My twist on a popular children’s book, written for a writing course.

Waldo’s lifelong quest to reunite with his father tragically left unanswered the question that has defined his life to countless inquisitive children in search of a red striped t-shirt: “Where’s Waldo?”

After his father mysteriously disappeared during a trip to Trinidad, Waldo decided to dedicate his life to finding him. At the age of sixteen, Waldo fled his home to begin his life’s mission, traveling the globe in search of his estranged pater.

Waldo’s mother decided after Waldo’s sudden disappearance to create a book in the memory of the men in her life; entitled “Where’s Waldo?”, she illustrated a visually demanding book highlighting her son as the prize, urging children to locate him on each page, dressed in his favorite red striped shirt and cap.

Waldo knew it was a bad idea when this book was published; seeing it on the shelves of international bookstores led him to question his own existence. Was it Waldo’s destiny to search for a man who did not want to be found? Was this the destiny of the children who would search for him through his mother’s books?

Feeling misguided, Waldo took his life at 26, diving from the top of a tall building into a sea of people dressed in his traditional garb to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the book that caused his suicide.