Ollie and Me

He went everywhere with that stuffed animal that looked like him. He walked it through storms on the way to school, and he sketched crudely on the sidewalk with the stuffed animal watching. And he would whisper to it how the boys played too roughly, and how the girls had too much rivalry and jealousy. Because without it, the world was a nasty, nasty place. And so he stayed in his imagination head with the little stuffed animal that looked like him. Just Ollie and him lost in their world, away from threatening bullies and neglectful parents. Ollie and him, singing and dancing and dreaming until tragedy and confusion hit him as hard as a car swerving out of control.

(Debussy/Tomita/EDU)