Free Willy!

The weekend saw me initiating Winkie to Free Willy. Its one of the products of Hollywood that I love, and when it was sold on clearance at our library, I picked it up, excited at the thought of watching it with Winkie. He was definitely intrigued that a killer whale and a boy could be friends, what with the whole 'killer' aspect. And I think he exhibited immense patience for the movie, given all he wanted to see were the interactions between the two of them, and for the part where Willy is set free. He chuckled happily when Jesse and Willy began interacting and the manner in which they struck a friendship. He looked forlorn whenever he heard that mournful sound that Willy made. It does sound totally torn and tears you up too. And he was completely riveted by that final climax scene, when Jesse exhorts Willy to jump over the wide obstacle of rocks out to the vast open ocean, where he would be finally be free and rejoin his family. That really was the best part of the movie, wasn't it?? I always have goose pimples when I see that scene.

Right after, when we were both swimming in that feel good aftermath of a fitfully happy ending, I asked Winkie whether he would like to draw what he just saw. And he said yes. Out came the sketch pens and recycled paper, and the sound of the chair being dragged on the floor, as he settled atop it and got busy. He drew two scenes from the movie....two of his favorite ones. The first one is that lovely scene, where Jeese and Willy are playing with each other in the pool. And the other, is the climax scene. And there's a story here. At first, he drew the boy standing on that bridge of rocks, and the fins that look like they are ramming into the rocks. When I looked at it, I told him it didn't look like Willy was jumping across it. So he modified it to show a whale, clearly in the air over the boy, who was hooting for him with a Horay Willy, and he declared that the original fins now belonged to Willy's mother who was waiting for him on the other side. I thought it was a pretty neat modification.

And with that, another weekend draws to a close. Another drawing gets filed into the folder that is spilling over with creative expressions. And another moment that we shared in peace and harmony, can be added to our string of memories!