[cl] 19. Twilight
[Set in Shelter: The Teen Years. gramslilpicasso is used with permission and love.]
“Mom, are vampires attractive?”
Bela blinked in confusion at the sudden question, trying to figure out where that train of thought had come from. Sara-Rose was sitting at the counter, leaning over her bowl of cereal as she waited for her mother to answer.
“ … I don’t think I understand the question.”
She gave a bit of a frustrated sigh, before rewording the question. “You’ve seen a real vampire, right? The kind Uncle Dean and Uncle Sam hunt?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I have. An associate of mine was turned into one once.”
“Well-are they as good looking as the books make them out to be?” Or the TV shows? She looked honestly frustrated. “Because really-I don’t get it.”
“They’re … not actually,” Bela replied. “All teeth, no manners. Why is this bothering you?”
She ran a hand through her hair as she leaned back in the chair. “We were given an assignment in art class-‘twilight’. But everyone is doing it based on those stupid vampire books, and whenever I go to google what actual twilight looks like, all I get are the stupid movie posters and book covers!” She let out a frustrated noise before continuing. “I just want to do my assignment, and not have it be like everyone else’s in the class. Or find a way to make it my own.”
Bela gave her a small smile, before reaching for the laptop that her daughter had abandoned next to her. “I’m sure we can find something. Have you tried just looking up the definition itself?”
“Yes.” Her tone indicated that she didn’t like it being implied that she didn’t at least try and do her work herself. “I can’t just work off words, though. I have to be able to visualize it.”
Bela sighed again, before nodding. “Alright. You take a break. Let me look around and see what I can find, and we’ll see. But did your art teacher say it had to be directly related? This is about inspiration, honeybug. Not accuracy.”
Sara-Rose watched her for a minute, before nodding. “Okay. I can do that.”
“Good,” Bela nodded. “Just relax. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be beautiful.”
Sara-Rose reached over, giving her mother’s hand a squeeze. “Thanks, Mom,” she said softly, before disappearing upstairs to her room. That was the last Bela saw of her until the art show, aside from brief appearances for dinner and other events, but never long enough for Bela to actually talk to her about what she was working on. In the final stages of the piece, Bela was away on business, but she made it back to town again just in time for the art show.
She went straight from the airport to the event, not even bothering to go home and change or eat dinner. The art school she was attending was rather expensive, which meant that there was going to be at least something substantial for the h’ordeuvres, but it still wasn’t going to be much. Either way, she wasn’t going to be late either, and quickly made her way through the streets of New York to the hall where the show was being held.
The minute she stepped in the door, Sara-Rose’s hand was on her arm and dragging her through the room, explaining as she went. “So turns out each class got a different kind of prompt and that was the focus of our ‘collection’ and the piece that they felt most fit the prompt got to be presented as the centerpiece of the collection.”
Bela let herself be dragged along until they stood in the center of the ‘Twilight’ collection surrounded by different variations on the book-related definition of twilight. In front of her however, was a beautiful landscape piece done in oranges, reds and blues, and eventually her eyes scanned down to where the title plate for the painting was located.
Twilight, n.- 1. the soft, diffused light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon, either from daybreak to sunrise or, more commonly, from sunset to nightfall.
2. NOT a young adult vampire book series.
By Sara-Rose Westen
“The judges said I was traditional, but still gave my own perspective and didn’t give in to commercial pressure.” There was a beat, and she could hear the pride in her daughter’s voice. “So?” she said softly. Bela could tell that she was watching her, waiting for some kind of reaction to what she was looking at. “What do you think?”
Bela turned back to her with a smile and wrapped her arms around her. “I love it. I think you did a fantastic job.”
Sara-Rose clung back to her. “Good. I’m glad.” There was a pause for a moment. “Did you come right from the airport?”
The sudden change of subject jarred her for a second, before she looked down at her daughter in surprise. “Yes, I did.”
“Hungry?”
