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So where is Waldo, really?

Marco Alexander Pastor-Mayo

It was a dark and rainy day, as usual in London. A promising young illustrator was

toying playfully with creative ideas for a cartoon character; a man who was an erudite, a

traveler of both of time and space; a man who enjoyed experiencing fleeting moments in

history without standing out. He was always there, but it would be a strenuous task to

find him. Finally, an image came to Martin Handford: a tall man, wearing glasses and a

nightcap, who would always be carrying books. From head to toes, his gear and clothes

would all be striped in white and red. At that moment, in 1987, Waldo was born. Since

then, the world has asked itself one question: where is he?

You see, for Waldo is agile, quick, habile and resourceful, it takes one a good deal of

effort to find him. They say he likes to stay at the same place for a while and be taken apicture of. The images that have been made throughout history are all published in the

childrens books called Wheres Waldo for their entertainment. Nevertheless,

scientists, sociologists, historians, photographers, artists, psychologists, writers and

detectives all over the world have attempted to find where he is right now, or where he

was, or when he is. Perhaps they try to answer all three of these questions. Still, the only

clues we have today are the fateful depictions of moments of history where we know

Waldo has visited such as Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, the Crusades, Medieval

Europe, Ancient Japan, Colonial America and some disturbing moments yet to occur in

the future. Regardless of many efforts, hardly anything is known of Waldo apart from

what is found in these pictures.

I believe that Waldos location in space and time touches a deeper meaning towards

society. It is obvious (at least to me) that Waldos transportation in space and time

depends entirely on his friend Wizard Whitebeard, who possesses a magical staff. Thus,

I embarked on my own quest to discover the location of Wizard Whitebeard, if he was

to be alive in our period. After looking into several claims of real wizards, I heard

rumors of where the true Wizard Whitebeard may be. Apparently, J.R.R Tolkien had

met this wizard and it served him as inspiration for his novels based in Middle-Earth.

Some said that his grandson, Christopher Tolkien, might have also met him. Luckily forme, the chauffer of the father of a friend of a friend of mine was the neighbor of

Christopher Tolkien. I soon found myself knocking on Mr. Tolkiens door on a rainy

day (the same kind of day that brought Waldo into the world). He greeted me with much

hospitality and showed me the truth about magic and unknown creatures. The

disappointing truth about them was that they were all made-up and Wizard Whitebeard

was the only person or thing that Mr. Tolkien ever knew to be or act in a supernatural

manner. Yet he did tell me of a place I might find the surreptitious wizard: a cabin near

a port in Antarctica. When I returned home, by some strange or fateful coincidence of

life, a friend called me saying that he had won a free trip to any part of the Antarctica

and he wanted to invite me. As you can imagine, I did meet Wizard Whitebeard; a

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worried old man, living in solitude. His only hobbies were ice fishing and practicing

magic.

My stay at this frozen cabin was short, but the days became wearisome and my friend

was eager for us to take our leave. Nonetheless, I wanted to discover the truth about

Waldo and find his exact location at some point during my stay. Wizard Whitebeard

told me that Waldo had been sent to a moment in the near past that in future years

would become iconic to our lives in the short space of history. The exact moment was

never revealed to me, but on the day that my travel companion and I were about to leave

North, Waldo appeared. He was smiling, as always, and was carrying a pile of books.

From head to toes, his gears and clothes were all striped in white and red. He shouted to

Wizard Whitebeard Its done! neglecting me and my friend. Swiftly, I grabbed my

camera and took a picture of him. At first sight, it is hard to locate him in the picture,

for there were dozens of penguins around him, but there he was. He disappeared

magically from the site a moment afterwards, leaving nothing behind him but his image.Strangely enough, my photograph looked cartoony (it is probably suitable for one of his

childrens books).

The journey back home was much more interesting and dangerous than anything

mentioned here, and my friend and I were stranded on an island with an unknown

indigenous tribe. However, what was truly important was what I had discovered

previously about Waldo. I have deduced that Waldo is a simple bystander, who takes

pleasure in being present at moments of history that show us how much we have

evolved, but never gets involved with it. It has become clear to me that Waldos

location is not important: what is important is what we decide to do with the remindersthat he has left us throughout history.