Once when the sun was either shining on the white snow, or the green grass, Goldi and her cousin were sketching. Goldi made long strokes back and forth. While her cousin made quick ones all around. As I watched, I was reminded of those artists in the courtyards of some European city who whip up a masterpiece in moments for touristy passerby’s.

This story is conjured up mostly from my imagination, using a character from someone else’s. That someone else was Goldi’s cousin. It has the heart of the two people, Goldi, and her cousin, that gave life to this character invented in minutes. This is the story of when Jet Pack Man was invented.

“Who is that?” says Goldi with her eyes popping.

“Jet Pack Man!” Her bearded cousin flicks the penciled sketch.

Goldi rubs her hand across the paper and then hands it back.

“Who is that?”

“Well, you see Jet Pack Man moved too slowly. His mother told him he needed to get to school on time. So he got himself a special backpack. ”

“Well, school starts at 7:35. ” informs Goldi.

Her cousin threads his fingers through his thick , long, brown bangs.”Well, he wasn’t getting there until 7:52. So, his mom got him this special backpack. ”

“Why?”

“Why? You mean why is it special?”

“Yeah.” Goldi says looking closely at the picture.

“Well, it can carry all kind of things like books, pencils, erasers, …”

“What about fidgets and a water bottle? Goldi interrupts.

“Oh yeah, for sure. But here’s the thing- ” He raised his pointer finger. His bushy eyebrows go up too.

“What?” Goldi’s eyes pop again and even sparkle a little.

“Jet Pack Man can fly!”

“He can?”

“Oh yeah! See here, there is this strap on the end of his backpack. All he has to do is pull it and he just takes off like a real jet. And it makes it a whole lot easier to carry all his stuff to school!”

Goldi puts her hands to her cheeks and squeezes them together. Then she flaps her hands a little. She is excited but a little scared at the thought.

“That would be too loud.”

“What? Nah! It’s not loud. It’s fun. He can fly up to the clouds and see all kinds of other kids dragging their feet carrying their heavy backpacks to school. He gets to fly to school. And his mom is happy because he gets to school on time. “

“What grade is he in?”Goldi is interested in more of the story.

He taps his bearded chin with several fingers.

He looks at her trying to remember what grade Goldi is in.

“Uh maybe 6th grade?”

“Hey! I am in 6th grade! Goldi jumps up and down. “But I don’t think he goes to my school. ”

“Well, maybe you haven’t seen him on the ground. But you can look up in the sky to see him. ”

He smiles so big his eyes squint.

Goldi stares into the distance. Her faces matches her cousins.

“Wait. What color is his backpack?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe blue or red.

“Or both?” Goldi’s voice goes up.

“Yeah both! Probably both.”

“Hey! I think I have seen his backpack before!” Goldi jumps up and down again.

“Really?” Her cousin’s voice goes up too.

“Yeah! It was both red and blue.”

“Did you see him?” He is on the edge of his seat as if Goldi had possibly seen Superman or something.

“No, I didn’t. ” Goldi’s voice goes down a bit.

“Well, you still might. You just have to look up in the sky. “

“I don’t think I’m going to see him. I am scared anyway. ” Goldi puts her head down and talks in a soft tone.

“Don’t be scared. Jet Pack Man is a really nice guy.” Her cousin shows his big wide smile again.

“Well, he is in 6th grade just like me.” Goldi says flapping her hands.

“Yep! That’s right. And you are not scary. ”

“No, I’m not scary!” Goldi says laughing.

“Here keep it. ” He hands the picture back to her. “Then you can always remember what he looks like. Just remember he really is a nice guy.”

Goldi takes it and puts it against her chest.

“Okay, thanks.” She smiles.

“Sure.”

Goldi sketches on a new piece of paper. Her cousin continues on a fresh page too.

A new character was invented, and a simple story to match. One that may live a long time in one’s mind and heart. We don’t know where that sketch is right now. We keep looking. We’ve looked in many places where drawing after drawing is kept. Maybe we should look up in the sky. Maybe…

Thanks Jet Pack Man. For feeding the imagination with a story.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. Since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV