Jabłoń:
Mam propozycję.
(i zapadła znacząca cisza, bo
Drzewko zastanawia się, jak
elegancko ubrać ją w słowa)
Sadownik:
(gdy cisza nie ustępuje, z uśmiechem)
Więcej szczegółów? Bo wiesz, czasy,
gdy mówiłem od razu: „tak, kochanie, wchodzę w to”,
już minęły.
Sadownik i Jabłoń:
(ryknęli śmiechem)
*
Tinashé Fazakerley, Good Times.
Ta książka przeleżała na czytelniczym stosiku ponad rok. Gdy świątecznie ucztowałam nad świeżutkim małym smokiem, zachwycając się kreską, co rusz przychodziło mi do głowy zadziwienie faktem, że ona tam tkwi. Przecież ten Autor, ten warsztat, ten styl, więc czemu utknęła? Szybciutko wydobyłam ją z czeluści opatrzonych etykietą:a może nigdy. I natychmiast mi się przypomniało.
Zaczynałam tę książkę kilka razy, odkładając ją zawsze z tego samego powodu. Nie wiem co, ale na większości ilustracji z bohaterami jest coś nie tak, nie przekonują. Tu proporcje, tam coś nieprawdziwego w kształcie oczu czy pyska. Nie wspominając o tym, że dziki wilk nie wygląda nigdy jak zapasiony wielkomiejski owczarek niemiecki. No nie.
A historia? Czytając rok temu na pewno bym się popłakała, ale teraz jako osierocona po prostu ryczałam jak bóbr. W każdej ilustracji udawało mi się wypatrzeć szczegół, który natychmiast uruchamiał kudłate wspomnienia, nie tylko te związane z Heniutką, ale również z wszystkimi małoduńskimi „piesami”, z których każda i każdy byli niesamowitymi psimi osobami.
No i śnieg. Dużo go za oknem, dużo go w książce. Tylko ja w ciepełku. Z przyjemnością wykrawałam ilustracje, na których śnieży i śnieżyć nie przestanie.
I hope that in reading this book you are inspired to follow your own moon, or if you're already following it, not to give up.
•
The Wolf—I miss you. Thank you.
•
[…] maybe we can start to enjoy each day a little more.
🖇 🖇
Alone for the first time in her life, Amaya wandered the silent landscape in search of her parents.
🖇
Amaya yelped and tried to run, but another wolf cut her off. And another, and another, until she was surrounded by fierce eyes and bared teeth.
There was no way out.
🖇
🖇
‘Are you all right?’ asked the Wolf.
Amaya nodded slowly. ‘You saved me.’
🖇
‘But I don’t know what lies in that direction,’ said Amaya.
‘It would be a journey into the unknown.’
A glint appeared in the Wolf’s eye. ‘That's my favourite kind.’
🖇
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‘My form is breaking,’ said the Wolf, ‘but I feel as though something inside me is changing and growing stronger.’
🖇
‘Everything that is important will happen today.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Amaya.
‘There is no tomorrow,’ said the Wolf,
‘tomorrow—when it matters—will be today.’
🖇
🖇
‘It’s very dark in there.’
‘It is our path,’ said the Wolf.
Amaya remembered what he had said about not just following the path, not just accepting it, but embracing it, no matter the hardships.
‘It is,’ said Amaya, walking towards the darkness.
🖇
But the strangest thing was, as she entered the forest, the darkness she had seen from the outside was nowhere to be seen.
Once within the trees she could see everything... and it was wondrous.
‘It was just an illusion,’ said the Wolf.
‘When we bring the light of our presence to something,
there is little we cannot understand.
And as we begin to understand, our fear,
like the darkness, begins to fade.’
🖇
‘The reason the lotus blooms,’ said the Wolf, ‘is because it just keeps going—the little shoot has no idea how deep the pond is, how far it needs to climb or what might be in its way, it just keeps going. And the fact that it started from a very dark place doesn't stop it.’
