It was 10 o’clock in the morning, my favorite
time of day. It is Arts class! Time
to color some shapes, fruits, and clouds for the Prep 1 morning shift at the
Christian Academy of Manila. As usual, we have to arrange our chairs into a big
circle so we may occupy the whole floor, where we can comfortably draw, color,
cut, paste --- and well, roll over the floor.
「Here's something I did from way back, but no, this isn't from my prep school's timeline.」
Everything was typical, nothing special really. I’m
just there lying on my belly, furiously adding color to my artwork. I got tired of my position, so I slowly sat up straight
only to see something strange. I saw
my classmate sharpening her red crayon with her cute pink Hello Kitty sharpener!
Whoa! Is that really possible? I
mean, can someone sharpen something --- using a sharpener --- besides a wooden pencil? I was mind blown, I’m telling you.
The thought just wouldn’t leave my mind. I was
floating over Curiosity Land for the next two hours. I was ecstatic to go home. I had a clever plan on my, ehem, clever mind.
Once home, like I was on a trance, I quickly
fished my school bag for my box of crayons and my generic round, yellow
sharpener. Dropping my bag on our rattan bench, I ran outside. With a stupid
smile on my face, I quickly inserted my most
abused crayon in my sharpener’s mouth. In seconds, bits of red shavings
flew in the air.
I panicked!
My nanny would surely slap my sense out once she
sees my trash. Rushing back inside, I
tore a piece of paper from my pad. I carefully placed it on top of our plant
box, and put two small stones to hold it in place.
I picked up my sharpie and started twisting Mr.
Red excitedly. I paused for a moment and admired the fruits of my labor. I sharpened all eight of
them. I have even removed their paper
wraps before I place them in Mr. Sharp’s teeth. We just don’t want bits of
shredded paper mixed on our masterpiece, don't we?
After several minutes of twisting, turning, and
blowing of small bits, I am done. I stared at the piece of paper filled with
colorful shavings. I was on a state of weird happiness. I was smirking, but I
was so calm. I didn’t care about my perfectly sharpened crayon tips. All I did
care about were my shining, shimmering, shavings.
I took a deep breath. Folded the paper into four,
or maybe five, I couldn’t actually recall. I uttered a short prayer, “Papa
Jesus, I offer You these Crayola
shavings. I wish to become a great artist and hopefully color well, without
going out of the objects’ outlines. Amen.”
「Okay so, this is actually pinned to my room's wall.」
Finishing my prayer, I buried the folded paper
--- shavings and all --- in our plant box. I carefully placed it between the
aratilis tree’s roots. I returned back home, changed from my uniform into my play clothes and continued life as if nothing
happened.
Now, every time I recall this particular
childhood memory, I can’t help but smile. I was just four years old. Though I
don’t find it silly, what I did back there. I simply thank my sharpener, my box
of Crayola, and my classmate for introducing me to a wonderful world of
sharpened crayons, sharpened imagination, and razor-sharp thoughts.
