The Adventure of Fel

chapter fourteen

       A rabbit is sitting on my face.

       I know this because two seconds ago I thought I was being smothered (which I kinda was) and I reached up and thought I felt something furry (which I did) and so I picked up this thing and tossed it onto the bed.

       Cheesecake stares at me with disdain.

       "It tried to kill you. Can I eat it?"

       I shake my head at Leo and rub my eyes. It's a gray day outside, and wind moves the grasses so that they look like they're dancing, swaying, side to side. Suddenly I'm aware of a sharp smell. I breath in deeply and it hits the back of my throat. Oh – paint.

       "Does anyone else smell paint?" I ask, wondering how early it is. It's hard to tell with the sun covered by the clouds.

       "Yeah," Gwen says. "I went to check it out earlier. It's Alan, can you believe it? He's got beautiful paintings, Fel. And I mean beautiful. He's got a painting ability, I can tell. Do you wanna go see?"

       I nod and swing my legs off the bed. I scoop up Leo into my arms, stroking him on the head and following Gwen into the hallway. She trots into the guest bedroom next to mine and then turns to look at me with shining eyes. I gasp and almost drop Leo.

       Alan is sitting on the floor in front of the wall next to the window. His back is to us, his arm moving delicately as he moves a paintbrush across his large canvas. From ceiling to a little over halfway is a beautiful mess of greens and yellows. I step back and try to take it all in – it's clearly the Meadow with the light and long strokes of yellow, the sky royal blue and cloudless like it was the evening we arrived. And there - standing atop a hill, hair blowing elegantly in the breeze, is a black-haired human girl, with a cat on either side of her. 

       I don't know what to say, so instead I go and sit cross legged next to Alan on the floor. He's wearing his nightgown, hair tucked behind his ears. There's paint all over it and the floor. Next to him is a huge palate that must have at least twenty colors on it. There are dark circles in front of his eyes – he doesn't even notice me until he turns a little bit to the side to finish a tiny squirrel.

       "Ah!" he says. "You scared me." He smells very strongly of tin and paint, and a few white splotches spot his curls. 

       "Sorry," I giggle. Then, "You have a painting ability."

       "That's what Ebony and Birdy told me."

       "It's lovely."

       "Thank you."

        "Have you been working on it all night?" I ask. "We went to bed pretty late. I thought Eb told you to go to sleep."

       "Yes," Alan says, blushing. "I wasn't sleepy."

       "It's okay," I say. "I won't tell." Gwen comes up to Alan and rubs her head against his knee. She doesn't say anything, but he smiles anyway.

       "Alan!" We turn. Eb is standing in the doorway, already dressed and clean, though it can't have been that long since sunrise.

       "Sorry Eb!" Alan says, rushing to pick up his paints. Eb sighs and presses his hands to his temple. When he moves them, I catch his eye and raise my brows. He rolls his eyes.

       "You can keep working," he says. "But you need to go to bed early tonight." Alan grins and jumps up and down in the excited manner only kids seem to show. He pauses, yawns, and resumes jumping.