Earl

Once upon a time there was Earl. Now to talk about Earl in terms that are understandable to the average person living today I would have to say that Earl was neither male nor female, per se. Neither was he thick nor thin, big nor small, old nor young, nor any of the other binaries with which people are described. Imagine, if you will, a two-dimensional and rather empty figure like a child's drawing hung on a refrigerator in an abandoned apartment building and you will have Earl, no more and no less. And Earl existed, as much as Earl could exist, in a rather dreary world.

Things in Earl's world were colorless, and the other beings were cruel to him (I shall refer to our genderless Earl as "him" to appeal to the limitations of the English language!). His mother-figure didn't pay him any mind, and his father-figure always told him "NO." In fact, all of his friend-figures and brother-figures and sister-figures told him "NO" as well, to the point that Earl could no longer do anything at all. Now as Earl lived in a two-dimensional and rather empty world he didn't feel much of anything, no happiness or sadness, boredom or joy, so the days past and he sat in a world of "NO" for as long as time.

One two-dimensional and rather empty day, Earl began to walk to nowhere in particular. His mother-figure paid him no mind, naturally, but his father-figure stood in his path and said "NO." Earl walked right past. His friend-figures pulled his twig arms, but Earl shook them off and kept walking. All his brother-figures and sister-figures cried "NO" as loud as they could but Earl ignored them until he had walked right out of that two-dimesional and rather empty world altogether.

As Earl walked, the sky noticed him and and followed him for a while. The sky was feeling rather good that day, and shone a deep blue and wore only thin wisps of clouds in a scandalous assortment here and there. He puffed proudly for Earl, but Earl did not so much as glance upwards to the sky, and the sky became angry. The sky threw on a deep purple cape that was dripping with tiny shimmering stars, in order to catch Earl's attention, but Earl kept walking, quite unaware. In a fit of rage the sky took a bit of sun, a dash of cloud and just a hint of starshine and blended it into a ball which he hurled down at Earl, hitting him square in the face. The ball broke into two pieces and became Earl's eyes. For the first time, Earl looked up to the sky and saw.

The sun was setting and the sky wore the colors like a spurned lover, all fire and broken hearts, and Earl gazed upon it in wonder till he couldn't any more.

Now Earl felt no fatigue, as he wasn't made of much of anything, and so he continued walking until he came to a mountain. The mountain was huge, and sat heavily shrouded in mist and clouds. The mountain creaked and groaned under her own weight, and Earl paused to take in such a spectacle. His new eyes felt heavy and awkward on his face and Earl adjusted this way and that to properly see the massive mountain in front of him. Earl looked down at his own two-dimensional self and pondered his twig legs and the mountain saw this rather pathertic dispaly and felt sorry for him. The mountain stood tall and strong, yet settled deeply into the ground, but Earl didn't really stand at all, at any height or with any meaningful weight. He just sort of was. The mountain, being a woman of few words, let loose a couple of fine boulders from her heights and rolled them down her craggy bits right down to Earl where they crashed into him and became his legs. And there Earl stood, tall and proud as any mountain, with eyes that reflected the sky, yet he was too firmly grounded and could not move at all. He was still, just as the mountain, but still felt the need (if you could call it that, you understand) to walk.

...TO BE CONTINUED...

This tale is to be continued in another blogpost. Just something to whet your appetite, but please stay tuned for the continued tale of Earl, and his transformation! Cheers!