Isabella.

Isabella gives away nuts when she has too many and doesn't call it generosity; she simply throws nothing away that might still be useful. She keeps cables, notes, jars, things that might fit into something that doesn't exist yet. She doesn't do it out of carelessness, but because she doesn't want to decide yet what they mean. The t-shirt carries the face of someone who'd rather keep the option open than close it, and there's something endearing in that way of not letting go. Anyone with a drawer full of just-in-case knows what I mean.

It's the line she repeats most: "I can hear it, but I can't name it yet." It works for a mix, for an odd noise in a café, and for almost everything she keeps. Isabella listens before she names, and sometimes the name takes years to arrive; in the meantime, she holds on to it. She's a common barn owl from my Animal Kinhood series, and that unhurried calm is what I like most about her. If you recognize yourself, there's more about Isabella in her biography. Yago Partal signs it, and she isn't alone: she comes from a whole family of characters.