SOC 101 (SUBJECT 2)✓

11

-ARTIST-

I had developed a habit over time, and it took me a while to realize what I had been doing. Ever since I was younger, I had gotten entranced by art and everything related to it. It was always so beautiful to stare at the designs, to decipher whatever the artist had in mind while they were making it, and fall in love some more knowing what led to it. I had always been that person. During an exhibit by our cathedral, the priest had invited children from other districts to show their talents and one particular one had caught my eyes.

He was shy, twiddling his thumbs as he stood beside the work of art. His eyes -I couldn't deny it- were beautiful, they had specks of blue and green in them and I wanted to see more. He had drawn something beautiful, no one could have understood. Perhaps my mind had always been in the gutter, but I knew it was the body of a woman. He had traced it so intricately, lightly drawing the sides without giving off too much.

I started drawing after that, not knowing what exactly to draw or how to begin, but I knew I wanted to. To this day, the look my mother had on her face when she saw me cradling the piece of paper I had drawn on remained one of the most satisfactory ones. Her eyes wide and her mouth gaping as she asked who had given it to me.

I knew now that it was a given, it wasn't just the fact that I wanted to do it. It became my drive and the only thing that I could do without a struggle, it calmed me. I had completely forgotten about it when mother had hauled me back to the County. Since my lockdown was coming to an end, the number of distractions I had kept going down in numbers, and I couldn't keep up with myself either.

I kept drawing random lines in my sketchbook, a yawn slipping past my lips as I drew another before wiping it again upon noticing how imperfect the line seemed to be. I drew it again, this time lightly holding onto my pencil as I drew the line. I watched myself as I kept on drawing the lines. Line after line, my eyes gazed down tiredly at the piece. My mother had gone out some time ago, and I was left alone to keep myself entertained even though there was nothing to do.

Scoffing, I turned my head again, drawing a line, completely ignoring the chores my mother had assigned to me. I knew there was no way I would finish in time as I kept tracing along the book. I stood up, stretching, hearing the satisfying sounds of my bones cracking as I did. That was necessary. I picked up the drawing to analyze what I had drawn.

The drawing in my hands stared back at me, and I felt my eyes widen in surprise. I had been randomly tracing lines on the sketchbook, but the finished product was one of pure sin. What was I thinking? I pulled the sketch up to my face as I turned around in surprise. The random lines I had been drawing... What was this? I sighed, slapping the sketchbook shut as I got up from my position on the chair. If that was all I was going to draw, I might as well get started with my chores.

I tried to avoid anything that reminded me of the showerhead incident some days back. Even though I still found myself wanting more of the feeling, the fear I had gotten from that day was more than enough reason for me to avoid looking at it, talk less of touching it.

I got out of the room, humming a tune as I did. I wanted to get started as soon as possible. Yesterday, mother had had her friends over and they had enjoyed themselves, leaving me with a ton of dishes. Mother hadn't bothered to clean up after herself, not even bothering to pick up the foil that I had used to cover the food before her arrival. The bottles on the floor and the lingering smell of alcohol in the air showed that mother hadn't tried to do anything at all. She had entered my room when she was about to leave, instructing me to clear up the living room and do the laundry.

The trash bag in the room's corner caught my eyes, and I picked it up, taking the bottles and everything else and dumping it inside it. They had stained the floor with alcohol and I grimaced knowing that I'd have to clean it and disinfect the area so the pungent smell didn't eventually become a problem.

I hurriedly went out to dispose of the bag into the bin, feeling myself get itchy as I kept inhaling it. I went to the kitchen, watching as the dishes increased in size in my mind. They had completely finished everything I had cooked, piling up the dishes while I slept. They had been so loud through the night that it took me some time to fall asleep even though I had been in bed for so long. I had watched the clock tick along to their loud conversations. Mummy Kamsy had been there as well, cheering and saying 'ride on' as my mother spoke in tongues. How had the food and alcohol been for a fellowship?

I didn't bother thinking further than I already had because thinking breeds questions, questions I knew my mother would scoff at and ignore. It was rather pointless to get myself worked up over her. I rinsed the last plate in the sink and placed it among the rest, leaving them to drain before arranging them. My mind kept humming the tune from earlier and I wondered where I had heard it, I tried to remember the words of the song as well to no avail. Must have been one of the songs Ryth kept playing.

The squelching sound of the water as the bubbles splashed around made me take a quick break, flexing my hands as I stopped for a bit. The cloth my mother had worn last night was white. She had gotten her beer on it and bits of food. It had dried up, making it hard for me to wash easily. I wanted to sleep, the need to do just that started surpassing that of the need to finish up the last chore I had.

When I eventually finished, I hurriedly spread my mother's. I went back inside to wash mine, repeating the process all over again. The wobble in my steps remained when I bent to sweep away the soapy suds that stayed on the bathroom floor. I grumpily walked back to my room and threw myself on the bed feeling the tiredness begin to weigh me down. My eyes fluttered shut as I yawned and stretched on the bed.

The breeze got a little too cold which made me pull at the covers to cover my body, turning to the side to keep myself warm. The breeze was suddenly accompanied by water and I felt the light taps of the water on my skin, I jumped up, closing the windows, the sound of the rain finally reaching my ears as I closed them. The sleep in my eyes disappeared as I suddenly remembered the clothes I had washed outside.

I ran out of the house, hurrying to pick a bucket as the pelts of rain dropped swiftly. I rushed to pack the clothes, packing in the first batch before rushing out to pack mine. I knew mother's clothes would have nearly dried so mine was allowed to get wet. I sighed as the water dripped from my hair and on my body. I shivered slightly before going into the empty room and pulling out the rack we kept in cases like this.

After spreading all the clothes on the rack, I walked out of the room, locking it and going into mine. The clothes had dried on my body and I could feel the sand on my skin as I took off the dress I had on. I hurried into the shower, rinsing the dirt and sweat off my body before hurrying back out because the water was cold. I frowned as I opened the dresser; I had washed all my clothes. What was I going to wear? There was no way I could wear that dress again.

I stomped my feet before my eyes drifted towards my bag. The bag I had taken to the university, I made my way towards it, rubbing at my arms to get a bit of heat. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I looked at the content in my bag. I still had clothes in it. I poured out the content of the bag, a box rolling off the bed and falling down by my feet. I picked it up, throwing it on my bed as I found another dress and threw it on.

I finally picked up the box, hurrying to read the note as I opened it. I gasped, nearly dropping it as I read the words Ryth had written on the note. Taking a leap of faith, I poured out the content of the box, noting the tiny device that dropped on my bed before rereading the note over and over to make sure I hadn't missed something. Ryth still remained a pain even though she was so far away from me.

~

A bit of a filler chapter. Sorry for the late update.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter?