, no fires, no mosps, and no danger. Feeling a little bit homesick, Jake thought of grass and trees and parks.
As Jake took some art supplies - crayons or colored pencils would be best, because it was what he was best with - he pondered the question some more. The more he thought about it the more he knew. He wasn't quite sure how, but sometimes you had to just feel things.
His origin was Wiltshire, but it wasn't just. His origin was a life before magic, before castles, before friends. It was everything Wiltshire was - everything he was. Everything he used to be. He remembered what everything had felt like then. It was then that the picture popped into his mind. And then the boy began to draw.
Flags weren't just like any drawings, flags had to look like flags. With an image in his head, Jake got a green crayon and a blue one. Brown, black....that would do it. He liked colors a lot, but he had never seen more than four colors on a flag.
As he drew, Jake didn't look up to see what anybody else was drawing. Normally that would interest him, but his attention had been captured. The world around him faded away until it was just him and the rhythmic motions of his crayon. Slowly, he let the picture in his head become real.
It took him a long time, and he was careful. The little Hufflepuff sat focused on his paper, putting a knuckle to his lip as he stared down. He was moving more slowly than many of the other kids, but he wouldn't rush. Rushing would ruin the whole thing. He didn't want to ruin it. At first it had just been a flag - a fun thing to draw and wave around. Now it felt like a whole lot more. Now it felt like a piece of himself. Maybe he did have an origin, after all.
He had used to like it...back when he was home. Autumn was a season of cool breezes and light jackets, apple cider and colorful leaves. It was a great time to play outside, and to look around at a beautiful world.
At Hogwarts it was a good time to get your pants scared off by all kinds of magical beasties. Halloween decorations were scary enough in the MUGGLE world, but magic opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Even jack-o-lanterns could be scary when they turned to watch you as you walked by. Pretty much all the decorations could move by themselves if they wanted to, and they made Jake jump just about once a day. Then he sometimes got laughed at, and that was as bad as the scares.
That wasn't even the worst part. Halloween decorations may have been scary, but they didn't really hurt you. There was a ball coming up... A halloween ball. Jake still remembered the mask-erade that he had come wrongly dressed to the year before, but it wasn't just because of the embarrassing costume mistake. The nightmares that had followed were of fire and giants, and the time of year made him remember that first terrifying experience he'd had in this very school. Another ball was coming, just weeks away, and Jake was sure something bad was gonna happen. Something even worse. Flint, the worry-eater that Alan had gotten him for his 12th birthday, was very full. Right now, Freddie and Flint were keeping each other company in his backpack. Close at hand, even if they were where nobody could see them.
A fun activity would really come in handy right now.
Flag-making seemed like a great choice. It did have art in it. And making a flag just seemed fun. They always had flags at Quidditch games. At first Jake had been really excited. He could make a flag to wave for Alan! Alan's first quidditch game was coming soon, and Jake was both worried and excited to see it. Alan was so brave, and even though you might not know it when you first looked at him he was truly a Gryffindor lion. Now he was a Quidditch player and Jake wanted to cheer him on! But then he found out that they couldn't make just any flag. No, this task was more specific than that.
They had to make a flag about their origins.
Jake knew what origins meant. It was where you came from. What he didn't know was how to make a flag about his origin.
What did that even mean...? Sure, Jake knew what country he came from: England. But lots of the kids came from there. That was everybody, not just him. He knew what country his mum had come from, and his dad, but that didn't really mean anything to him. It was just a place they came from. They were from there, he wasn't. It wasn't his origin, it was theirs.
Jake looked down thoughtfully at the blank canvas. A blank page could be so many things...he knew that well. Over the summer, he had been relieved to find that his ability to draw had begun to return after months away, his head plagued by frightening images. A light had seemed to come back into the world after his birthday party, and then he had drawn and drawn - making up for lost months.
The flag could be anything, but Jake just didn't know WHAT.
Maybe his house was his origin. Or his bedroom. When he thought about where he came from, that was what he thought of first. Or maybe it was Wiltshire. It was where he'd spent his whole life, after all. Wiltshire, which felt so far away from here. Jake would often watch the owls fly and try to imagine just how far away it was - how long it would take them, flapping and flapping all the way back to that land where there were no balls that could hurt you, no fires, no mosps, and no danger. Feeling a little bit homesick, Jake thought of grass and trees and parks.
As Jake took some art supplies - crayons or colored pencils would be best, because it was what he was best with - he pondered the question some more. The more he thought about it the more he knew. He wasn't quite sure how, but sometimes you had to just feel things.
