Shorties and Midis

Finding It

It started with that event I had as a small child. It was a pleasant summer day (surprisingly) and I decided to go to the park just for the sake of playing with my new bought Megaman action figure.

What? It was a gift from my mother and I wanted to show it off...

Sporting what I used to think were cool sunglasses (that only served to hinder my eyesight), nine-year-old me swaggered to the park, expecting to see the other boys I used to play with. I could see it, the sand box, seesaws, swings, and even the park benches next to those swings. I could see everything. Yet, I could not see everyone...

Where was everybody?

Instead of seeing my usual friends, I could only spot that weird girl who sat in one of the swings. The one who was pretty quiet and usually kept to her own (based on the many times I saw her). My nine-year-old self shrugged and figured that she was going to do.

Ok, I get it, but as a kid, I had the need to show off okay?

Walking closer to her, I greeted her and quickly showed her the new toy I got. She didn't look at me, just stared at that colorful box she was holding. Nine-year-old me was perplexed at that point, why won't she look at my new toy and what was that box? It wasn't long before she finally noticed me, saying sorry and that she didn't see me at first. I was right in front of her?! But I was feeling nice so I didn't press on with the matter and rather just asked about the box she was holding.

This was my first encounter with the thing...

She said the box was a rubiks cube. That it wasn't a box, it was a cube with sides that could move (or by my vocabulary now, swivel). She said that it was fun but hard to solve, to do it you had to make the sides be their different colors. So, I had to unscramble it. As a proud nine-year-old, I thought that 'It can't be that hard!' It was easy to say that when I asked if I could try it, I failed. I couldn't even solve a layer of it, much less one side! The thing was impossible! But I didn't mind, I gave her the box back and watched as she tried to solve it. Her fingers stumbled slightly as she tried to move each side eventually forming the first layer. I was amazed! How did she do that?

She replied that it was just about practicing it and trying to get familiar with how it worked.

Simple to say that what raced through my thoughts were that 'she was cool!'. We spent the whole day together trying to get through the cube but sadly we could only solve the first layer or (sometimes just a single side) before her parents called for her.

We were both reluctant to leave but the promise of delicious food at home coaxed us to finally go home. I gave her back the cube, we said goodbye to each other, and went different ways. Then I asked—begged—my mom for that rubik cube. And she got me one. And that thing was infuriating... But at the end of the day (after 20 years) I was finally able to solve it and let me tell you, it was very fulfilling. Now I'm heading on to a different rubik cube thing... Who knew there were lots of them?! Lots of puzzles that I could add to my collection of what I could do. And it was thanks to that girl, because of her, I was able to know about this thing.