October Prompt #4 The soul of an artist
I knew it was bad when there was a huge yellow splatter in the hall. My first thought was of Lian. She hadn’t had school that day; something about the teachers having a professional in-service day. Which meant she got a three day weekend and to stay up late. It also meant that someone had to be here with her during the day; I had monitor duty. Luckily, my lil’ bro had been campaigning for a visit for some time.
I called out his name as I side stepped the yellow blotch on my wood floors and headed into the living room. “Conn-”
The call died on my lips. A rainbow had thrown up in my living room. A long blue gash was on the ball behind the picture of Dinah and Dick I’d taken last year at Lian’s birthday party. There was a line of orange that went around the coffee table in the middle of the room. On the coffee table was a sea of red and brown. In the middle of the chaos was Lian and Connor. Connor, frozen in place, was holding white plastic cups, one for every color in the room; there was yellow and blue on his Star City tee shirt. Lian, a smear of purple on her cheek, was bent over the coffee table, canvas paper in hand. From my position I could make out bright green grass and figures on the paper.
Dumbfounded I turned in a circle. “I… Uh… Wow. You have draw on the paper baby not… not on the whole room.”
“I know!” Lian cried desperately.
“We didn’t mean to--” Connor began.
“It was an accident,” Lian broke in.
“One at a time,” I eased. I placed my bow and quiver in the arm chair nearest me. But, not before checking it for paint.
“Lian wanted to paint you a picture--”
“And I did, Daddy!”
“And when she was finished we were starting to clean up, but Lian spilled the orange paint. I went to clean it up, slipped and paint kind of… flew everywhere,” Connor finished quietly.
“We were gone clean it up ‘fore you got home,” Lian added. Her eyes became downcast and a small pout came to her mouth. She had me.”
“I know you were Princess, I know.”
Slowly, she walked to me-canvas paper in hand. Lain lifted it up to me, pout still in place. I took the artwork gingerly. On green grass were six figures: two green, two red, one blue and one orange. 3 of them had long hair.
“You, Dinah and Mia,” I said point to the figures.
Lian nodded her head and stood up on her tippy toes as she angled her head to the see the paper.
“And that’s you, Granpa Ollie and Uncle Connor,” she explained in a hushed tone. She got down from her tippy toes and looked up at me with those big brown puppy eyes. “I’m sorry we wrecked the living room. Daddy.”
Any anger I might have had left fled from my body. I scooped her up into my arms and looked back down at the picture. “That’s okay. It was worth it.”
Muse: Roy Harper
Fandom: DC Comics
Word count: 531
I called out his name as I side stepped the yellow blotch on my wood floors and headed into the living room. “Conn-”
The call died on my lips. A rainbow had thrown up in my living room. A long blue gash was on the ball behind the picture of Dinah and Dick I’d taken last year at Lian’s birthday party. There was a line of orange that went around the coffee table in the middle of the room. On the coffee table was a sea of red and brown. In the middle of the chaos was Lian and Connor. Connor, frozen in place, was holding white plastic cups, one for every color in the room; there was yellow and blue on his Star City tee shirt. Lian, a smear of purple on her cheek, was bent over the coffee table, canvas paper in hand. From my position I could make out bright green grass and figures on the paper.
Dumbfounded I turned in a circle. “I… Uh… Wow. You have draw on the paper baby not… not on the whole room.”
“I know!” Lian cried desperately.
“We didn’t mean to--” Connor began.
“It was an accident,” Lian broke in.
“One at a time,” I eased. I placed my bow and quiver in the arm chair nearest me. But, not before checking it for paint.
“Lian wanted to paint you a picture--”
“And I did, Daddy!”
“And when she was finished we were starting to clean up, but Lian spilled the orange paint. I went to clean it up, slipped and paint kind of… flew everywhere,” Connor finished quietly.
“We were gone clean it up ‘fore you got home,” Lian added. Her eyes became downcast and a small pout came to her mouth. She had me.”
“I know you were Princess, I know.”
Slowly, she walked to me-canvas paper in hand. Lain lifted it up to me, pout still in place. I took the artwork gingerly. On green grass were six figures: two green, two red, one blue and one orange. 3 of them had long hair.
“You, Dinah and Mia,” I said point to the figures.
Lian nodded her head and stood up on her tippy toes as she angled her head to the see the paper.
“And that’s you, Granpa Ollie and Uncle Connor,” she explained in a hushed tone. She got down from her tippy toes and looked up at me with those big brown puppy eyes. “I’m sorry we wrecked the living room. Daddy.”
Any anger I might have had left fled from my body. I scooped her up into my arms and looked back down at the picture. “That’s okay. It was worth it.”
Muse: Roy Harper
Fandom: DC Comics
Word count: 531