His origin was Wiltshire, but it wasn't just. His origin was a life before magic, before castles, before friends. It was everything Wiltshire was - everything he was. Everything he used to be. He remembered what everything had felt like then. It was then that the picture popped into his mind. And then the boy began to draw.
Flags weren't just like any drawings, flags had to look like flags. With an image in his head, Jake got a green crayon and a blue one. Brown, black....that would do it. He liked colors a lot, but he had never seen more than four colors on a flag.
As he drew, Jake didn't look up to see what anybody else was drawing. Normally that would interest him, but his attention had been captured. The world around him faded away until it was just him and the rhythmic motions of his crayon. Slowly, he let the picture in his head become real.
It took him a long time, and he was careful. The little Hufflepuff sat focused on his paper, putting a knuckle to his lip as he stared down. He was moving more slowly than many of the other kids, but he wouldn't rush. Rushing would ruin the whole thing. He didn't want to ruin it. At first it had just been a flag - a fun thing to draw and wave around. Now it felt like a whole lot more. Now it felt like a piece of himself. Maybe he did have an origin, after all.
WC: 1004/1000
Jake's Flag:
22 Oct 2020, 06:02
Origin Stories
Eventually, the girl carefully and quietly took a seat beside the boy, careful not to touch him or make much noise so as not to bump, disturb, or distract him until he was finished. Not that she need have worried; he seemed almost completely enveloped in his own world. As she watched the flag begin to resemble a window to the boy's soul - at least that's what she was starting to like to think of it as - she discovered she found his choices of bright blue and green pleasing. They were so vivid and reminded her of happiness and life. Furthermore, the more she watched, the more the girl was becoming fairly sure that the blue represented the wide, open sky and the green symbolized an expansive area of fresh, healthy grass.
While she watched, it seemed that the girl drew nearer and nearer, whether unconsciously or not. By the time Jake had finished, she was very much in what might have, in polite company, been known as personal space. The child didn't seem to realize this, however. Instead, she turned to the artist once she understood he was finished with his work and one corner of her mouth turned up slightly.
"Pretty," she told him in a quiet but clear voice. Her index finger moved to hover over the single black shape on the flag. "Is that you?" the girl wondered aloud. "What are you doing?"
@Jake Morris
When you think you're alone - that no one cares and you don't matter, please remember: You matter to me.
11 Jan 2021, 04:04
Origin Stories
@Kit Paine
With a small gasp, the little Hufflepuff looked up at the girl who had approached him so quietly he hadn't even know she was there. Startled, Jake nearly tumbled back, catching himself on his elbows. For a moment, Jake stayed leaning backwards, looking up at the girl. He had been focused so intently on his drawing for so long that it was like waking up from a dream, only this time with an unexpected intruder in your bedroom. It took him a moment to come back to reality - just to realize that he didn't know who the girl was, or what she wanted. Maybe she just wanted to borrow some crayons. Or maybe she had come to make fun of his picture...
Nervously, Jake's eyes took her in as he waited for what she was going to do. It took a moment before he even realized what she had said. She had called his drawing pretty, as she asked whether the black figure on his flag was himself.
"Um, mhm," he mumbled, looking into her eyes to see if they were going to have that shark-like gleam in them that he saw in the eyes of those who would bully him, but instead he just saw a quiet curiosity regarding him.
Cautiously, the young boy sat up and looked down again at his flag.
"That's me....um...at my home in Wiltshire," he mumbled shyly, cautiously tilting the flag her way. "I'm readin' a book at the park. Before I knew what magic was." A silence for a moment. "It's my origin," he added, the word a little bit new on his tongue, the kind of word you might read in books but never say out loud.
Jake stared at her eyes, which were a shade of blue that he had never seen before. Actually, he couldn't remember seeing this girl EVER before. Maybe she was...a first year...? But something seemed wrong to him...something that he couldn't quite place that gave him an eerie feeling. But what...?
"Um...D-Did you make a flag too....?" he asked back awkwardly. He had been learning to talk to the other kids, and he had gotten better than he had been in his first year. You weren't supposed to just answer questions but sometimes you had to ask questions too. He knew that, but it was still a challenge when he met new people. It always felt like he was doing something wrong, or at any moment they might begin to laugh at him.
