An Imperfect Beauty and Her Beast

A Different Plan

 David grew distant from me during the weeks we didn't talk. I would've been happy, but everyday life just became kind of boring. Josh was annoyed that neither of us said much to each other, but he and I still hung out. But our late night movies abruptly stopped and David hardly ever said a word at meals, well if he even bothered to show up. The only good thing that happened was that it was snowing a lot. I loved just looking at the scenery the snow created with the garden and woods. It seemed almost magical.

It was exactly one week before Christmas and this place was anything but merry. No Christmas music was played, no decorations were put up, and there wasn't even a tree! I thought David was just procrastinating, but come on. The best part about the month of December is getting every bit of Christmas from it. If I were home we would have started getting ready for Christmas at the beginning of the month. But, this is obviously not home.

The whole place was quite when I walked out into the hallway. Well that could have something to do with it being 6 in the morning. I tried going back to sleep when I woke up at 5, but my thoughts wouldn't let me. My brain recalled random memories that made me physically cringe. Eventually I just gave up on the sleeping idea.

I put on some sweatpants, a cute sweatshirt, and my slippers. Oh and can't forget the stupid sling. 

I didn't want to bother anyone so I just decided on walking around even though I pretty much knew where everything was. The only thing troubling me was where to go. I've been to the library way too many times, and even though I love reading, I needed a break. My mind wandered to the West Wing. During my explorations months before, I had discovered many interesting rooms. One of which, was an art room

I quickened my pace as excitement began to bubble. It's been a while since I've painted and I was happy to reunite with one of my passions. When I got to the room, it was dusty like it was when I first found it. I quickly closed the door and began my work. There was a bathroom connected to the room so I filled a cup of water, opened the blinds, and wiped off the dust of the supplies that I needed. I decided on acrylic, but didn't know what to paint. I stood in front of the canvas waiting for inspiration to hit. I didn't want to do some random painting because I felt bad about wasting such good quality supplies.

The idea of a present dawned on me. Next week was Christmas and I didn't have a clue what to give Josh or David. Maybe I could paint them something? Even if David has acting like a total butt, he still deserves a present on Christmas. I wanted to start on Josh's present first though because at least I had an idea of what I could paint for him. I knew he's always wanted to travel, so I decided on a mesh of the world's sites. Like the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Leaning Tower of Pisa, etc. Hopefully he'd like it.

With David, it wasn't so easy. I needed something calming and delicate. Something that was friendly and enjoyable to look at. Ideas struck me one by one, but none of them seemed right. I looked over at the choices of colors. The orange, yellows, and reds seemed appealing. The thought of Autumn came to mind. My mother's favorite season was Autumn. She said she loved the colors and the decorations it brought.

I picked up a clean brush and painted an Autumn scenery. The trees had golden leaves falling from them, with light coming through the cracks above. I felt tears drip down my face being reminded of all of the fun memories that were replaying in my mind.

Then I heard screaming.

It didn't seem far away, it was definitely coming from the West Wing. The horrific screams sent chills down my back and my heart racing. I placed the brush in the cup of water and left the room. The screaming became more audible as I neared David's room. I didn't hesitate when I entered. I only thought about David getting hurt and I was the only one close enough to hear him.