The dry erase marker seemed to jump out of my grasp the moment my fingers tried to wrap around it.

I’d finished setting up for the comic book workshop at the Long Grove Park District.  Banners were set up, paper was on the tables, pencils were sharpened.  I found 3 whiteboard erasers in the box Jerry had set up for me–3 little balls with little hairs like squeegees and two white eyeballs in the middle.  Jerry has taken to calling them This, That, and the Other Thing.  I had time, and space, so I figured I’d practice juggling.  I’d throw This and That, catching them fairly easily.  But the Other Thing, lighter than the juggling balls I was used to, had a tendency to jump out of my hands when I tried to grab it.  I imagined a high-pitched chuckle as the Other Thing lived up to his reputation for mischief.  

The kids arrived, one by one.  Two of the boys had struck up a fast friendship, bonding over their love of drawing as well as the plushies they bring to each class.  This time one boy brought a big Among Us plushie (half human, half cyborg) and the other brought a little squishmellow with a spiderman mask, peeking out of a top hat.  

Jerry had promised them that we’d be drawing a comic at our last workshop, and I wasn’t going to disappoint.  After a short talk about inspiration, I told them each to shout out a character.  The two boys’ plushies were featured–one girl added Princess peach, and another boy added an orange gorilla he decided to call Fox.  The Blue Cyborg and the Spiderman plushie (who’s owner had decided to call “meta knight” after the Kirby character) started off fighting, but ended playing chess.  Princess peach dropped in from a pipe but ended up being captured by bowser.  The gorilla swung in from a vine, but ended up losing in chess to the cyborg Among Us.

Wacky stuff–a funny twist on Smash Brothers, given extra whimsy by the addition of a Stink Ray and a chessboard.  The kids’ drawings had improved immensely over the last 3 weeks, and their imaginations added some amazing twists to the comic.  We all took a picture with the finished comic.  Before we left the girl hung back with her mom, showing me some of the amazing drawings she’d done while I’d drawn the comic on the whiteboard.  I held on to some of their comics to show Jerry when we linked up again.  

By the end of the workshop I was exhausted but excited.  As I packed up and got ready to leave I couldn’t help but be impressed by the kids’ creativity and energy.  Seeing them improve, and seeing how so many of them had worked on their own comics at home, I looked back at the dry erase markers.  This, That, The Other Thing–one day I’ll juggle the three of you flawlessly.  If those kids can practice and improve, so can I.