🖇
‘So, you really think there's a chance […]?’
asked Amaya.
‘Not if we stop trying.’
‘But what if we're going in the wrong direction?’
‘Perhaps we are, but we are doing what we can based on what we think is best.
If we learn something new, we can walk a new path.
Until then—we should continue to follow the moon.
And don't forget, your mother said, “With all your heart”. I think she knew what she was talking about.’
🖇
🖇
‘Will we have to go back?’ asked Amaya.
‘Will we be able to find another way?’
🖇
Amaya and the Wolf looked up to see a cat, seated on a rock.
‘Do you always travel so slowly?’ asked the Cat.
‘Yes, we do,’ said Amaya confidently.
‘But as long as we don’t stop, we’ll get where we're going.’
🖇
‘There are times,’ said the Cat, ‘when we have done everything we can do. Then we must learn to step back and allow the universe to play out in all its unfathomable wonder.’
🖇
🖇
🖇
‘[…] Just because we have lost sight of our goal,
it doesn’t mean we should give up.
There is always the possibility of a new way.’
‘But I don’t want a new way,’ said Amaya.
🖇
🖇
‘The moon has led us exactly where we need to be.
Here.
Now.
Together.
Facing this challenge.’
🖇
‘You know,’ she said to the Wolf, ‘I thought journeys were all about getting somewhere and having a destination, but ours doesn’t have one. […]
‘You still had a goal, Amaya, […] most of our lives are spent doing the travelling, and the arrival is only a tiny part of that journey.
We should do our best to enjoy every part of the adventure.
Maybe we will never get where we want to be, and wouldn’t it be sad if we had not even enjoyed the ride.’
🖇
‘Slow down, look around, breathe, take in the sounds and colours. Imagine you’d chosen this moment as your destination, not just a point along your journey’.
🖇
‘But I thought you were coming along for me,’ said Amaya.
‘I was,’ said the Wolf,
‘but now I ask you to come along for me.’
🖇
‘We adapt, we change, we find a new way forward. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging that a path is not leading us where we need to be and choosing a new one.’
🖇
Sometimes it’s simply not possible to try hard and get the result we want.
Imagine digging up a seed to see whether it had grown.
If we’ve watered it, there really is nothing left to do.
🖇
But it’s important to remember, sometimes we are not rewarded, sometimes our struggles and patience and optimism will be for nothing. But the journey itself, how we did it, and who we did it with, will always live within us.
That’s why we do things with all our heart,
so when it doesn’t work out, at least
we know we put the best of ourselves into the world.
🖇
🖇
🖇
🖇
And she realized what the whole journey had been about.
James Norbury, Following the Moon,
Michael Joseph, London 2024.
(wyróżnienie własne)
‘Perhaps no one will like it, Amaya, not even you, and that's okay. That is why we need to take our joy in the creation, not how it turns out. […]’
The Wolf’s own words struck him hard,
and he knew he was rediscovering something he had lost.
🖇
Come, sit and enjoy the world.
🖇
THE END
…and the beginning.
(tamże)
Szósty sprezentowany mi gwiazdkowo iesbeen. Szósty pięknie wydany. Szósta uczta dla dotyku, wzroku, słuchu i duszy. Każda z tych sześciu książek pięknie podsumowuje i zamyka doświadczenia roku 2025. Każda z nich szepcze coś na temat 2026 roku.
Tą książką zamykam mój świąteczny czas. Choć wróciliśmy do ula tydzień temu, dopiero dziś poczułam, że „już” odrobiłam największe świąteczne straty w poruszaniu się. Jest cena do zapłacenia za każdy dzień bez rehabilitacji — życie… płacę, bo to mimo wszystko dobre życie!
A podróż tej dobrze znanej czwórki bohaterów? Nie tylko my w ostatnim czasie straciliśmy ukochanego sierściucha — w inspiracji postaci krecika nie tylko duch Barneya, ale też heniutkowe serce.
