Cherry Retreat (part I)

Something was wrong with me, I didn't know what. 'What's wrong with you?' asked the visitors to my room before they promptly left me standing alone with my head bowed.

The floor of my bedroom was covered with origami monkeys of different paper colours. Wherever I walked, the monkeys would cling to my socks. I kicked them, and they would climb onto my bed in retreat; I didn't sleep on my bed, I stopped sleeping. I nibbled my way through boxes of sugar coated breakfast cereal throughout the days and nights as I became obsessed with making paper monkeys.

Oneday, I ran out of origami paper. I had originally bought fifty packets of paper, each one containing fifty smooth multicoloured sheets. I didn't feel like going to the store again, the sales girl would not look me in the eyes when I made the purchase; her face twitched nervously whenever I was close to her. I didn't care what she thought; I didn't care for hygiene or appearance; I hadn't bathed for a couple of weeks. I wanted to fold paper monkeys, so I raided the neighbour's recycling bin for paper; I took a stack of old newspapers and magazines.

I cut squares from the found paper, discarded the images and used the text only; the pictures distracting. The monkeys were grey and miserable, the thinness of the paper made them flimsy and fragile.

A couple of days later, as I greeted the page of a magazine with a pair of scissors, an advert caught my attention. It read:

Nathan Cherry Retreat

Worried, stressed, anxious or confused?... Then come join us in the beautiful countryside of the peaceful Toronto outskirts. Nathan Cherry has all the answers for a healthier and happier life.


To be continued...