Of Imagination and Memories I.vii

Sophie Kerr Portfolio

I: Voices

In Which a Leopard Muses on the Nature of Vision and Its Subsequent Impact on the Quality of Life of Sundry Animals from the African Nation

(an excerpt from a short story)

You can see all kinds of things if you know how to look. Unfortunately, most folks do not know how to look. Take the elephants—sure, they have a great vantage point, up high, both sides of the head, but they don’t know how to look. They go around all day, squinting and complaining about hay. For example, Herbert. He’s great if you want a story about the free days, the grasslands, the dry spells—you know, all the old country stories we’ve heard a thousand times. But you ask him, did you see how the clouds at sunset looked like a train in the Grand Canyon, he grumbles, “What nonsense, trains in clouds! Tush! No such thing, boy.” Doesn’t ask what the Grand Canyon looks like, doesn’t want to look at sunsets, doesn’t even care that the fake waterhole is shaped like an elephant. You’d think they would notice something like that, but no. It’s just plod, plod all day, get a bath, eat some hay, wave a trunk at the kiddies. You look at those black eyes, like ink pooling in wrinkled, gray paper, and you think, there’s wisdom, understanding, perception there. But you’d be wrong. There’s a long memory for grudges, stubbornness for tradition, and shortsightedness. You don’t believe me? Go ahead and spend some time with them. You’ll find them to be kind enough, but absolutely the most un-imaginative creatures. And if you don’t die of boredom, you come back over here and I’ll show you how to look.