On Mute

Introduction

"So, what school did you come from?" it was summer and I was sitting in a community run Visual Arts class; I was working on a sketch of a bowl of fruit while my neighbouring classmate stared at the object inventively, his pencil stuck behind his ear. Light shone in from the twenty windows that lined the whole side wall and it cast amazing shadows that I found made my piece look even more alive.

As I carved the coarse paper with my deep dark lines the boy beside me picked up his pencil and began to trace the outline of his soon to be sketch. I looked on in amazement at the perfectly placed lines that he seemed to cast effortlessly.

"I came from Richmond Junior High," his uttered quietly. I never looked up from my piece; I was focusing on the name and trying to place it. "It is on the other side of the city." I broke from thought and picked up my 6B then carefully began tracing a curved line around the apple.

"I thought so; it didn't sound like any of the ones nearby." Sitting in almost complete silence a thought occurred to me. "Then what brought you all the way out here?"Willow Creek High School was situated on the farthest reaches of the city limits, it was lined with evergreens and trails as far as the eye could see... not a stitch of asphalt in sight. Come to think of it, the only reason I went to this art class was because this was my soon to be high school ... and I wanted to get a sneak peek of it before I went there the following year.

"My folks wanted to get me out of the concrete jungle for the summer."

"Oh." I replied, that seemed like a very common excuse, but his parents must of been on to something because this boy was a natural artist! He gave me a sideways glance as he studied my sketch; I saw his features rather definitely.

"I think you are more of a 2HB person," he stated, he flashed me a pencil from his set that matched his description. "You make your lines very bold and deep, in order for them to mix together at the end I suggest you use a lighter pencil." He stared into my eyes, his deep opaque irises making sure I understood. I remember swallowing hard then looking away.

I picked up the 2HB, and never put it back down.