Lef plus Lef equals Elf

The title is actually Lef + Lef = Elf ..for some reason I can't use the equals sign.

This drawing was made in my grade 12 art class in 2004., with pen and watercolor. I illustrated a short story that I had written a year before, although I did it from memory. Later, I dug up the original story, and, although a few minor details were changed, the illustration is still pretty true to the original story. Here it is.

Lef + Lef = Elf

This is the story of Lef: a wonderful being who, despite his alarming physical abnormalities, seemed to go everywhere unnoticed. I had been observing him for years. I never fully understood why everyone pretended that he was non-existent, though he didn't seem to mind. He acted as though he was satisfied speaking to himself, or speaking to others without being answered; however, sometimes I think that maybe he was just bottling his emotions.

Last week, Lef was at the local bowling alley. I instantly recognized him when he entered. His bald head was shaped like a cylinder with rounded edges. There was no way of telling where his head ended and his neck began. His skin was tanned and his eyebrows were thin. His pudgy face looked to be several sizes too small. His spherical body had no arms and his shirt was light blue with a white collar. He was about five feet tall. A single leg with no visible knee protruded from the bottom of his body. One would think that it would be difficult to get around with only one leg, but Lef was very skilled at hopping.

The bowling alley had a comfortable atmosphere. There were six lanes in all, but only two were occupied. A man and a woman were bowling in one of the lanes. The man had long hair and a beard. He wore a leather jacket and jeans. The woman was blonde and was wearing a jean jacket with leather pants. Lef approached them and attempted to join in their conversation. They were talking about motorcycles. "I like motorcycles." said Lef in a calm, friendly voice. The couple ignored him. They were now talking about clams. "I like clams!" said Lef, excitedly. Sadly, neither of them even bothered turning their heads.

Lef began muttering to himself. As he muttered, he shrank. He continued shrinking until he was little more than a foot in height. A sad, rejected look was in his blue eyes.

A nearby employee spotted Lef. She had dark hair and was wearing a red uniform. She picked him up and walked through a door marked "Employees only". Behind the door there was a corridor that lead to the back of the bowling alley. Apparently, she had mistaken Lef for a bowling pin. Lef tried to tell her that he was not a bowling pin, but she chose to ignore his pleas.

She set him down in some sort of machine. Seconds later, the machine grabbed him and forced him to stand. He looked in front of him and saw that he was at the end of the lane where the couple was bowling. Lef looked to his right and saw nine plastic bowling pins, standing as straight as he was. He looked forward again, and was horrified to see a fourteen pound bowling ball rolling towards him at an alarming speed. Quickly, he hopped out of the way as all of the other pins fell. One of the pins hit him in the side of the head as he dove out of the machine.

He hopped his way back to the corridor. At one end, he saw the employee from before walking towards him. Panicking, he fled in the opposite direction, down a flight of stairs.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he looked around. He was in rectangular room. The room was empty, except for a steel column in the very centre. Across from the stairs that he came from was another flight of stairs, also leading up. The floor was made of shiny white tiles. Three of the walls were steel; the third was a mirror. Lef, not knowing why, was awed by this room. Something awoke deep inside of him as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He sensed that this room had a purpose, that fate had brought him here. Slowly, he grew back to his normal size.

His eyes flared with solid determination as he jumped into the mirror. And then, his destiny was fulfilled. He was surrounded by blackness, but a light emanated from his being. He had transformed. He looked down at his new body. He was thin and tall, with long blonde hair. He sensed the pulse of immortality flowing through his veins. His nose and ears were now pointed, and his face was slender and flawless. He had achieved raw physical perfection; he was an elf.