Leczy mnie ta książka przede wszystkim kreską. Leczy każdą formę niemocy. Tej nabytej, niespodziewanej, utrwalonej czy — ma ogromną nadzieję — tymczasowej.
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Charlie Mackesy, Always Remember. The Boy,
the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm,
Ebury Press, London 2025.
Jeszcze tylko chwila i będę mogła zamknąć świąteczny czas. Odłożyć końcówkę roku 2025. Odstawić na półkę otrzymane gwiazdkowo książki.
W moim czytelniczym uniwersum dwieście jeden książek później, mając jednocześnie z tyłu głowy, że czwarta książka Autora wciąż na mnie czeka. Czeka, bo nie jest o tej wspaniałej parze.
Tej książki nie trzeba czytać od deski do deski. Można otworzyć w dowolnym miejscu, rzucić okiem tylko na jedną stronę i… gotowe! Jest się ugotowanym, to znaczy poruszonym… do trzewi.
‘Who are you...deep inside?’ asked Big Panda.
Tiny Dragon looked out over the crumbling ruins.
‘I don’t remember.’
🖇
‘It’s hard to find your way looking behind you,’ said Big Panda.
‘The path forward begins in the present.’
🖇
‘Does my past control my future?’ asked Tiny Dragon.
‘It doesn't have to,’ said Big Panda. ‘It’s you who steers
the boat, not the wake it leaves behind.’
🖇
Bringing too much of the past with you can make it
very difficult to move forwards.
🖇
‘Do you ever wonder what might have been?’
asked Tiny Dragon.
‘No,’ said Big Panda.
‘There is a peace in knowing it could not
have happened any other way.’
🖇
So much ruin, so much loss,
yet still...so much beauty.
From the ancient ruins a tree took root.
Even in loss, life finds a way.
🖇
Big Panda took Tiny Dragon's hand in his huge paw.
‘It is a wonderful thing to enjoy this world, to try
new things, to push yourself, and succeed and fail.
But none of these things will make you any more
than you are right now.
Growth is not about becoming someone else,
but unfolding who you’ve always been.’
🖇
‘How are you so kind to everyone we meet?’
asked Tiny Dragon.
‘I try to remember that each person is
facing a struggle I cannot see,’ said Big Panda.
‘Then it’s not so difficult.’
🖇
‘I’ll never get it,’ huffed Tiny Dragon,
about to smash it on the ground.
‘Peace doesn’t come from avoiding things that
make you upset or angry,’ said Big Panda,
‘but from facing those things again and again,
and doing your best to choose peace each time.’
🖇
‘I know you’re scared,’ said Big Panda.
‘You cannot help that. But you have chosen not to let
fear stop your journey and that shows great courage.’
🖇
Life is like a pot of tea.
Sometimes it’s too much for one person.
Share it if you can.
🖇
‘How is it you never seem worried?’ asked Tiny Dragon.
‘I have worried about many things in my life,’
said Big Panda, ‘and few of them ever came to pass.
When you realize that, it makes it much easier to let
the world play out as it wants to.’
Tiny Dragon took a deep breath and felt the beginnings
of a new faith in the world as he stepped out into
the light of day.
🖇
Tiny Dragon searched and searched
but couldn’t find
what he was looking for.
‘Perhaps it’s already inside you?’
suggested Big Panda.
🖇
A leaf never falls in the wrong place.
🖇
Tiny Dragon was alone,
but he did not distract himself.
Instead, he sat with himself,
and slowly but surely,
began to find himself.
🖇
‘I wish I had a shell to hide in sometimes,’
said Tiny Dragon.
‘It’s very useful, said the tortoise,
but I’ve found that, now and then, you have to stick
your neck out to get where you want to go.’
🖇
What seems hopeless one day
can look slightly different the next.
James Norbury, A Beautiful World,
Michael Joseph, London 2025.
(wyróżnienie własne)
‘This place is unbelievable’, gasped Tiny Dragon.
(tamże)