With a small gasp, the little Hufflepuff looked up at the girl who had approached him so quietly he hadn't even know she was there. Startled, Jake nearly tumbled back, catching himself on his elbows. For a moment, Jake stayed leaning backwards, looking up at the girl. He had been focused so intently on his drawing for so long that it was like waking up from a dream, only this time with an unexpected intruder in your bedroom. It took him a moment to come back to reality - just to realize that he didn't know who the girl was, or what she wanted. Maybe she just wanted to borrow some crayons. Or maybe she had come to make fun of his picture...
Nervously, Jake's eyes took her in as he waited for what she was going to do. It took a moment before he even realized what she had said. She had called his drawing pretty, as she asked whether the black figure on his flag was himself.
"Um, mhm," he mumbled, looking into her eyes to see if they were going to have that shark-like gleam in them that he saw in the eyes of those who would bully him, but instead he just saw a quiet curiosity regarding him.
Cautiously, the young boy sat up and looked down again at his flag.
"That's me....um...at my home in Wiltshire," he mumbled shyly, cautiously tilting the flag her way. "I'm readin' a book at the park. Before I knew what magic was." A silence for a moment. "It's my origin," he added, the word a little bit new on his tongue, the kind of word you might read in books but never say out loud.
Jake stared at her eyes, which were a shade of blue that he had never seen before. Actually, he couldn't remember seeing this girl EVER before. Maybe she was...a first year...? But something seemed wrong to him...something that he couldn't quite place that gave him an eerie feeling. But what...?
"Um...D-Did you make a flag too....?" he asked back awkwardly. He had been learning to talk to the other kids, and he had gotten better than he had been in his first year. You weren't supposed to just answer questions but sometimes you had to ask questions too. He knew that, but it was still a challenge when he met new people. It always felt like he was doing something wrong, or at any moment they might begin to laugh at him.
18 Jan 2021, 07:23
Origin Stories
"Wiltshire?" she repeated. "Ohh...that's really cool! Do you like books? What kind?" She studied the flag some more as he angled it so she could see it better. "Hmm...what about reading a book in a park before knowing about magic makes it your origin?" The girl blinked. "Origin of...who you are? Right now? Did books make you this way?"
Along with trying to understand the boy before her, she simultaneously wanted to try to get a grip on what was expected by the project itself. It seemed a fascinating notion, but she still wasn't quite sure how flexible the interpertation of the term 'origin' had been meant to be by the errand's creator. Maybe this boy knew? Or her perhaps he was just interperting it as best he could. He hadn't seemed to need to give it too much thought before starting, which she admired. Perhaps the term was simply meant to mean whatever the people participating in the errand made it out to be. Hopefully there wasn't a wrong way to interpert it, was there...? As long as it was a true attempt at an interpertation.
Just then, she realized the boy had asked her a question of his own. She blinked abruptly out of her trance, having been lost in thought, and looked back at the flag's creator. When she understood his inquiry, she beamed.
"Not yet!" She pulled out her blank sheet of paper from behind her back before setting it down next to the boy's and looking around. "If you're done with this, I'm going to borrow it," she told him, reaching out to pick up the bright blue and green crayons that had been used for the boy's drawing. Then she collected a few other colors and utencils, including some colored pencils, markers, paints, and pastels from elsewhere that had seemed to have been provided specifically for the purpose of this project. Once she had everything, she got to work.
"I'm Tymiko," she told the boy as she began to draw. "People call me 'Ty' for short, though. What's your name?"
Tymiko sketched out a vague, organic shape in the center of her paper with practiced ease as if she had drawn the picture she was intending to make many times before. She sketched in the outlines and filled in areas with light colors to distinguish them from others before coloring harder for a more vivid effect using more satuarted colors. She reveled in the various kinds of greens and especially the blues, it seemed, her face almost seeming to glow with happiness as the picture before her reflected the blue of her own eyes. Eventually, she finished and sat back to examine her work with a satisfied nod.
Tymiko's flag:
@Jake Morris
When you think you're alone - that no one cares and you don't matter, please remember: You matter to me.
10 Feb 2021, 04:10
Origin Stories
@Kit Paine
"Um, l-lotsa kinds," Jake stammered, face flushing a little as she asked him a question. The boy looked down for a moment and tried to think of the best way to answer. It always took him time to find the words that he wanted to say, and even more time to make himself say them, because as soon as he looked into the eyes of a stranger they got all jumbled and lost.
"Um, I guess my favorite kinds of books are the ones about animals who do things that are really amazing. And I like books with a happy ending, or that teach you stuff," he said. But that was really two different types of books. Fiction books were fun, but nonfiction books could be really interesting too. "U-um, I have a lot of books that teach you about animals, and about all of the different species. And...And I like books with really good art in it," he said. He would call it art instead of pictures, since it sounded less babyish to say art.
