How To Make A Kite
Written By Elliot Broome
Edited by margaret Licup
Materials:
Two sticks
A ball of string
A newspaper
A state-wide snap lockdown (preferable)
Step 1:
First, cut/break the sticks/dowel to roughly 60cm and 45cm, then bind them together in a cross formation with the string. This may take a while so use the time to contemplate lockdown. You try to think of the last time you went outside and realise you don’t know what day it is. You suddenly feel suffocated.
Step 2:
Carefully cut slits into the ends of the sticks for the string to run through. Take the same piece of string and pull it around the edges of the cross to form a kite shape. You notice it’s starting to take shape. You have a vision of the kite—high in the sky and amongst the clouds. It stands tall and proud, catching the wind, free. For a moment you forget.
Step 3:
Excitedly, put the kite against a few sheets of newspaper or a bin bag and draw an outline with a ~5cm border. Cut along the line and fold inwards across the string. As you staple/tape along the perimeter, you notice the headline. Missing links set to blow out lockdown. Your smile fades as you’re sobered by the memory. The clouds disappear and you remember the cold walls around you, unmoving ground beneath your feet.
Step 4:
Tie a new piece of string around the two ends of one stick, leave a little slack (staple or tape if necessary). Do the same to the second stick, with a similar amount of slack. Tie another piece of string around the point where the other two meet, allow this piece to be as long as possible. Realise the kite may not fly. Sometimes things go so poorly it seems impossible that things could continue to get worse, but they can. You realise this kite won’t fix lockdown, that it was a waste; a waste of time. You should’ve done your homework instead of wasting your time on a dumb kite. You sit back down at your desk, throwing it into the bin. You can see your reflection in the computer screen so you turn the brightness up.
Step 5:
You wake at 8:30am feeling like garbage. You regret spending the night watching Survivor. Pick up your phone to log in from bed. It’s Blake.
ＢＬＡＫＥ 8:31am
『Hey! I just saw that our zones line up in Edinborough gardens. Let’s meet up today!』
Your bedroom falls away. You can see you and Blake launching the kite into the wind. It catches immediately and slaps down and the ground and you both start laughing. You can’t help but smile.
ＹＯＵ 8:35am
『I’d love to <3』
Blake is typing…
ＢＬＡＫＥ 8:31am
『*edinburgh』
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