Off The Pages

Off the Pages - A Story of Courage and Creativity

The girl named Mona Lissa was in her shed, drawing away as her small assistant came to her.

"Mona!" The assistant said "I got the brush!"

"Thanks Pico." Mona said to her dragon friend.

Pico looked over at Mona scribbling with her pencil, she draw lines which looked so elegant and beautiful.

'She really has a talent' Thought Pico.

"What are you drawing." Asked Pico as Mona draw more lines.

"I'm drawing what others call a Ranunculus. I read it in this book which was all about the old days, when everything wasn't so mechanical and bare." Mona said excitedly "I was part of this thing called flowers! We don't have them here anymore but they look so pretty!"

The dragon smiled at the sixteen year old.

Pico watched Mona concentrate on her drawing, her tongue sticking out as she added more lines and small details.

"Ok," she said clapping her hands "I just need to outline and color. The magic brush Pico."

"Oh thank heavens, this was heavy." Whined Pico.

Mona leaned her chin on her hand with her elbow firmly placed on the table "To think you were supposed to be a big, strong, dragon." Mona joked to her dragon friend.

Pico glared at Mona "You could have known this would have happened," Pico spat angrily, pride hurt "you should have known that when you draw me, I would take the size of the paper."

Mona raised her eyebrow at the dragon and chuckled as she took the brush from the dragon's hands.

She dipped the brush on some paint and outlined and colored, soon enough, the painting started to take form.

"All done!" Exclaimed Mona which startled the sleeping dragon.

"Can you not?" Said the dragon rubbing his eyes.

Mona rolled her eyes as she placed her hand on the painting.

Suddenly, the painting went to life and popped out of the paper.

The Mona and Pico stared in awe as the beautiful ranunculus formed before their eyes.

Mona was the first to react. She reached out and took the flower in her hands ever so gently like it would break at the first touch. She examined the foreign object from top to bottom, from the green leaves on the what they would call the stem and the colorful petals on top.

She smelled the flower as it was written that they smell lovely.

And it was.

She held the flower near Pico's head so he may smell it as well.

He gave it a sniff, ending up coughing fire out instead of smelling it more in delight.

"Oh wow." Pico said still coughing up fire "That's strong."

Mona laughed as she filled a vase with water.

"What are you doing?" Asked the confused dragon.

"It said in the book that flowers need water and light." She said "But not too much."

She picked up the flower and placed it in vase "This vase looks so blank and boring." She said shaking her head.

"Well that's what you get when you take it out of the trash here." Explained Pico.

Mona took the brush and dipped it in paint, coloring the vase to put some color in it.

"And done, what do you think?" Asked Mona.