Jake had been proud of his flag, but as the girl studied it he began to hope he had done the assignment right. She didn't know what about it made it his origin. What if he was thinking the wrong way?
"I dunno," Jake answered. Books didn't MAKE you any way. They taught you things, or told you stories, but they didn't change who you were.
"It's my origins 'cause, that's who I was," the tiny twelve-year-old explained. "Um, I-I mean...that's what Wiltshire felt like. Before I was just a boy, and that was like the whole world. Origins are where you came from, and thats what was before," he said pointing again to the boy on his flag. "I wasn't magic then, or Hufflepuff, I was just me."
Jake looked down for a moment. Sometimes he didn't exactly feel magic even now. And compared to the other kids he never was very good at casting spells. But he was something more now than he ever thought he could be. That felt good, sometimes. But the world had grown so much bigger too, and that sometimes wasn't. Sometimes he wished it could be like that again. Just a book and a tree and a park. But there were things he had now that he could never give back even if there was a magic spell to let you.
"I dunno, I think about home a lot, and that's what I think about," he said, pointing to the scene on the page. "So I drew it."
Jake silently held out his crayons to her when she mentioned wanting to share them, and then as she began to draw, he leaned over her shoulder. She introduced herself, and he followed suit. "O-oh, um, I'm Jake..." he mumbled, eyes fixed on her hands.
Jake's drawings always took ages. Sitting there with an image in his head, and slowly sketching it out, face drawn with concentration, until it began to take come to life on the page. Tymiko did that too, but her hands moved like experts, and her eyes shone with delight. This girl moved fast, like she'd done it a million times. He was mesmerized watching her, and watching the picture form. He had never watched anybody ELSE draw before, and without the picture in his head he realized how much it seemed like magic.
After what felt like no time at all, there was a vivid picture before him, and as Ty sat back, Jake leaned forward admiring what she had done. "Wow..." he gasped, looking at the greens and blues. He had been drawing from the earliest time he could even remember but she seemed even better. He'd never met another kid who could draw like that.
"Hey wait, I know that place!" he said, forgetting his shyness for a moment.
"It's in a book, right? Well, um, a book and a movie. It's Neverland, the place where ya never grow up. Like where Peter Pan lives, right?" he asked, thinking of a colorful book of his own he'd had back in Wiltshire. On the island there were a lot of scary things like pirates, and adventures, and none of the kids who lived there grew a day. Jake had a hard enough time matching up to the other kids in his year. He had no idea how the kids who lived there must feel.
"Um, l-lotsa kinds," Jake stammered, face flushing a little as she asked him a question. The boy looked down for a moment and tried to think of the best way to answer. It always took him time to find the words that he wanted to say, and even more time to make himself say them, because as soon as he looked into the eyes of a stranger they got all jumbled and lost.
"Um, I guess my favorite kinds of books are the ones about animals who do things that are really amazing. And I like books with a happy ending, or that teach you stuff," he said. But that was really two different types of books. Fiction books were fun, but nonfiction books could be really interesting too. "U-um, I have a lot of books that teach you about animals, and about all of the different species. And...And I like books with really good art in it," he said. He would call it art instead of pictures, since it sounded less babyish to say art.
Jake had been proud of his flag, but as the girl studied it he began to hope he had done the assignment right. She didn't know what about it made it his origin. What if he was thinking the wrong way?
"I dunno," Jake answered. Books didn't MAKE you any way. They taught you things, or told you stories, but they didn't change who you were.
"It's my origins 'cause, that's who I was," the tiny twelve-year-old explained. "Um, I-I mean...that's what Wiltshire felt like. Before I was just a boy, and that was like the whole world. Origins are where you came from, and thats what was before," he said pointing again to the boy on his flag. "I wasn't magic then, or Hufflepuff, I was just me."
Jake looked down for a moment. Sometimes he didn't exactly feel magic even now. And compared to the other kids he never was very good at casting spells. But he was something more now than he ever thought he could be. That felt good, sometimes. But the world had grown so much bigger too, and that sometimes wasn't. Sometimes he wished it could be like that again. Just a book and a tree and a park. But there were things he had now that he could never give back even if there was a magic spell to let you.
"I dunno, I think about home a lot, and that's what I think about," he said, pointing to the scene on the page. "So I drew it."
