Wandering Through WorldWonder

Mac & Mica’s Adventure

here is a place, at the dead end of 152nd St. and 67th Ave., which is very much alive. In fact, if you happened to be walking by you might hear noises that would cause you to stop and look. Peacocks and parrots calling down from tropical trees or baby goats’ bleats carried over the wall by the ocean breeze. You might feel that you are near to an incredibly special place; that’s because you are!

Standing by this special place may create a desire to climb to the top of the high wall and look over. That would not be safe, at least not unless you are one of the squirrels or lizards that spend a lot of time up there.

But let’s say you did get to the top of the wall to look in. You might see a tortoise or a little pond with water swirling around frogs and swimming fishes, neat paths wandering through exotic plants and trees, or hanging ferns, climbing vines, and funny little thatched roofed houses. You would decide, and you would be right, that this is a world filled with wonders and wild things. I suppose that is how this special place came to be called “WorldWonder.”

Maybe this place seems fun and exciting and now you’re wondering how to get in. The good news is, getting in is easy. The bad news is choosing to go in isn’t easy at all. To get in you just enter through the narrow gate at the front. It’s never locked or guarded, and the path is easy to find. But to go in you must leave the busy road, and it’s a lot easier to drive by than stop in and stay.

“But that doesn’t make any sense at all,” you might be thinking. “If it is as wonderful as you say, and if the gate is always open, why wouldn’t everyone want to get in?” I think that is a very good question, perhaps we might learn a little bit more about WorldWonder and see if we might discover the answer to that question.

Now, we say that it isn’t easy to choose to go in, and that’s true, but only for people who are not children. Children don’t seem quite so interested in all the business of the road. Children seem to know how to spot a good adventure when it arrives. In fact, children seem to be very good at making adventures out of the simplest things. Of course, there isn’t any such thing as magic in WorldWonder, but if you happen to catch the sparkle in the eyes of children when they find the path and come in for the first time, you might accidentally think there is.

Besides the children, there is one other person who seems to love and appreciate the wonder of this special place, that’s Mr. Heetderks, of course. Mr. Heetderks is the wise and kind-hearted caretaker of WorldWonder. In fact, everything that is now called WorldWonder, all the swimming fishes and towering trees, the huge tropical leaves and delicate orchids, the splashing fish, and squatting stones, came from Mr. Heetderks’ mind.

“Now, wait a minute! I thought there wasn’t any magic in WorldWonder? That sounds magical to me,” you’re thinking. And, yes, I know how it sounds. I guess it does sound magical when you think about it like that, but here’s what we do know. For a long time, there was nothing like WorldWonder and now it’s there. And so is Mr. Heetderks. And even though we don’t know exactly how it got there, we shouldn’t let that keep us from enjoying it very much. The gate is open and there are adventures waiting to be experienced and Mr. Heetderks loves having visitors.

So, now that you’re standing at the gate of WorldWonder, are you going to come in? I think you’d really enjoy the time you get to spend inside. It’s not exactly a safe place, but when have you ever heard of a good adventure that was safe? Oh, and there’s lots of work to do. But we all know that the very best experiences in life come when we work hard. There are mysteries too. Things might happen and you won’t know what to do.

You might make mistakes or even hurt yourself and others too. Mr. Heetderks is there, and he is very helpful, but not all the time. Sometimes he will leave you to explore and learn things on your own. “The adventure is better that way,” he likes to say. Well, I guess you don’t have to choose quite yet anyway. When you’re ready, the gate will be open. For now, just keep listening. I’d like to tell you about some friends of mine who came to WorldWonder. Maybe after hearing their experience, you can know more and decide for yourself.