Not Allowed

VII

"Got enough stuff?" Ash asked as lugged my art case into the cave and opened it up.
       The case contained my fold able easel, two canvases, three sketchbooks, two cases of pencils and colored pencils, and forty nine different small paint tubes (I lost one). The case itself was about three and half feet tall, four feet in length, and eight inches deep. As a bonus it had wheels.
       "No I do not. You should see my studio," I replied. "So what would you like to start with? Never mind don't answer. We're starting with drawing."
       "Whatever you say," he said.
    I handed him a sketchbook and a pencil. "Alright draw me a tree."
    "Yes ma'am," he said giving a mocking salute. I sat down to wait for him to finish, but as soon as I sat down Ash yelled, "I'm done!"
         "You can't be done! That was like ten seconds! You cannot be done," I argued.
         "Wanna bet? Come and see," he said.
         I walked over and looked at his drawing. "Come on. A two year old could do a better job!" It was two lines with a cloud for a top.
        "No it's quality  work!"
         "Yeah! Poor quality!"
        "You think you can do better?"
         "I know I can do better! I'm a professional artist!"
         "Alright then your turn! Draw a damn tree!"
         I grabbed a sketchbook and pencil, "I will draw a damn tree!"
         We stared at each other for a moment and all at we both bursted out laughing.
         "Okay okay we both know that you can draw so much better then me. So let's not test it. If mine was so crappy then teach me."
           "First thing," I said sitting next to him. "You have to take your time. Second you need to visualize the object. Have you ever seen a tree that looks like this?" I pointed at his so called "drawing".
           "No?" He said in a small voice.
           "Exactly, everything has detail. Art let's us capture that detail in a precise moment in time and preserve it all, so we can look at it in that moment in time for a long time."                      .        He listened so intently, I almost forgot he was there. Usually when I rambled on about art I'd be talking to myself or in the past, to Spencer. He'd always grumble and groan when ever I rambled on. Sometimes he'd just straight up tell me to shut up. He never listened, but I was always the one who had to listen to stupid rants about Fidem and "how stupid of a village it is", his words not mine.
           Wait. I've never complained about Spencer's quirks. I never really minded them because I knew how to handle them, but now they're crawling under my skin and making me mad at him, especially the quirk where he never listened.
        Why was this popping up now? It's like I want to be mad at him. No I don't. I'm sad he's gone and I have to remember the goods things about him.  I pushed it all to the back of my mind.
         I shook my head. "I forgot that I have to go to work today."
        "What? Can't you not go in?"
        "Sorry I have to or else I won't get paid."
        "Awe come on. What about you're stuff?"
        "Why don't we just leave it here," I shrugged my shoulder.
        "Yeah, I guess that works."
        I stood at the mouth of the cave, "see ya later. Okay?"
        "Yeah see ya later," Ash said and I took off.
        I didn't actually have to go to work. I just needed to clear my mind of the anger I was beginning to feel towards Spencer. I needed to be somewhere where I wouldn't be so confused, so I went home the place I've been neglecting for weeks.
         I walked in the door and stepped into the kitchen my mom was cleaning the dishes. Other then her the house was empty.
         "Oh would you look at who it is. You're home early. What's up with that?" She asked.
         "I felt it was time I came out of the shadows," I shrugged and sat at the table.
         "Good for you hon. Do you want to talk about anything?" She said wiping her hands on a towel.
         "I think I've finally moved on," I said.
         "That's great sweetie," she hugged me and rubbed my back. "If you don't mind my asking where have you been going these past few weeks? Have you even talked to Rita and Josh? Have gone to work? What have you been doing?"
         "I've been exploring the woods," I lied. I can't tell anyone about the cave whether it's my mom or not . "And yes I've to Rita and Josh and I've gone to work, and I'm going in tomorrow too, so I haven't been in complete isolation."
          "Good. Good," she said nodding her head.  "Would you like to help me around the house I could really use it."
           "Yeah sure," I said standing up.
            For the rest of the day I helped around the house. I even cooked dinner, and spent time with my family, which I hadn't done very much of since meeting Ash. It helped forget about my anger, so I decided that I needed a small brake from the cave. Ash would live, and I could make something up to tell him. If he ends up getting to upset I could it up to him then, but I needed to figure out my confusion first.