Echo’s Cabinet of Curiosities
Long ago,
a tiny cluster of shadow was carried by the wind.
She had no name.
She had no shape –
only the wind lifting her, sending her wandering from place to place.
Every day, the wind played hide-and-seek with her.
It always left her a tiny gift:
a feather, a tangle of thread, a button, a handful of flames…
and sometimes, a seed that glimmered with a faint light.
She reached out to pick them up.
Every time she touched something,
she found a new feeling growing inside her.
And with every feeling she found,
the more she became herself.
A feather shaped itself into her ear.
Thread spun itself into her hair.
Buttons turned into her eyes.
Inside the flames, her smile was hidden.
That glowing seed –
she tucked it gently into her deepest pocket.
Until one day,
the wind softly called to her – Echo.
And she answered, softly too – Echo.
From that day on,
she had a name.