Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The Mixer


The four year old was drawing something that looked like an animal to my untrained eyes.

“What are you drawing?”, I asked. He neither looked up, nor bothered to answer.

Outline finished, he proceeded to cover the body with stripes.

“So it is a Tiger”, I said, to preserve what dignity I had left.

“Do tigers have ears like this?”, he asked.

“So it is a zebra”, I concluded.

“It is a Zebra and a Tiger mixed together”, he informed me. “It is a Mixer.”

We call ourselves writers. Can our imaginations ever match up to that of a child's?


_____
A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.



And if you have been living on Jupiter, and missed the event that rocked the earth yesterday, do visit us at Burrowers, Books & Balderdash for today's post on Writing Tuesdays.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

My answer would have to be nope. Kids have the greatest and richest imaginations ever!

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Very much enjoyed this Rayna,

Take care.
Yvonne,

Mason Canyon said...

If only we could keep the imagination of a child as we grow up. Love the "Mixer."

Mason
Thoughts in Progress

Ella said...

A child's imagination and raw talent are such a unique pairing! Magic appears with crayons and chalk!!!

How fun...I can remember these days!
My son was determined he was going to be a robot, for Halloween. He wanted to go to the hardware store and buy air vents and stove pipe. I did my best, but there were limits. We are wearing stove pipe! Thanks for the reminder of wonderful, childhood magic!

Sueann said...

A "mixer" huh? Who would have thought it?! I love the places children can go...we need to follow their example.
Great drabble
Hugs
SueAnn

LTM said...

LOVE it! A mixer. :D My youngest is crazy-creative. When I started writing, she decided to write a book about her toy cat "Star." She's now written & illustrated "Star Saves the World" Books 1 & 2. (I like that there's a Book 2. Even a child knows you're gonna have to save this world more than once... ;o)

Tina said...

Yeah, the imagination of a child. Where does it go when we grow older? Pushed out by demands of a busy schedule, just not enough room for it? Sigh. Please tell you four year old I liked the picture very much!

Southpaw said...

Well obviously it was a zebra-tiger mix.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

In a word, no, we can't!

The Old Silly said...

Hard to match, that's for sure. Keeping the child-like imagination is the key to true innovative artistry.

Marvin D Wilson

Unknown said...

A fabulous drabble and no, we certainly could never compare to the imagination of a child! I love it, makes perfect sense to me.

God's blessings to you!
Trudy

Hart Johnson said...

It would be so nice to be able to stay free of the thought constaints society puts on us, wouldn't it? I love it!

Stephanie Faris said...

Hey! You won a book on my blog...e-mail your address to me at stephfaris@yahoo.com and I'll put it in the mail to you in India.

That picture is adorable!!! I'm signing up to follow you.

Unknown said...

What a great story. And yes, children have great imaginations.

CD

Jan Morrison said...

please tell your dear son that although I've never seen a mixer before I have seen a zonkey which is a donkey in striped pj's! I saw a baby one at a tiny zoo we have here in Nova Scotia. I love this!!!!

Jenny said...

I love this post!!

Thank you for sharing this with us!!

A child's imagination is a wonderful thing and that is demonstrated perfectly with your son's creative drawing!!!

Jane Kennedy Sutton said...

If only we could keep a child’s imagination all through life – imagine the tales we could write.

Unknown said...

I don't think our imagination will ever catch up with children. They have the ability to dream and not add limitations. Whereas, we adults, always have to add reality to the mix.

Great drabble.

Tulika Publishers said...

What a lovely story:) Reminds me of 'Pranav's Picture'... http://www.tulikabooks.com/picbooks4.htm

dipali said...

I love the Mixer happily tucked up in bed! Really charming.

Natasha said...

@ Fiona - I think not too.

@ Yvonne - thank you.

@ Mason- that, I think, is always such a waste of good imagination.

@ Ellie- such a cute story. Wish I could have seen him.

@ Karen- or maybe I just spend more time listening to them.

@ Sue Ann- they are incredible, aren't they?

Natasha said...

@ LTM- that is so incredibly sweet. And a series at that.

@ Tina- I will. He'll be thrilled to hear.

@ Holly- yes, which is why it has two different kinds of ears too.

@ Alex- I think not too.

@ Marvin - it is, isn't it?

@ Trudy- it does, doesn't it?

@ Hart- absolutely. Incidentally, he also hates pants!

@ Stephanie- thank you, and thank you.

@ Clarissa- I will tell him that.

@ Jan- a zonkey sounds like a lot of fun

@ Jenny- I just hope his art teacher doesn't knock sense into his head.

@ Jane- quite.

@ Chary- and that is such a pity, though necessary.

@ Tulika- Thanks you for the recommendatiohn. The book is not available. Will pick it up as soon as I can.

@ dipali - love the picture.

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