This happened some time after the incident described in part 1. By then, I had heard that Zac didn’t love all animals - he was terrified of lizards (he once ran out of the bathroom naked and screaming because there was one on the wall)…

“Zac, do you have some paper? I wanna draw something for you!”

He didn’t have any paper, but he was certainly going to find some!

He somehow managed to convince someone to spare him a piece of paper, which he promptly handed to me.

Zac was so excited that when I placed the paper on my lap ready to draw, his head was already blocking my view.

“I tell you what - you stand over there. No peeping. Let me finish the drawing, then I’ll show it to you.” That’ll teach him a bit of discipline.

The poor kid was so excited that he could not contain his grin, and was actually writhing as he tried to stand still (he was really walking towards me without realising it).

“Eh, you’re coming too close. Stand further away, or I won’t let you see!”

He had no choice, so he moved away again.

Seeing him barely able to contain his delight made me feel a little guilty.

“Ok it’s finished!”

Bang. He shot over to inspect the masterpiece.

And his grin disappeared as soon as he saw my drawing of a lizard.

“Do you like it?”

Pause.

“Shall I draw you riding on the lizard?”

Evil. Pure evil.

Sometimes, I can’t help but admire the outlook of kids, who know something about positive thinking.

“Can you draw a horse?”

Since I’m really a good person deep down, I turned over the leaf and started on the horse.

The head. The neck. The body.

“Shall I draw you riding on the horse?”

“Yes!”

He’s so going to forgive me for that lizard drawing.

The head of the rider. The body. The legs. The horse legs. Added the rest of the details - eyes, ears, reins, and so on.

“Do you notice something about this horse? This is a very special horse.”

He didn’t seem to notice.

“How many legs does this horse have?”

“One, two, three, four, five. HEY!!!”

“Yup. This horse has five legs. It’s a very special horse!”

“Horse have four legs!”

“I know. But this is a special horse. It has five legs.”

I started drawing a row of 4 small circles under each leg.

“And you know what? This five-legged horse is on rollerblades!”

“NO!!”

“It’s a very special horse!”

“No! It’s a crazy horse!”

I must have offended his sensitivities and sensibilities quite seriously. When I handed him the paper, he promptly crushed it and threw it on the floor before storming off.

I must have crossed a line.

* * * * *

That incident happened a few months ago, and I was reminded of it recently when I saw Zac again.

“Hey Zac, do you remember the horse I drew for you?”

“Yes! It had five legs, and it had rollerblades!”

He was smiling when he replied. Ah, I’ve been forgiven.