This is Levi the Leopard after his 'Magic Bubble Ride' aka: the washing machine. Having picked him up from the rubble of a newly bulldozed plot that was once 'Hobo Jungle' a homeless community in Portland, he was caked in mud, threadbare and falling apart. I thought often of who had left him behind and how that may have happened. I thought of who might be missing Levi and who Levi may be missing. Thus the beginnings of Levi the Leopard.
The story features Layla,a young girl who's family comes undone though the details are not provided. Family disruption and substances are hinted at. She is suddenly thrust into a shelter and seperated from Levi in the process. Later in the story you'll see Layla, who receives him on her seventh birthday, is wearing a hearing aid. My friends who are hearing impaired have let me see the vulnerability of their world and the isolation that sometimes results as they miss the clues so taken for granted by a hearing population. Levi himself loses an ear in the story because that's how I discovered him. One earred.
You'll see her and Levi leaving home with garbage bags, thrown in the back seat of a car we can assume hurriedly packed,. This emerges from stories of several Indigenous women who shared their experiences when they were taken from their homes by a child welfare system seperating them from their native community. Levi finds himself in a dumpster in the company of three other 'wounded' stuffed animals. They are all from the toy store he emerged from. The elephant, by the way, is modeled after a fabulous little stuffed animal I literally discovered in my car one day years ago. An anonymous gift. We nicknamed that elephant Noni. You'll see that the elephant loses his eyes but is the group storyteller, helping them all remember. His role is seer, though he has no eyes. He is finally paired at the end with a boy with impaired vision. The Dog is tattered yet jovial and helps lift everyones spirits with his song and is modeled after many friends from the street who despite their suffering make music and sing with light hearts. His legs and body are wounded and he is matched with a boy who also loves to sing and is sporting a broken arm and stitches on his forehead. The Bunny is aways trying to stuff the stuffing back into all of them. Attempting to sustain and nurture what is left of them. Her delicate ears and long arms are falling apart. She, at last, is paired with a double amputee; a spirited girl with a robotic hand, one leg, a crutch and a broad smile.
The woman who accompanies Layla is purposefully not named. She could be the mother, or a step mom, or a foster mom, or a sister or aunt or professional. Most importantly she supports Layla without getting in the way and bears witness to the delicate reunion and mission defined by Layla and Levi. There are those in my life who have shown me the power of a figure in their life though they are not necessarily 'mother'.
Also, my friends from the street in their vulnerability and their generosity have shown me that which transcends 'broken' and return loops back to whole. My deepest gratitude.
PS: The mice simply emerged in the tale telling.