Jake silently held out his crayons to her when she mentioned wanting to share them, and then as she began to draw, he leaned over her shoulder. She introduced herself, and he followed suit. "O-oh, um, I'm Jake..." he mumbled, eyes fixed on her hands.
Jake's drawings always took ages. Sitting there with an image in his head, and slowly sketching it out, face drawn with concentration, until it began to take come to life on the page. Tymiko did that too, but her hands moved like experts, and her eyes shone with delight. This girl moved fast, like she'd done it a million times. He was mesmerized watching her, and watching the picture form. He had never watched anybody ELSE draw before, and without the picture in his head he realized how much it seemed like magic.
After what felt like no time at all, there was a vivid picture before him, and as Ty sat back, Jake leaned forward admiring what she had done. "Wow..." he gasped, looking at the greens and blues. He had been drawing from the earliest time he could even remember but she seemed even better. He'd never met another kid who could draw like that.
"Hey wait, I know that place!" he said, forgetting his shyness for a moment.
"It's in a book, right? Well, um, a book and a movie. It's Neverland, the place where ya never grow up. Like where Peter Pan lives, right?" he asked, thinking of a colorful book of his own he'd had back in Wiltshire. On the island there were a lot of scary things like pirates, and adventures, and none of the kids who lived there grew a day. Jake had a hard enough time matching up to the other kids in his year. He had no idea how the kids who lived there must feel.
15 Feb 2021, 08:45
Origin Stories
"Oh. So you like amazing animals, happy endings, and stories that have lessons," she noted aloud. "Those sound like a lot of origin stories and creation myths for many different cultures. You know, like how the leopard got its spots. Or why the raven has black feathers." She paused, thinking about this a moment. "I think I remember something about him flying too close to the sun and it blackening all his feathers. Anyway, they usually have really good lessons and endings. Do you know lots of those?"
She listened some more as he continued about having books that taught about animals and nodded as she colored and painted. The mention of liking books with really good art in it caused a small furrow to crease between her brows.
"Really? What kind of art do you think is 'good'?"
Ty nodded some more when Jake elaborated further on why Wiltshire and the park and his flag all represented his origins. She seemed to take the whole matter very seriously as she did not smile once. "Oh. That makes sense, then." she replied matter-of-factly in the end.
"Nice to meet you, Jake," the Tymiko answered, beaming briefly at him. She followed his gaze back to her drawing, however, and suddenly seemed self-conscious. "...What? What is it?"
His 'wow' made the tension in her body ease up the slightest bit, but she still didn't seem certain it was an entirely good thing. It wasn't until Jake exclaimed that he knew the place and identified it that Ty's lips curved in a real smile and the rest of her tension fell away.
"Yeah! That's Neverland!" she cried happily, clearly ecstatic that Jake recognized the island. "Peter's Neverland, to be exact. Each kid has their own Neverland, you know? But Peter Pan's is especially fun to play at." Tymiko grinned at the Hufflepuff boy as if seeing him in an entirely new and favorable light. "So you know those kinds of stories, too?"
@Jake Morris
When you think you're alone - that no one cares and you don't matter, please remember: You matter to me.
2 Mar 2021, 08:35
Origin Stories
@Kit Paine
"Mhm...."Jake nodded as she repeated the types of books he liked.
Really there were a lot of books that he liked, but those were his most favorites. There were a lot of good books that weren't like that, but the one that was always important was the happy ending. Why would you ever want to read something that ended sad?
He hadn't thought about how there were origin stories like that, but now he wondered what kind of flag a leopard would make, if they had to show their origins.
"I dunno...but I do have a book of fables for kids. Like um...the tortoise and the hare. Or the lion and the mouse. Do ya know that one...?" he asked. As he talked he looked down and watched the masterful strokes of the girl's drawing. Being able to look at that, and have nobody looking at him, made it easier to keep talking.
"It's about um, a little mouse. And a lion who lets him go free instead of eating him. The mouse says that he's gonna pay him back but he just laughs because he doesn't think the mouse can do anything 'cause he's so tiny. But then one day the lion gets caught in a trap, and the mouse finds him. Then he chews through his ropes and sets the lion free. It teaches that you should always be kind to others, and that um...that just 'cause somebody is little it doesn't mean that they can't do big things," he said, blushing a bit. "Those stories are all short though."
"Um, can you tell me about how the leopard got his spots...?" Jake asked, looking up to watch the girl who was still concentrating deeply on her artwork.
When Jake was asked what kind of art he considered good, the boy's brow furrowed in equal confusion. He knew what kind of art he was thinking of, but he had never thought of how to say it in words. It was just a feeling that it gave you.
