Campus news
Confident spread the blank page in the middle of the desk, beside six pens, three rulers and a cold cup of water. The working title was POND-SIDE DAYDREAM WEEK. To make the invitation perfectly clear, Confident added twelve instructions.
When Cheer arrived with snacks, only a fingernail-sized patch of paper remained. “What goes here?” “White space,” Confident said firmly, then measured it to see whether it could be smaller.
There had been round letters, square letters and letters even their maker could not read. Every version raised another question. Were there enough benches? When would the sunset arrive? Should daydreamers book ahead? That last question received three circles.
Cheer did not deliver a pep talk. Instead, a snack went into the remaining white space. “If a passing frog remembered just one thing, what would it be?” Confident studied the snack. “Come sit for a bit.”
They took a fresh sheet, wrote those words and drew a bench. Confident reached for a pen to add a border. Cheer put the cap back on. “That step could wait until tomorrow.” They ate their snacks sitting down. No border appeared by itself.
Greeter came in and held the poster up. “Excellent! I’ll organise everyone into sitting down!” Cheer handed over the spare paper. “Perhaps not too vigorously.” Confident signed the back and carefully added: THIS POSTER IS FINISHED.