The Lemon Tree and the Little Possum

by Yan Dong

It began quietly — beneath a lemon tree in my front yard.
Each night, a small ringtail possum would appear, its soft fur glowing under the streetlight. It would climb the branches, nibble on leaves, and sometimes pause, watching me as I returned home from work. That gentle gaze felt like a secret between two beings who had quietly accepted each other’s presence.

For most people, a possum is just another creature of the night — a shadow that scurries across fences and rooftops. But for me, it became a small friend, a symbol of quiet company in a busy city. There was something fragile yet determined about it; something that made me want to keep that moment forever.

So, one night, I took out my sketchbook.
The pencil began to move — not just tracing a shape, but a feeling. The first version of OZZ POSSUM was born under that lemon tree: a soft, round, and gentle spirit inspired by a real visitor who never asked to be noticed, but who somehow made the world a little warmer.

A few months later, in mid-October, I found him again — lying quietly in a small flower bed by the roadside. His tiny body was curled up, motionless. The little friend who once waited for me had left this world.

I was heartbroken. Yet I realized there were two ways to keep him alive.
One was through a short video I had filmed of him, and the other was through art. I redrew OZZ POSSUM, refining every detail — the fur, the eyes, the tail — to make it look closer to him. That became the second version, the one that still lives today.

Through this design, his brief life continues — not in the trees or under the streetlight, but in the digital space, where he can keep smiling, dancing, and waiting for us to come home.