"I dunno..." Jake said, thinking about it. "I guess...um...well I like pictures that make you see the story...so it makes it look real. And I like ones with nice colors too. It's um...Um, do ya know Peter Rabbit? Those books have illustrations on every page. I like those." Sometimes his books didn't have any illustrations at all, and then he usually drew them himself, on little pieces of paper he would stick inside them.
When Jake suggested that Ty's picture was Neverland, she got so happy that he smiled too.
"Really? Each kid has their own?" he asked. He had never heard of that before. "What are they like?"
"Oh yeah, I like reading about adventures sometimes...but I don't like going on adventures. And I have lots of Disney movies. Just um...not the scary ones."
Jake looked down, beginning to fidget with his robes again after having said a lot. But even though he didn't know this girl, she seemed nice...and she was a very good artist.
"Mhm...."Jake nodded as she repeated the types of books he liked.
Really there were a lot of books that he liked, but those were his most favorites. There were a lot of good books that weren't like that, but the one that was always important was the happy ending. Why would you ever want to read something that ended sad?
He hadn't thought about how there were origin stories like that, but now he wondered what kind of flag a leopard would make, if they had to show their origins.
"I dunno...but I do have a book of fables for kids. Like um...the tortoise and the hare. Or the lion and the mouse. Do ya know that one...?" he asked. As he talked he looked down and watched the masterful strokes of the girl's drawing. Being able to look at that, and have nobody looking at him, made it easier to keep talking.
"It's about um, a little mouse. And a lion who lets him go free instead of eating him. The mouse says that he's gonna pay him back but he just laughs because he doesn't think the mouse can do anything 'cause he's so tiny. But then one day the lion gets caught in a trap, and the mouse finds him. Then he chews through his ropes and sets the lion free. It teaches that you should always be kind to others, and that um...that just 'cause somebody is little it doesn't mean that they can't do big things," he said, blushing a bit. "Those stories are all short though."
"Um, can you tell me about how the leopard got his spots...?" Jake asked, looking up to watch the girl who was still concentrating deeply on her artwork.
When Jake was asked what kind of art he considered good, the boy's brow furrowed in equal confusion. He knew what kind of art he was thinking of, but he had never thought of how to say it in words. It was just a feeling that it gave you.
"I dunno..." Jake said, thinking about it. "I guess...um...well I like pictures that make you see the story...so it makes it look real. And I like ones with nice colors too. It's um...Um, do ya know Peter Rabbit? Those books have illustrations on every page. I like those." Sometimes his books didn't have any illustrations at all, and then he usually drew them himself, on little pieces of paper he would stick inside them.
When Jake suggested that Ty's picture was Neverland, she got so happy that he smiled too.
"Really? Each kid has their own?" he asked. He had never heard of that before. "What are they like?"
"Oh yeah, I like reading about adventures sometimes...but I don't like going on adventures. And I have lots of Disney movies. Just um...not the scary ones."
Jake looked down, beginning to fidget with his robes again after having said a lot. But even though he didn't know this girl, she seemed nice...and she was a very good artist.
31 Mar 2021, 05:15
Origin Stories
"Oh, yeah! I had forgotten that story!" she cried, clearly happy to have heard Jake re-tell it. "That was a really nice one. Thank you for sharing it with me!"
Ty looked thoughtful as the boy requested to hear about the leopard, scrunching up her face as she tried to recall the story. She took a new sheet of paper and began to draw again as if that would help her jog her memory.
"Once upon a time, in a land far away, animals were all very plain-colored. Leopard lived in the grassy plains like lions where everything was sandy and yellow, so he matched his surroundings perfectly. He liked to hide in the grass and sand and jump out at his friends Zebra and Giraffe for fun to scare them." She drew tall grass covering half the page and the plain leopard lying in wait for a plain zebra and giraffe.
"Zebra and Giraffe didn't like this, so they moved away to a place where there were lots of trees and plants and shade. They stood in the shade so long that the dappled light that came through the treetops made spots on Giraffe. At the same time, the shadows of long, leafy plants made stripes on Zebra." The other half of the page began to fill with the trees and plants she described in her story as well as the animals that hid under them.
"Leopard started to miss his friends and got sad, so he went looking for them. On the way, he found a human man who decided to help him. The two searched and searched and with their senses of smell eventually found Giraffe and Zebra. But when they noticed that they had changed to match their surroundings, the Leopard decided he wanted to match so he could stay with his friends, too."
