REAL recounts from my childhood
My parent’s explanation of the Law of Conservation of Mass tinted my lenses for perceiving the world in a way that triggers responses in me that are comparatively different to most people around me. Or perhaps this was just because of my own understanding of what they meant. I learned about death through the mail. At the time, my mother was unknowingly involved in all kinds of artistic affairs, the acts of which would sometimes implicate me. On a domestic weekend in the capital, a letter arrived from one of my mother’s colleagues that was addressed to me. Excited to receive my first piece of mail, I opened the envelope as swiftly as I could, not expecting to be launched to the ground by my reaction to what was inside: a live purple emperor butterfly. After recalibrating from the surprise, I called my parents to look at the guest in the apartment. The next few hours were spent playing a chasing game with the butterfly. I would get as close to it as I could until frightened by its l...