My dearest friend,
I woke up early today – it was a pleasant morning: air was a bit humid but there were some clouds, so I felt motivated to walk & jog in our subdivision. I’ve enjoyed walking ever since I was a kid – this was how I explored & discovered mini adventures while running errands, going to school, going home with my friends, and playing with my neighbors.
Do you still remember how vast the world looked like before when we were kids? Things always seemed bigger than how they probably would look like now from our grown-up perspective. Charmingly, we still get to remember our childhood memories exaggerated this way.
There’s this one particular story from my childhood that I vividly recall – probably because of how unique & magical it was to me. I think I was around 9 years old when this happened. My mother usually brought me with her on her shopping trips – whether it was in the market or at the mall, & whether it was near or 2 hours away from where we lived. She loved shopping & often seemed like she surprisingly had an unlimited amount of money- it turns out she was just good at budgeting & knew exactly what she was planning to buy.
Meanwhile, I always loved how busy the markets were. Most of the time, there’s this beautiful exchange of energy between buyers & sellers – they chat for a while, smile heartwarmingly & both of them satisfyingly close a deal after some negotiations. Negotiations are not that easy to spot in malls, but it is an amazing thing to observe when you’re in a market.
So, one sunny morning, we were strolling along some lively streets about an hour from where we lived, I think we took the bus to go there. There were some spacious, rectangular stalls situated beside each other & they had a festive weekend market vibe. We went into one of the stores which had a bright red canopy with white piping in their entrance & which sold a variety of home products, they were pretty much open without any glass walls or doors.
That day, we were just casually shopping for some kitchen & living room stuff. As we were putting items in our basket, a guy hurriedly ran into the shop, & out of breath, announced that a “robber” was armed with a gun & was approaching the store we were in. This announcement brought the store into a state of panic. As I recall, people started to run around the shop randomly & shriek. Although I was just a kid, I grabbed what you’re all familiar with as now Rapunzel’s favourite weapon which is a cooking pan. I thought I’d give the “armed robber” a hit on the head with this pan if worse comes to worst. During that moment, I felt that it was just an opportunity to tackle a bad guy & protect me & my mother.
As we each got ourselves prepared for the unexpected, the place suddenly turned quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat. I was well hidden behind a stack of kitchen products. My eyes were intently focused on the store entrance, waiting to identify the thief as soon as he or they entered. But as I kept my gaze outside the shop, I was surprised to see that the people in the streets were actually running around in surprise & delight. I thought that these didn’t look like faces of people who were cautious of an armed robber.
Puzzled, we all heard loud steps that you could feel the ground rumbling. As I looked outside & patiently waited for the “robber” we were promised… 1 giant, wrinkly, grey foot appeared, & then another – following the path outside; while the canopy – as if for added suspense – covered most of the upper part of this creature, until I finally snapped out of cooking-pan-defensive mode & realized that these were actually elephant feet I was seeing! I felt exhilarated, it was the first time I saw an elephant & this one was free, casually roaming the streets that morning at the place where I was. What were the odds?!
I went outside the shop & followed the giant creature with an unbreakable gaze until it was too far to spot. The people in the shop who were worried about their lives earlier were relieved & their faces were now painted with smiles.
When we got home, we shared the story with the rest of our family. We also watched news that night where the same elephant was mentioned – it wasn’t harmed & was just guided to return to where it lived. It turns out that the elephant escaped a zoo to look for a partner, talk about dating season!
Somehow this is probably the reason why I love Hayao Miyazaki’s “My Neighbour Totoro.” It felt like that magical, enormous, gentle creature suddenly appearing in front of me.
It was joyful to see that elephant & observe a paradox as it walked bravely, gently & slowly with a flustered crowd in a fast-paced, modern street. I was also glad that it wasn’t an armed robber who showed up, but if you were in my place, which item would you choose from the store as your weapon against the imaginary “robber?”
Coffee soon,
Anne