Tymiko began to add a new leopard to the other half of the page - one accompanied by a man. "The man decided to make himself darker with mud so he could also match the shady areas of the jungle. Then, since Leopard asked the man for help, the man used the tips of his fingers to make spots all over Leopard. That's how he got his spots and why they're so much smaller than Giraffe's." The girl frowned then, her forhead creasing as she thought about the story. Its lesson had started to dawn on her, but it wasn't one she thought she wanted to dwell on. Change was something of a sore subject for her. So she focused instead on Jake's idea of good art.
"So...you like pictures that look real?" she asked, peering at Jake. She nodded when he asked if she knew Peter Rabbit. Yes, those pictures looked pretty real to her. Well - aside from the animals wearing clothes, she supposed, but they were realistic animals drawn with realistic clothes. "I like illustrations on every page, too. I especially like those books that tell stories only with pictures. It's so cool!"
When he asked what the other Neverlands were like, Ty couldn't help giggling. "They're however the kid who makes them wants them to be like, silly," she told him. "What do you think your Neverland is like? Does it have lots of animals?" She beamed at him encouragingly, wanting to hear what he would have to say on the matter.
Her face fell when she heard Jake say he didn't like going on adventures. "Aw, why not?" she wanted to know. "Maybe sometimes they can be scary, but if you're brave for a little while, it gets better after. Then you feel like you can take on anything!"
@Jake Morris
When you think you're alone - that no one cares and you don't matter, please remember: You matter to me.
16 May 2021, 00:16
Origin Stories
@Kit Paine
The boy smiled slightly as the girl thanked him for sharing the story with her. Talking to new people was scary...but something about this girl made him feel comfortable. Maybe it wasn't just the kindness in her voice, but the way she idly took a blank piece of paper and began drawing the animals from the story Jake was telling while he was telling it, bringing the story to life. It was just like the kind of art that Jake liked in the first place...the kind that made you see the stories you were reading. Jake was used to doing that himself - using his hand to sketch out the details of a story while he was hearing it. Sometimes it felt like his hand had a mind of its own, after years of practice. But he'd never seen it like this before, where somebody else did the drawing, and let Jake's words take form. It was as magical as what his wand could do.
It was that idle drawing that enraptured Jake, as Ty began to tell him a story with not just words, but pictures too. The small Hufflepuff's eyes didn't leave the paper as she illustrated and told for him. It even started as all proper stories did - with a once upon a time. She had Jake's full attention as her words lifted and sketched out the scene just as well as her art did. By the time she had drawn the spot-less Leopard, she had Jake full at ease, sitting shoulder to shoulder with her and watching the story take form.
It was a story about a leopard who lived in a sandy yellow place that matched his body. He didn't even have spots yet, but he wasn't the only one. Jake found out from the pictures that the zebra and the giraffe didn't have THEIR stripes or spots either. It started like the stories Jake had always enjoyed, ones about animals. At first he had imagined himself like the zebra and the giraffe. People trying to scare them for fun and they didn't like it. But something she then said towards the end stuck with him, and he couldn't get it out of his head. 'the Leopard decided he wanted to match so he could stay with his friends, too'
The boy looked up quietly for a moment. On the paper, the Leopard began to get those new spots, and Jake watched them fill in, one by one. The story finished, and Jake looked at the finished drawing.
"Why'd his friends have to change?" Jake asked quietly. "What if Leopard didn't want spots?" he asked, taking a piece of paper into his own lap. This time he was the one to sketch out the images in his mind, the three friends from the story, Leopard, Zebra, and Giraffe, all without their stripes and spots, together. He looked down, feeling a pang of sadness. It was how it was at school, too. It was something Jake hadn't known about until he'd gotten there the year before. How much you were supposed to change so you could fit in with everybody else. The boy's face was glum as he stared pensively down at the picture he had drawn, his emotions always plain to see upon his face.
Before he could thank the girl for telling him a story, she suddenly changed the subject, bringing up the kind of art he liked.
"Not REAL...just....well yours kinda looks real," he added. To him, it didn't matter if it was colorful or like a cartoon or like a photograph, so long as the shapes were right. "I bet you could write one of those," Jake said, pointing at the illustrations the girl had made on the paper. "The illustration books."
That was when Jake started learning a LOT about Neverlands. He didn't know you could make your own. He thought there was just the one! When asked what HIS would be like, and whether it'd have animals, he nodded his head. It came to him right away, what it'd be like. "Uh-huh. Lots of animals. Like a big zoo, but with no cages. And there's no bad guys or dangerous stuff. It's a safe place where nothing can hurt you, but what's most important is my mom and dad are there and all my friends too..."
