Explorer

The morning light was dreadfully dazzling I folded some paper without thinking Creating A paper turtle, a paper swan, a paper squirrel, A paper shrimp, a paper camel, a paper frilled lizard The frilled lizard was level-five difficulty First fold the paper in half Fold to the centre along the dotted line Fold to the centre against along the dotted line and open again I fold and fold and fold and fold and fold and fold Wanting to escape the dreadful light

I was always folding Morning light poured through the window My folding hands never stopped I made a paper cicada Made a paper crab Made a paper balloon with rabbit ears I folded a feeding trough for them Folded a pail for them to drink Folded a tree for the cicada to perch on Folded a rock for the crab to hide beneath Folded the air to make the balloon-rabbit bulge

My folding hands never stopped Morning light poured through the window I kept folding Didn’t care if my fingers peeled or bled Didn’t care if my nails cracked and shed But my fingers didn’t peel, my nails didn’t crack Never even bled I didn’t fold nearly enough for that

The sound of folding irritated my ears I covered my ears I tried to fold while covering my ears but failed I had to make a choice: Cover my ears or fold paper I decided to fold And started folding again

I put up with the irritating sound Put up with it while folding a piano Put up with it while folding a bed Put up with it while folding a mug The dazzling morning light grew soft The sound of folding paper grew loud and echoed I wanted to cover my ears but my hands were busy I wanted somebody to cover these ears – anybody I called out to whoever might be there Anyone there? Anyone there? Anyone there? I folded as I called out loud Folded a shirt as I called out loud Folded a skirt as I called out loud Folded a child as I called out loud I kept folding and folding and folding

And then Someone’s hands covered my ears The sound of folding stopped In an instant I nodded off