A Sculpture to Mould

Johnny was horribly sore. And with right reason too. He had been spending his summer vacation in India with his parents. And the little 7 year old thought he'd get to ride atop elephants, charm snakes and learn magic from the Swamis. But up until now, all they had been doing was tour across ancient landmarks in Southern India.

Their next stop would be Mahaballipuram to explore its rich culture through its olden temples and sculptures. Right now, Johnny wanted nothing more than to be back at his Seattle home playing video games. And what's worse was that this was only the beginning of his vacation. After the two and a half hour drive from their hotel, they finally reached their place of interest. Johnny's face was sullen all the while and wouldn't budge. Johnny's parents hoped that this trip would excite Johnny and open him to a new world. But it didn't seem like their plan was working.

"I know you think all this is boring, and it might not seem like much, but trust me darling, you'll learn to appreciate it," his mother told him, noticing his obvious frown as they passed by each landmark.

"What does appressingdate mean, mommy?" replied Johnny, trying to learn his first complicated-sounding word.

"It's appreciate; and it means you'll like it," his mom said laughingly and then ruffled his head. Johnny decided to believe his mother. He knew that he would find no better wisdom anywhere else than from his mother. Whether it was during the time she said too much candy was bad for him or when she said that it was important to brush ones teeth daily. So Johnny abided by his mother's words and made sure to closely analyze the next sculpture he came across... even if it was with great hesitancy.

He stumbled upon his first finding. And as he found it, he began his inspection of the piece. He was seeing the sculpture from behind and the first thing he noticed was a tail dangling from the back. 'It's a monkey,' he thought to himself. 'Just a monkey. Nothing special.'

He thought it was strange how a monkey could be standing upright when all monkeys usually bend on all fours. So he ran up to the front of the statue to see the type of monkey it was. 'Must be a gorilla then,' he thought again. He was immediately surprised, since the statue from the front, actually looked like the body of a man.

But the face was of a monkey wearing a crown of some sort. He decided that it was a monkey-man. But despite coming up with such a simple conclusion, he still remained fixed at the statue. He started to notice the detailing. The crinkles along the face, the victorious expression it made. The body-work and the shaping of each curve and each line interested him deeply. The life-like image amazed him. The more he saw of it, the more he wondered who this monkey-man was.

He knew that this was a superhero he was looking at since when he noticed the inscriptions on the plaque, the name ended with the word 'man'.

From that moment onward, until the rest of his trip, Johnny eagerly kept looking forward to his next destinations of Indian sights. And his parents couldn't have been more delighted at his sudden enthusiasm.

When they finally reached home after their vacation, Johnny hurried to his room and immediately took out his moulding clay to work with. Within a few hours, he went up to his mother and presented to her his creation. It had a tail just like the statue he had seen.

"This is Hanuman, mom! He was the first superhero from India. And he came way before all the other famous ones!" he happily proclaimed.

"Wow, Johnny!" his mom said, clearly proud of her son's result from his vacation.

"I know it doesn't seem like much, but you'll learn to opprecediate it," he said, pronouncing each syllable as carefully as he could.

"I absolutely appreciate it. And I love it!" his mother replied and then kissed him on the forehead.