I have written about dressing up as Ursula so I didn’t think anyone would want to hear about the continued story. But I have had a change of heart. First off for those that don’t know, Ursula is a villain who has the power to look like anyone but chooses to be a white-haired half octopus with a drag queen-inspired makeup. She is a character in the Disney movie “The Little Mermaid.” I wrote about Ursula reading Mrs. Hagar’s Pre-K class and then dropping by to see a 3-year-old fan, Violet Snow. Violet told her mom she wanted to be Ursula for Halloween. Mom bought the costume and a mini Ursula came to be. It was time for the Kingfisher Main Street trick or treat. I once again put on heavy makeup and inflated my tentacles feeling a bit like a huge purple eggplant with tentacles. Violet had told her mother she wanted to go back to the ocean with Ursula but as we met on the corner of main in Kingfisher America I found myself walking into Violet’s imaginary ocean. Those eyes of admiration softened my heart and for just a few minutes I forgot about this world and its many conflicts. We stood on the corner and waved at the passing cars driving by. Most didn’t wave back for whatever reason but it was ok. We were in a 3 yr olds imagination, a place of forgiveness and acceptance. Violet and I spent time visiting Ursula’s pet eels, we compared our tentacles. She took my hand as we walked, I felt my anxiety and that purple eggplant feeling melt away. Violet’s mom thanked me over and over but at the end of the day, I’m the one that needs to Thank Violet! Her ingenuity is what I’ll take away as her gift to me. Her 3-year-old self could teach us as adults a lot. The makeup has been washed off and Ursula is back in the box, but the feelings I felt are still present. Maybe we all can swim with a 3-year-old’s imaginary ocean now and again. Thanks, Violet aka mini Ursula. By Bonny Flesher
