Glass Dragon

Chapter 2

I shrug and she smiles "it's not all that good." "Don't be so modest" she teases and pushes my shoulder. I grab my sharpie as soon as it dries and sign in the bottom left corner then hand both to her. All my paintings have been signed the same way. I've always signed the bottom left and she has the top right. I always admired her handwriting, the way it was so fancy in intricate twists and twirls. Plenty told her they couldn't read it because cursive is a dead writing to all those who don't care about calligraphy. I remember when I first met her. She was beautiful but made fun of so often because of her white blond hair; a hair color that's naturally all but gone. She was stereotyped as stupid on first sight even though, had any one talked to her, they would find she might as well have been the daughter of Athena or Apollo because she was the most intelligent and the strongest girl I'd ever met. She takes one of my blank canvas and stands me up in a position that makes me feel stupid and plain silly but she continues to paint. "What even are you painting" I ask but she looks back up with cold blue eyes that spoke pure intelligence "don't move." I snap back into the position but as soon as she puts the final brush stroke she whispers "done" and I collapse. "That's hard" I complain "I can't stand like that." She shows me the painting and I catch my breath, immediately knowing it was worth it. She's painted me with my ice blue eyes fixed on a white, snow covered dragon. The dragon is a Japanese style whose pure cyan eyes completely fix on those of the beholder. The shading and proportion of the colors seems perfect and so realistic it makes you feel cold. I can't help realizing that instead of wearing my usual blue hoody, in the painting I'm wearing a cloak of ice and a sheathed sword. It seems like the dragon is my loyal pet because it wreaths around me as I pet it. Seeing a meaning behind the painting I can't help hoping I can keep it. "Dragon" mother calls from the kitchen "time for dinner." I flinch at the sound of her voice but quickly scramble to my feet and head for the door knowing she'd have my head if I wasn't there in minutes. I stand at the table and stretch my hands to the two. After prayer, mom brings stuffed peppers to the table. Today is the day when we eat our favorite foods and fast the next day for the journey to the temple in the middle of the island. We worship the temples because they have been the only safe place since the Arctic melt. The earthquakes haven't been to bad lately but I've been worried that the island might drown. I smile and dig in once Aya and mom start to eat.