Let them think what they like, but I didn't mean to drown myself. I meant to swim till I sank-- but that's not the same thing.- Joseph Conrad, The Secret Sharer and other stories
CHAPTER #12
Peter cancelled all the Cliff Hanger's duties and gave them free time, to deal with what had happened to Chris. He saw Chris go to the art room. She was drawing and then began painting. Peter hoped she was releasing whatever had caused her mental break, via the art. Auggie came up beside him.
"I'll keep an eye on her Peter, I've got a project to finish myself."
"Thanks Auggie. I need to go call her sister and find out what was said. I'll check in with you in a while." Peter left them alone.
Auggie tried to get Chris to talk to him, but she remained mute. So he focused on his own work. When he was done, he checked out what she was working on.
"Wow Chris that's really good," he praised.
She shrugged and continued painting. When he said he was around if she wanted to talk, she nodded. Juliette came and they left. Peter returned and sat in a chair near Chris.
"I talked to your sister. I'm sorry she said that to you."
Chris just ignored him and continued to paint. She was numb. For once in her life, she was numb without alcohol or drugs. She had always wanted to be numb, but now that she was, she wished she wasn't.
"Tell me what you were feeling when you ran into the woods," Peter probed.
Silence met his request. Just the sound of the brush on canvas. Eventually he gave up trying to get her to talk. Daisy and Ezra came by then and he went into the hall to talk to them.
"We'll watch her Peter," Ezra said.
Daisy added, "Sophie is back from town and is looking for you."
He thanked them and left to go find his wife.
Daisy and Ezra worked on an english assignment, while Chris painted. Ezra peaked at her art, knowing she hated anyone seeing it until her work was finished. He could see that she had painted a mountain and a person was standing on the mountain. The figure was far away, so you couldn't tell if it was male or female. The arms were spread wide. Then the spirit of the person seemed to leap off the mountain and into the air, then it turned into an eagle, which was soaring in the air. The eagle was large in the picture, as if it could fly off the canvas. The realism was fantastic. She was working on finishing the eagle, as the rest of the painting was done.
"Chris it's time for dinner, you need to clean up."
Auggie went to help her and saw that her painting was done. It was the most awesome thing he had seen. "That is fantastic Chris. It's worthy of hanging in a gallery."
She looked at him and then turned the painting around and signed the back. Together they cleaned up her paints and brushes. Then washed up. Juliette and Auggie walked Chris to the dinner line up. Sophie was there watching over them. Chris got food, but she wasn't hungry. Whenever Sophie looked at her, she made sure to have a fork in her mouth.
"Hey if you don't want your steak, I'll have it." Scott pushed his empty plate towards Chris. She exchanged plates. "Thanks, I'm still hungry."
She took the empty plate, making sure Sophie saw her. Then she left. Back at the art room, she took the dried canvas and went into the guy's dorm. She put it above Scott's bed. It was her way of saying thank you to him. Chris truly didn't remember anything after the phone call. It's what happened to her when her anger turned to rage. In the past she'd almost strangled a person to death, when it had happened. After that it took a lot to push her over the edge of sanity. She left and returned to her own dorm. As expected Juliette waited for her and then they went back to the main lodge together.