“Starving,” she said with a grin, before Sara-Rose took her hand again. “Lead the way.”
843 words
“Mom, are vampires attractive?”
Bela blinked in confusion at the sudden question, trying to figure out where that train of thought had come from. Sara-Rose was sitting at the counter, leaning over her bowl of cereal as she waited for her mother to answer.
“ … I don’t think I understand the question.”
She gave a bit of a frustrated sigh, before rewording the question. “You’ve seen a real vampire, right? The kind Uncle Dean and Uncle Sam hunt?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I have. An associate of mine was turned into one once.”
“Well-are they as good looking as the books make them out to be?” Or the TV shows? She looked honestly frustrated. “Because really-I don’t get it.”
“They’re … not actually,” Bela replied. “All teeth, no manners. Why is this bothering you?”
She ran a hand through her hair as she leaned back in the chair. “We were given an assignment in art class-‘twilight’. But everyone is doing it based on those stupid vampire books, and whenever I go to google what actual twilight looks like, all I get are the stupid movie posters and book covers!” She let out a frustrated noise before continuing. “I just want to do my assignment, and not have it be like everyone else’s in the class. Or find a way to make it my own.”
Bela gave her a small smile, before reaching for the laptop that her daughter had abandoned next to her. “I’m sure we can find something. Have you tried just looking up the definition itself?”
“Yes.” Her tone indicated that she didn’t like it being implied that she didn’t at least try and do her work herself. “I can’t just work off words, though. I have to be able to visualize it.”
Bela sighed again, before nodding. “Alright. You take a break. Let me look around and see what I can find, and we’ll see. But did your art teacher say it had to be directly related? This is about inspiration, honeybug. Not accuracy.”
Sara-Rose watched her for a minute, before nodding. “Okay. I can do that.”
“Good,” Bela nodded. “Just relax. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be beautiful.”
Sara-Rose reached over, giving her mother’s hand a squeeze. “Thanks, Mom,” she said softly, before disappearing upstairs to her room. That was the last Bela saw of her until the art show, aside from brief appearances for dinner and other events, but never long enough for Bela to actually talk to her about what she was working on. In the final stages of the piece, Bela was away on business, but she made it back to town again just in time for the art show.
She went straight from the airport to the event, not even bothering to go home and change or eat dinner. The art school she was attending was rather expensive, which meant that there was going to be at least something substantial for the h’ordeuvres, but it still wasn’t going to be much. Either way, she wasn’t going to be late either, and quickly made her way through the streets of New York to the hall where the show was being held.
The minute she stepped in the door, Sara-Rose’s hand was on her arm and dragging her through the room, explaining as she went. “So turns out each class got a different kind of prompt and that was the focus of our ‘collection’ and the piece that they felt most fit the prompt got to be presented as the centerpiece of the collection.”
Bela let herself be dragged along until they stood in the center of the ‘Twilight’ collection surrounded by different variations on the book-related definition of twilight. In front of her however, was a beautiful landscape piece done in oranges, reds and blues, and eventually her eyes scanned down to where the title plate for the painting was located.
Twilight, n.- 1. the soft, diffused light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon, either from daybreak to sunrise or, more commonly, from sunset to nightfall.
2. NOT a young adult vampire book series.
By Sara-Rose Westen
“The judges said I was traditional, but still gave my own perspective and didn’t give in to commercial pressure.” There was a beat, and she could hear the pride in her daughter’s voice. “So?” she said softly. Bela could tell that she was watching her, waiting for some kind of reaction to what she was looking at. “What do you think?”
Bela turned back to her with a smile and wrapped her arms around her. “I love it. I think you did a fantastic job.”
Sara-Rose clung back to her. “Good. I’m glad.” There was a pause for a moment. “Did you come right from the airport?”
The sudden change of subject jarred her for a second, before she looked down at her daughter in surprise. “Yes, I did.”
“Hungry?”
“Starving,” she said with a grin, before Sara-Rose took her hand again. “Lead the way.”
843 words