You guys ever heard of this thing called “Flat Stanley”? It’s this class project for elementary school students where they mail a paper doll to an adult and instruct him or her to show the doll around town, take photographs, and send the whole thing back to the students can so they can, most likely, be bored to tears.

Well last month I learned something about my six-year old niece – she apparently has my home address.

Boom! There it was, waiting for me in my mailbox – an envelope containing the paper doll (named “Flat Blake” by the class), a letter of request by some kid in my niece’s class (horrible penmanship BTW), and a form for me to fill in, detailing our adventure. It was like being the biographer for a tiny comatose man.

So, rather than putting any effort into it, I decided instead to just scan Flat Blake, do a little Photoshop nonsense, and print the whole shebang on photo paper. Here’s what I sent back to the class:

The initial letter I received said the class would put my pictures on display. Not too long ago my mom visited my niece’s school and I asked her to look for it. Here’s the photo she sent back: