Yet another scene from my lovelies' lives.

This picture is of Kamali and Dani. Kamali is the man standing in the doorway. He looks rather young, mostly because I forgot he would have been about 36 at the time. Dani is the kid; he's eight years old.

There are a number of problems with this pic. I'm not gonna point them out, but anyone viewing this can feel free to expound upon the many errors.

But, to point out a few things (not so much errors)- Dani's window has bars in it. He lives in the basement, so that is grass and tile outside his window. The cloth, seesaws, tunnels and the like on the right are part of a Rube Goldberg machine.

Dani's cat should be in this picture, but she's not... nor are Kamali's boots or blanket. And I was too lazy to draw in all the floor tiles, so they aren't there. The plaster on the walls doesn't really show up, either, tho it was the most fun to draw. I do like how Kamali's pants look like he's slept in them, tho.

Now, the story.

Dani has never need more than three or four hours of sleep a night. Kamali had been around, looking after him for about three weeks. The problem was that Dani has a penchant for getting into trouble, and Kamali doesn't like to see his young charge in nasty situations. As a result, he essentially does not let Dani out of his sight. The problem with all of this, of course, is that Kamali can only sleep when Dani sleeps.

So, after about three weeks of sleeplessness, poor Kamali is on the verge of a breakdown. He is literally swaying on his feet; eyes red rimmed, hectic spots of colour on his cheeks, and his natural grace utterly replaced by sheer klutzy-ness.

Dani and Kamali sat down for lunch one day. Dani was just sort of playing with his food, because, well, he was bored of the rather staid and structured life Kamali had thrust upon him. Anyhoo, he looks up and finds Kamali passed out on the table. He slips around the table and touches Kamali's shoulder. When the man doesn't awaken, Dani beats it out of there, and thus begins his day of freedom.

Dani spends the day trading at the market, avoiding people who might "turn him in", and ends up in the agricultural fields enjoying his candy (and sharing, of course!). Kamali spends the day completely freaked out, trying to find Dani. Eventually, he is successful.

Now, Kamali looks horrid after his little catnap, and doesn't even yell at Dani. Hmmm, Dani says. Very strange. So, Kamali sends Dani off to bed, and falls asleep in front of his door. Dani stays up into the wee hours reading, and finally falls asleep.

The next morning, Dani wakes up. It is about 5 in the morning, and the sun is just beginning to lighten the day. Dani being the energetic child he is, goes to the door and quietly pulls it open, to discover Kamali sprawled over his threshold, sleeping like the dead.

Hnmmm, Dani thinks. He looked like death yesterday. And he didn't punish me or yell at me, or ~anything~. Maybe I should let him sleep. (And so begins Dani's accepting of Kamali, instead of trying to thwart him.... ) So he closes the door carefully, and tries to occupy himself.

Sadly, he doesn't have many toys, and he's all ready read his books. So he does what any eight year old boy would do. He builds a complex marble run mixed with various simple machines (like levers, fulcrums, and the like) and attach them to a home made fan to make it run. This occupies him for several hours.

Unfortunately, Kamali is still snoring (ever so lightly) in the hallway. This is when Dani starts playing dressup. He has plenty of clothes, and has spent a lot of time in the marketplace; thus, he dresses in the garb of various ethhic groups. Hence the "turban" on his head, and the skirt-like drape of cloth around his waist.

Eventually Dani grows tired of this, and moves on to other things. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot he can move on to. His marbles are occupied in running the fan, he's done playing with his clothes, and he's read all his books. By this point, it is almost 11. Being an eight year old boy, Dani is hungry. In his room, there is a shelf. On this shelf, there is food, water, and various odds and ends Dani is not supposed to touch. This is the "untouchable shelf" of things he needs but noone trusts him with (like pen and ink... who knows what sort of terror he could inspire if he were to get a hold of it?)

The dilemma, of course, is that said shelf is well out of Dani's reach. Naturally this is not an obstacle. The only piece of furniture Dani has in his room is a large trunk that contains all his possessions (when they aren't scattered across his room). Dani figures that if he stands on this trunk, he should be able to reach the forbidden items with a little difficulty. The problem is that his trunk is on the opposite side of the room, and is made of oak and iron. Thus, it is very very heavy, but must be transported across the length of his room.

Undeterred, Dani searches for sturdy round objects and a plank to spread over them so that he can roll the trunk to the other side of the room. Alas, he is unable to find anything more suitable than some reeds and his pallet. And so he resorts to brute force.

Dani tied a length of cloth to one of the handles, and pulled with all his strength. Gradually, he managed to inch the box across the room.

This is when Kamali wakes up. He is exceedingly upset that he has overslept, and fully expects that he will have to spend the day tracking Dani down. Being a rational man, however, he first checks Dani's room, completely certain it would be empty.

And thus the picture. The moment when Kamali pushes the door open, to find Dani's room in shambles, and his young charge wearing a makeshift turban and trying to drag his trunk across his room.

It's probably a lot funnier in my head, but absolutely begged to be drawn.