The One and Only Ivan

showing julia

It’s time to show my work.

The mall is silent, except for Thelma the macaw, who is practicing a new phrase: “Uh-oh!”

Julia is finishing her homework. George is sweeping outside. Mack has gone home for the night.

I grab Not-Tag and carefully pull out the folded papers. So many paintings! Page after page. Piece after piece of my giant puzzle.

I pound on my glass, and Julia glances over.

Fingers trembling, I hold up one of my paintings. It’s brown and green, a corner piece.

Julia smiles.

I display another picture, and then another and another and another, each one a tiny part of the whole.

Julia looks confused. “But … what is it?” she asks. She shrugs. “It doesn’t matter. It’s pretty just as it is.”

“Uh-oh,” says Thelma.

No, I think. No.

It does matter.