My oldest dresses up and gets inside the fireplace of a chimney someplace
A Free Elf in the Fireplace!
My oldest child was a Harry Potter fan from the beginning of those magickal chronicles of the hidden European wizarding world. The first novel came out in 1997, a mere three years after she was born on the floor at home, and the first movie came out in 2001. We stood in long lines for books and movies. We repeated this all the way to the last film was released in 2011, about two years before this picture.
Morgan was quite taken with the character of Dobby, a House Elf, the plight of the Elves, and the racism and classism they endured. She was ecstatic when Dobby was liberated and became a proud Free Elf. She eventually had “A Free Elf” tattooed on one of her legs above her ankle.
In 2015 Morgan attempted to thruhike the Appalachian Trail. She backpacked over half of it before painful ankle and knee injuries caused her to choose to get off the trail to heal. Turned out she was plagued with a belatedly diagnosed connective tissue disorder, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, that triggered frequent reinjury. EDS made one prone to joint and soft tissue injures in the first place. These were weepy times, and the right choice. Morgan rested up and healed enough to backpack about a hundred miles of the Washington section of the Pacific Crest Trail. Her trail name on these treks was, “Weasely” from one of the British wizarding families in Harry Potter. She adored the Weasely family.
The grin of a Free Elf
Morgan went on to graduate from Western Washington University in Bellingham in mid-December of 2016. After saving up money from working multiple jobs, she traveled the world. In a few more years, Morgan came out to identify as a nonbinary Queer person, took the name Dylan, and adopted they/them pronouns. Dylan, ironically, was the name their Mom and I chose for our son if our firstborn has been a boy instead of a girl. Dylan also spent some time yo-yoing between New York City, Seattle, and Los Angeles before settling in the Big Apple where they got into grad school. Then the Covid Pandemic hit. The virus caused a volatile mix of fear, silence, and pandemonium.
Morgan the future Dylan down at the bottom of a chimney being a Free Elf. I love the way their eyes light up with mischievous delight.
Not sure who took this picture of Morgan/Dylan nearly 13 years ago as I write in February of 2026. Perhaps it was me. Perhaps it was one of her sisters or her stepmom Kristina. I do recognize it as the Pinehurst area Dragonfly House where Kristina, soon to officially be an ex, still lived in North Seattle.
The fireplace seems more like a dark portal between different dimensional spaces and timelines. It is surrounded by energetic fire. In the midst of it all sits a transcendent Free Elf.
Somewhere there’s a foto of Dylan’s leg tattooed with “A Free Elf,” and darn if I can’t find it. Searched all thru my Apple Photos libraries. It’s somewhere in there. Or will just have to snap another one of my daughter’s lower leg as the years zoom by into the archives of Time.
William Dudley Bass
Tuesday 3 February 2026
Shoreline/Seattle, Washington
USA
Cascadia
Earth
Copyright © 2026 by William Dudley Bass. All Rights Reserved by the Author & his Descendants until we Humans establish Wise Stewardship over and for our Earth and Solarian Commons. Thank you.