Cora Thomas
~ for k.i. ~
I fold
the faded red
napkin and quickly walk back into the kitchen
bright
red cartoon
hair—
abrupt
wave
of an image
but
unmistakable—
Ariel
from The
Little Mermaid
Not
just Ariel though—something else was there.
the
way my cousin used
to draw her like she alone
had summoned the Ocean
Princess from the Deep Sea.
She
could put those
artists at Disney to shame.
Did
you trace them? I
asked
my
young mind becoming
curious,
No, she confidently
replied with a slight smile.
I
remember the smooth
pine desk my uncle gave her
the
colored pencils
she carefully chose.
red
hair
curving down Ariel’s shoulders
violet
sea shells
strategically
positioned I learned only when I got older.
I
stare at the red
napkin that I have washed and put away dozens of times in
this same drawer—
stunned.
If I
could ask Ariel
to set out on her next watery adventure and
bring
back my cousin
I
would.
After
a long search,
both of them side-by-side would rush to the sparkling
surface of the water and
step onto land like it was the first time, but my
imagination gets away from me
sometimes.
I
wonder where those
drawings are now
I want
to imagine they
are neatly stacked in a drawer somewhere—
newly
sharpened pencils lined up beside them
Their
woody scent faintly
fills the room
Her
warm signature
splashed
in the
bottom right
corner
but,
they are lost
like
she has become
bleeding back into the
hue
of
this red
napkin.
Clamor 