He wished he could live in a place like that now. At Hogwarts he didn't get to have both his friends and family. He always had to choose one or the other. He took a piece of paper and started to draw it. It would look like the parks in Wiltshire, or maybe like his backyard but much much bigger. As he did the girl talked about adventures.
"But I'm NOT brave..." Jake said, looking up at her shamefully. He didn't know how all of the Gryffindors did it but it wasn't JUST them. Hufflepuffs were brave too....It felt like Jack wasn't afraid of anything, and George knew how to stay brave even if he got scared. Jake couldn't do any of those things. Jake just always cried, and that's how come he knew he wasn't brave.
The boy smiled slightly as the girl thanked him for sharing the story with her. Talking to new people was scary...but something about this girl made him feel comfortable. Maybe it wasn't just the kindness in her voice, but the way she idly took a blank piece of paper and began drawing the animals from the story Jake was telling while he was telling it, bringing the story to life. It was just like the kind of art that Jake liked in the first place...the kind that made you see the stories you were reading. Jake was used to doing that himself - using his hand to sketch out the details of a story while he was hearing it. Sometimes it felt like his hand had a mind of its own, after years of practice. But he'd never seen it like this before, where somebody else did the drawing, and let Jake's words take form. It was as magical as what his wand could do.
It was that idle drawing that enraptured Jake, as Ty began to tell him a story with not just words, but pictures too. The small Hufflepuff's eyes didn't leave the paper as she illustrated and told for him. It even started as all proper stories did - with a once upon a time. She had Jake's full attention as her words lifted and sketched out the scene just as well as her art did. By the time she had drawn the spot-less Leopard, she had Jake full at ease, sitting shoulder to shoulder with her and watching the story take form.
It was a story about a leopard who lived in a sandy yellow place that matched his body. He didn't even have spots yet, but he wasn't the only one. Jake found out from the pictures that the zebra and the giraffe didn't have THEIR stripes or spots either. It started like the stories Jake had always enjoyed, ones about animals. At first he had imagined himself like the zebra and the giraffe. People trying to scare them for fun and they didn't like it. But something she then said towards the end stuck with him, and he couldn't get it out of his head. 'the Leopard decided he wanted to match so he could stay with his friends, too'
The boy looked up quietly for a moment. On the paper, the Leopard began to get those new spots, and Jake watched them fill in, one by one. The story finished, and Jake looked at the finished drawing.
"Why'd his friends have to change?" Jake asked quietly. "What if Leopard didn't want spots?" he asked, taking a piece of paper into his own lap. This time he was the one to sketch out the images in his mind, the three friends from the story, Leopard, Zebra, and Giraffe, all without their stripes and spots, together. He looked down, feeling a pang of sadness. It was how it was at school, too. It was something Jake hadn't known about until he'd gotten there the year before. How much you were supposed to change so you could fit in with everybody else. The boy's face was glum as he stared pensively down at the picture he had drawn, his emotions always plain to see upon his face.
Before he could thank the girl for telling him a story, she suddenly changed the subject, bringing up the kind of art he liked.
"Not REAL...just....well yours kinda looks real," he added. To him, it didn't matter if it was colorful or like a cartoon or like a photograph, so long as the shapes were right. "I bet you could write one of those," Jake said, pointing at the illustrations the girl had made on the paper. "The illustration books."
That was when Jake started learning a LOT about Neverlands. He didn't know you could make your own. He thought there was just the one! When asked what HIS would be like, and whether it'd have animals, he nodded his head. It came to him right away, what it'd be like. "Uh-huh. Lots of animals. Like a big zoo, but with no cages. And there's no bad guys or dangerous stuff. It's a safe place where nothing can hurt you, but what's most important is my mom and dad are there and all my friends too..."
He wished he could live in a place like that now. At Hogwarts he didn't get to have both his friends and family. He always had to choose one or the other. He took a piece of paper and started to draw it. It would look like the parks in Wiltshire, or maybe like his backyard but much much bigger. As he did the girl talked about adventures.
"But I'm NOT brave..." Jake said, looking up at her shamefully. He didn't know how all of the Gryffindors did it but it wasn't JUST them. Hufflepuffs were brave too....It felt like Jack wasn't afraid of anything, and George knew how to stay brave even if he got scared. Jake couldn't do any of those things. Jake just always cried, and that's how come he knew he wasn't brave.