A: sometimes you fit perfectly, but it’s not the right place.
B: …what?
C: you’re a half empty bottle of coke screwed into a lightbulb socket
B: Oh I get it.
A:??? How the f- -- Anon Guest
[AN: There are so many ways this metaphor could be altered, but you chose a meme]
There were three jigsaw puzzles, and it was possible to put them together by feel. However, one needed vision to put them together properly. Each puzzle, identical in length and width, was made with identically-shaped pieces.
In most cases, it was a test of visual acuity for those who could not yet read.
In this case, it was someone demonstrating a metaphor.
"Not a word," said Sensei, who had a blindfold on. They plucked pieces from a container and, by feel, put the puzzles together.
They fit, but they made no sense. A dog's head appeared on the corner of a barn. A cat's tail swapped places with that of a Dragon. In any other context, it would be an AI Slop Art Nightmare.
"Do you see the meaning, now?" said Sensei, taking off the blindfold to survey the jumble of images. "Just because you fit does not mean you belong."
"I have to fix those," said the student. "Can I please fix those?"
Sensei sighed. "Yes. Of course. But do you understand the lesson?"
Yaam paused in the middle of swapping pieces, a look of devastation slowly crawling across hir face. "I fit here... but I don't belong here?"
"Don't cry," said Sensei. "We will not throw you out simply because you do not belong. I understand how much trouble finding a place to fit was. It's a relief for you to be here... but it will not remain a relief."
"Because I don't belong," Yaam's voice cracked despite hir best efforts.
"You don't sense it yet, but you will," soothed Sensei. "A little irritation, an agitation, or an undefinable, unwanted sensation. Deep in your soul, perhaps. Then you will know... this is not where you fit best."
"Because I'm stupid," sighed Yaam.
Sensei tisked. "If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it shall forever be a moron. Stupid is only the determination to learn nothing. You try to understand, my lovely. In that, you are far beyond those with the chance who never take it."
"I'll learn what I can, as hard as I can," vowed Yaam. "And I'll be sad when I have to leave."
"May the place you belong be close to this first home you have found," said Sensei.
Yaam could not ask for a better blessing.
[Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash]
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