The Stuff of Dreams

The Lessons

A week. For a week, he didn't talk to anyone at work, he stopped going to Tai-Lung's house, and he didn't interact with anyone. The office felt it. Mei-Ling often asked what was wrong, seeing the panda's ingrained frown, but Po simply said, "Nothing," and moved on with his day. He barely called Tai-Lung or Crane, and the bird and snow leopard debated what could be the problem. Nothing was the same. Day after day, the panda sat down in his office chair without any expression to the world, and then he'd return to his apartment where he ate a bowl of popcorn and went to bed, never touching his journal or computer. No one could even hear Po coming or going. The heavy burden on his lips glued them shut in a sad frown, so he walked like the ghost of Christmas Never. Even Tigress was having a hard time pulling a conversation from Po. Was the date bad? Did I do something wrong? After a week, she decided to call Mei, and when she didn't have any idea, Tigress was at a loss. "There has to be something," Tigress muttered. She thought for a while before she finally came up with an idea and told Mei what to do. 

The panda strolled to Tai-Lung's place where the snow leopard was busy at work, writing. "Hello?" Mei said. 

"Ah, Mei. You're just in time, I needed someone to edit my new story."

"What's it about?" 

"Uh... it's a... romance," Tai-Lung said slowly. Mei smirked. "I didn't use anyone I know in the story, so you can wipe that smirk off your face."

"I'm sorry," Mei 'innocently' said with her hands up in defense. Tai-Lung rolled his eyes. "Um... Tai-Lung, I need a favor from you."

"Hmm?"

"Well, do you know Tigress, Po's... dream tiger?" Mei struggled to say. 

"I know Tigress Fang."

"Wait, you do?"

"Yes, you know that new business investment I made? It was in Wang's industries. She and I usually just talk." Mei rose her eyebrow while she placed her hands on her hips. "It's Professional. Strictly professional. ACTUALLY professional. Nothing like-"

"I'm just kidding, Tai," Mei laughed. "So, Po has been down this past week, and we don't know why. We were wondering if you could get to him." 

"Why?"

"You're a guy, you're blunt like your mother, and Tigress doesn't know if it was something she did." 

"So she's using me to spy on him?" Tai-Lung asked. Mei grinned cutely yet nervously. The snow leopard rolled his eyes. "Fine, get him to come over here and I'll see if I can pry the problem out of him." 

"That's the thing. I don't know how. He just goes straight home. He doesn't even write anymore-" 

That's when Tai-Lung's eyes widened. 

"I know exactly what's wrong," He interrupted. He called Po directly. "Hey, Po. Could you come down to my house after work, I need your help with moving something."

"Wha... why do you need me to help move?" Po asked in a dreary tone. 

"There's a bunch of old stuff that I want to take out, so I'd appreciate if  you and Crane could lend me a hand," Tai-Lung said.

"Why don't you just get Mei to do it?" Po sighed. He heard Tai-Lung growl over the phone, but the panda simply rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll be there."

"Thank you," Tai-Lung hung up. "It's worse than I thought."

"What's wrong?" Mei asked.

"Don't worry," He answered Mei with a giddy yet tamed grin, "I know just what to do. Tell Tigress that she has nothing to worry about." After a couple of hours, Crane, who came earlier than Po, sat down at his usual seat while Mei made tea. Tai-Lung explained Po's situation. 

"What's this plan of yours?" Crane asked. 

"Don't worry, I just need Po to see something," Tai-Lung smiled. That's when Po came in. "Ah! There's my panda."

"Hey," Po sadly smiled. 

"Po, are you okay? You look upset," Crane mentioned. 

"I'm fine. Just... let's get this moving thing over with." 

"Right! Mei could you come with me as well?," Tai-Lung said. Though suspiciously confused, Mei followed the three up the stairs. They went past her little office and into Tai-Lung's office, which none of them ever saw. The snow leopard flung the door open. 

Books, papers, and piles of papers were either stacked or clumsily tossed in mounds. The walkway between the door and the wooden desk pressed against the window at the far end was the only part of the rectangular room that they could see the white-ish carpet. It didn't smell, surprisingly, but the overwhelming scent of papers was enough to screw anyone's face up. "What is this place?" Po asked. 

"This is my office."

"Tai, I thought you were more organized than this," Mei mumbled, picking up one of the papers. "What's with all these papers?"

"This is where the magic happens. Those papers are discarded stories or rejection letters. I think the rejection letters are further up near the desk. I usually use those to figure out what to fix," Tai-Lung said. Po took a tentative step inside, looking at the valley of papers. Sometimes he would step on the carpet, other times he would step on another paper.

"Wait, so... all of these are... just your failures?" Po asked. "You surround yourself with failure?"

"Not failures, lessons. How are you gonna figure out what you need to fix if you don't know what's wrong?" Tai-Lung smiled knowingly. Po took another look around and gave a small chuckle, the first chuckle in a week.

"How did you know?"

"When Mei told me you stopped writing, that was the telling sign," Tai-Lung answered Po. He rested his hand on the panda's shoulder. "Po, you can't be afraid of failing. This rejection says nothing about you as a writer. The only thing you can be afraid of is when you don't have anything left to learn because that's when your life becomes dull. Just keep writing."  The snow leopard silently smiled. Po just stared at him before finally smiling. 

"Thank you, Mr. Tai-Lung. Thank you."

"Uh... so do we actually have to move some of this stuff because I'm very prone to papercuts," Crane said. The others all laughed. 

*********************************************************

Shortly afterward, Tigress got a text from Po. –Hey, sorry for giving you a scare. I got a rejection letter from the publisher so that's why I was upset. But Tai-Lung helped me get better. And he told me about your plan. You're a lot smarter than all the Greek philosophers I know. But thank you–

Tigress smiled. –I'm glad I could help. By the way, when's our next date? ;)–

That was enough to get the panda's heart racing and almost forget his pain. –Anytime, you want. We could go on a walk on East Harbor–

–Good. I can do that.– 

Po smiled at the text and couldn't help think back to his dream. It was amazing where it took him. Maybe it would be a nice story to write about.

To be Continued...