Wiz's Arts and Whatnot

The Painting

*This is a short story I wrote. The image at the end I also drew. Enjoy!

Green grass sways in the wind. Birds chirp as children laugh and play...

"Hey, Timothy?"

Dropping his paintbrush, Timothy turned to see his friend, Max, standing behind him. "Hey," He picked up his paintbrush and continued to paint.

"Don't ignore me. There's really no point because I'm not leaving." Max looked over Timothy's shoulder at the painting. "Hmm... How about we play a game. It's more of a Q and A, though."

"Then it's not a game, silly. I'll still play, but I just want to answer."

"Alright!" Max clapped his hands together, clearly pleased. "So, favorite school subject?" Although they were the same age, Max towered over Timothy.

"Math, and you?" He didn't look up.

"History. Now, what is your dream?" There was no hesitation with Timothy there.

"To travel." He replied, causing Max laughed.

"I assumed so. For me, anything is fine as I'm with you. We're in this together you know."

"I do."

"Next Question! What did you have for lunch?" Timothy turned around, one eyebrow raised.

"We didn't have lunch yet." Max grinned, causing Timothy to smile.

"Trick question," he said in between lighthearted laughs. "So, what do you want to be when you grow up?" No answer. Max, having been observing the painting again, looked back at Timothy to see him fidgeting with a small device, his paintbrush lying forgotten on the ground. "Batteries dead?" Timothy could only nod as he opened the phone-like device and scattered the AA batteries on the ground before replacing them with new ones from his pocket. Powering the device, he began rapidly typing before the box replied in a low robotic voice.

"All good now." He looked again at Max before typing. "Is that a new eyepatch you've gotten? It looks better. Is it more comfortable, too?" As he listened to the monotone voice of Timothy's device, Max subconsciously touched his covered left eye.

"Yeah, I just got it this morning and it's definitely better than the last one. Also, it does a much better job at staying on and not exposing my- well, you know." Timothy nodded once more and picked up his paintbrush so he could continue his painting. Max watched silently for a little before speaking up again. "You know, they're not going like that you're painting in the walls again." Timothy shrugged. "Well, where'd you find the paint this time?"

"They were already here."

"Liar." He sighed and looked at the painting. It was large field surrounded by trees and a playground to the side. Birds sat in the trees and small children with large smiles played on the slides. "It's pretty nice, although it is missing something." Timothy handed him the paintbrush with a smile and a nod.

"Go for it." Max got to work immediately.

First, there was a cream colored boy with dark brown hair and eyes running and smiling at an invisible figure. That figured became a short, caramel skinned boy with black hair and strikingly blue eyes.

Behind Max, Timothy tapped on his shoulder and showed him the screen. "You know there's more to them than that. You can't forget about the important pieces."

"I know, I was just getting to it." Slowly, Max added one small detail to each boy. To the shorter of the two, a grey rectangular box was held in his hand. For the other, the left eye become a patch that wrapped around his head.

Timothy saw Max's hand had begun shaking so he took the brush from his hand and tossed it on the floor. They both stood there, looking st their mural until Timothy nudged Max's shoulder and they both silently left the supply room they were in, dragging them back to reality.

A bright white hall lined with doors greeted them. Men and women dressed as nurses and doctors walked through the halls, some holding clipboards, others wheeling around teenagers who were either in a daze, looking around the area with wide, panicked eyes, or simply asleep, enjoying their blissful escape.