Vignette Collection

The Creator

The needle-like hand on the white-faced clock ticked off each second in a slow, ponderous beat. The room was stifling hot. The only source of relief came from the open windows and the lazy rotations of an ancient ceiling fan, though they did little to chase away the heat. The girl sat at one of the desks near the back of the room, her pen skating fluidly over a sheet of lined paper. Her rose-gold bangs fell across her forehead as she bit her lip in concentration.

The paper depicted a man with a sharp, angular face and whittled, branch-like limbs. A top-hat was perched rakishly on his hair, which was a tumbling mass of curls that fell past his wiry shoulders. A woolen top coat was thrown over his lean frame, with spindly fingers poking out from the oversized sleeves. A ridiculously large bow was tied around his neck like a restricting collar, dotted with circles of varying sizes. His mouth was drawn in a thin, unsmiling line, and his eyes, much too large for his face, seemed hollow and endless, a void that was both frightening yet inviting at the same time.

The girl exhaled softly as she shaded the last bit on the brim of his hat. Finished, she dropped her pen onto the desk and lifted the page up, her eyes searching every inch of the artwork. Satisfied, she placed the page down, formed a circle with her hands and blew gently though the cupped hole and onto the man's face. Several long seconds passed. Then, without warning, the image rippled. Before long the black lines and blurred, like a reflection on moving water. The strokes began to peel themselves off the page, writhing in an out-worldly dance, a plant unfurling its hidden tendrils, spreading towards the ceiling. The girl watched in fascination as she saw her creation come alive before her eyes through the weaving of ink and lines. At last, when the spider-like man was complete, he removed his top hat and bowed, movement fluid despite his bony awkwardness. As he straightened, his knife-edge of a mouth opened and a creaky voice issued forth:

"I am the beginning and the end of all creations. What is it that you desire?"

She only smiled.