Day by Day

Chapter 35: The Purple-Haired Artist

It was another chilly day at the orphanage, and all of the orphans were all inside, finding ways to entertain themselves without going outside into the rain. Some kids were playing hide and seek, some were playing tag, some were reading books in the home's little reading corner, and some were playing board games.

Choosing something to do seemed to be the current dilemma for a certain purple-haired six-year-old. Little Brelyn looked around the orphanage, but she could not find something she was interested in. Usually, she'd be with her friends, but all three of them seemed to be out of commission for the moment: Jacey had caught a cold from playing in the rain, Cayla was catching up on school work, and Elaina was currently living with potential foster parents.

What the little girl did find funny was the fact that everyone seemed to be freezing. Everyone was wearing long sleeves, jackets, and pants while she was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt with shorts. For whatever reason, Brelyn was just naturally warm as if she had an internal flame within her, keeping her safe from any of the cold weather.

After observing all of the different groups doing different things, Brelyn headed back up to her room she shared with her friends. Jacey was the only one in the room, but she was sleeping off her cold at the moment.

Quietly, Brelyn grabbed a small book from under her pillow before going to the desk in the room. In the book, sketches filled the pages. Once she found a blank page, Brelyn grabbed a pencil and started drawing another sketch. 

Brelyn loved drawing just like any kid would at her age. However, there was something about drawing that felt special to her. It helped her relax whenever she was feeling stressed or anxious. 

After drawing for several minutes, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Brelyn said.

"Hi there, Brelyn," Ms. Jones said as she entered. "Jacey still asleep?" Brelyn nodded in response. "Aw. Poor thing. How are you? Not feeling sick?"

Brelyn shook her head. "Nope. Feeling just peachy."

"That's great." Ms. Jones then noticed the drawing under Brelyn's hands. "What do you have there?"

"Just a drawing," Brelyn said, trying to cover it up a little.

"Can I see?" Ms. Jones asked. "If you don't want to show me, that's alright with me. I won't push."

Brelyn wasn't one to show off her drawings to anyone. The only people who have even seen only a little bit were her friends. However, she was very proud of this drawing. She kind of wanted people to see it. What's the worse that could happen other than she would get made fun of?

Brelyn slowly moved her hands out of the way to show Ms. Jones her drawing. "It's me and my friends," she said, pointing to each of the four figures in the drawing. "I'm the one with the sketchbook, The one with the soccer ball is Jacey, Cayla is the one with pigtails, and Elaina is the one with glasses."

"Oh my gosh, Brelyn," Ms. Jones said in shock. "This is amazing. Where did you learn to draw like this?"

Brelyn shrugged her shoulders. "I just do it all the time. Just practice I guess."

"This goes way past practice. Brelyn, you truly have a gift," Ms. Jones exclaimed. "I've never seen a six-year-old have this level of art." Suddenly, a thought came to her mind. "Hey, have you been looking for something to do tonight?"

"I...I mean I guess," Brelyn replied. "I wasn't really planning on drawing in my sketchbook all night."

"Well, in case you didn't know, there's going to be an art class tonight. It's going to be taught by one of Auradon's best artists."