I used to be invisible, a shape changing magic kid.

Calvin could do anything he wanted.

He and Hobbes traveled time,

Turned into dinosaurs,

Got stuck in other dimensions.

Calvin was Mild-Mannered Calvin,

Stupendous Man,

And Spaceman Spiff.

Calvin was whatever he wanted to be.

I could move at the speed of thought and frequently I did,

Calvin fought aliens and tobogganed down Suicide Slope

and Perilous Peak.

He hiked through the woods behind his house

and wanted to be a tiger.

But my greatest accomplishment was a slow and looping glide.

Hobbes was a wise philosopher and a math master.

Calvin and Hobbes could do anything.

I saw the tops of everything, back when I could fly.

I'd take my daily nap on the highest leafy branch,

"Calvin, do your homework.

Stop breaking things. Settle down.

Make some real friends."

And follow shooting stars on a comet's fiery lance.

Calvin turned seven and life began to change.

In the second grade, if you don't do your homework,

You lose priveleges.

I was quite the prodigy, when I owned the sky.

There was TV, then his trucks.

The final straw was Hobbes.

Hobbes was shut away in the closet

Until Calvin learned to behave himself.

I never thought I'd have to walk, back when I could fly.

Keep your eye on the ball, your feet on solid ground.

In seventh grade, there was no recess.

Calvin's best friend was Moe.

Always sit up straight and tall and never make a sound.

He had a crush on Susie Derkins.

In just a few short years, I learned not to be a child,

Hobbes sat in the back of the closet

In a box labeled, "Transmogrifier."

And I forgot the things I had when I was wild.

Now, my child, you'll learn arithmetic, coloring and sports.

Calvin was 18 and going to college.

You'll have a flair for nouns and verbs, and be late with book reports.

He was going through his closet, and found a dusty old cardboard box.

It read "Transmogrifier."

But in spite of all the rules that bind your wings so tight,

Calving pulled Hobbes out of the closet

And wiped the dust away.

He sat on the floor of his room with Hobbes, trying to remember.

I hope you won't forget about the days when you could fly.

I'd take my daily nap on the highest leafy branch,

Stupendous man could turn the world around

And make it Saturday.

And follow shooting stars on a comet's fiery lance.

Spaceman Spiff never managed to defeat

The Evil Mom-Lady.

I was quite the prodigy, when I owned the sky.

Hobbes hadn't forgotten how to talk,

Calvin had forgotten how to listen.

Hobbes went into the "Give-away" box.

I never thought I'd have to walk, I never had to try.

Sitting in a dark box,

Hobbes wondered

If there was a small boy who would hear

A story about…

Back when I could fly.