Gray Disease

Chapter One: A Tuesday Kind of Day

I never knew how much I didn't know about the world until I happened upon a fateful Tuesday.

It started out as another typical morning, which was normal for most days in our town. Grove City was homey in the sense that only 8000 people filled its houses. The travel ban had consumed the last five decades, so it's not like we had many newcomers. Everyone knew everyone, and a name could hold a lot of value. I often dreamt of the day I could finally meet someone new. But it was only a fantasy in my mind, because no one else was coming around any time soon. Unless they were an infant. But I had a difficult time imagining myself befriending a one-year-old.

I hated Tuesdays and other horrid things with a passion so fierce that my sister often called me pessimistic. I always found that statement amusing, since she hated every other day of the week. I was more selective with my passionate hatred. Allie was a unique creature who battled with her own demons more often than she had the time or patience for. So she turned to her art, in ways that I could only be jealous of.

Allie's art shop was on the corner of the town square, a space that cost her a pretty penny to rent. Her drawings were her life, so I couldn't blame her for risking it all in this line of work. With a bright yellow-painted door that read "Allie's Arts", everyone knew what was hiding behind it. I opened the door, resulting in a soft chime from the bell hanging there. No one was around, allowing the sounds of piano to filter throughout the store. Allie was always moving her record player around, which often led to a fun treasure hunt for me when I had to flip the record. I wondered if she did that on purpose.

I threw my bag behind the wooden counter that wrapped around the entrance. Two lions were carved deeply into the counter wall, and I made sure to greet them as I walked by. Allie's boyfriend was as equally talented as she was, always carving anything she could dream up. I used to hate Brooks, but soon grew to love his creativity and willingness to make Allie happy. It wasn't easy to put Allie in a continuous good mood, yet Brooks seemed to have mastered the skill; which meant she had less to say to me, and I appreciated that.

Allie had a two room store, with both rooms filled to the brim with any kind of art you could imagine. Since she let me decorate a large portion of the store, I made sure to make things look as bright as they possibly could. In her room, she had her sketches scattered along the walls, with other people's paintings filling in the gaps. The photography table was seeming slightly empty, but I imagined that the winter had killed most people's creativity for colorful photos. It was spring now, so I expected the photos to come rolling in any day. In my room, I covered the walls with tapestries and fairy lights. A lime green cushioned chair (that my sister hated) was parked in the corner, next to a pile of my favorite classic books. Art forms take many shapes, in my opinion. Each table set up displayed a different art form, much like my sister's area. I was fond of the small trinkets that people could make. Coasters, earrings, tiny clay figures, we had it all.

In the far corner of the room was my art. Painting after painting, all stuffed in one small section. Allie had only given me a space big enough for three large canvases, yet I had managed to fit 10 of my paintings, stacking them up along the wall. Allie didn't like my art; she said it was too creepy and dark for her taste. I never understood how someone so negative could create the sweetest, most beautiful things.

Walking into the back office, I could hear a bundle of laughter growing. Allie was sitting on her stool, sketching away on a giant canvas. Brooks had his arms slung around her from behind, kissing her neck and tickling her sides. I tried to kill the immediate feelings of envy, but failed. As I almost always do. Allie was so different from me, and often unwelcoming, yet she had dated an arrangement of boys throughout the past few years. I had never been in love before. But then again, I had never really meant anyone that I could fall in love with.