This box shone like none before,
glistening.

Colors danced around
in harmony.

Simply put, twas simply beautiful;
simple.

The kind of puzzle you complete
to relax.

Like a sandy stroll,
thoughtless yet peaceful.

Eagerly, I slid off the lid,
antsy.

I could not believe it.

The sight stunned me,
breathless.

Hundreds, no, thousands
of tiny pieces.

Smugly piled on top of each other,
“I’m impossible,” they seemed to jeer.

But I smirked.
I had finished bigger jigsaws before.

Dumping the contents on a table,
I began.

At first, it was not easy,
I didn’t know where to start.

But I got the hang of it,
piece by piece.

I laid the groundwork,
relieving my future self.

But then something happened
that changed everything.

I glanced over and saw a timer:
20 minutes left.

It smiled evilly,
mocking me.

My hands began to shake,
sweating.

I looked at all the pieces.
Too many.

I wanted to quit.

But I looked again at the box.
The finished puzzle was wonderful.

I got back to work,
frantically.

I put down every piece I could.
But it was not enough.

10 minutes.

I was so close,
yet so far.

I tried every strategy I could think of.
5 minutes.

But I had an idea.

I called over some friends
to conquer this thing together.

We used all of our hands, and did everything we could.

Ten seconds.

Even closer.

At last, we got every piece in.
But wait!

There was still a blank space in the puzzle.
5 seconds.

I looked under the table, and found it:
The last piece.

I quickly put it in the open space just as the timer ran out.

We did it.

We all celebrated and cheered,
and I looked at the puzzle.

It was a picture of a mother and baby Vaquita,
Safely swimming.

The puzzle is a metaphor for the Vaquita’s situation. The solution seems simple, yet there are endless tiny pieces that must be put together in order to save the species. There is also the added pressure of a biological timer, the decline of the population. But if we work together, we can solve this real-life jigsaw puzzle.

And the finished product will be beautiful.