Canvas Hearts (now published so sample only)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Everything in my life wanted to suck right now. I stared at the sketch in front of me and I knew my dragon looked too damn forlorn to be a vicious, fiery beast. With a sigh, I shoved my sketchbook away.

Looking around at the rest of my class, all I could hear was the splatter of paint, the scribble of pencils and the focus I no longer had. Everyone was in their blissful art muse that I'd lost.

"Holly, try this." Mrs P put a huge canvas in front of me. A huge, blank canvas that laughed at me.

"I can't. I have a feeling that I'm broken." That would've sounded funny, except my voice cracked.

"Trust me. Use these and let go of what's troubling you," she handed me an array of brushes and paints. "Whatever made you sad is now your muse." She tapped my forehead and stepped away.

The paintbrush fell into my hand, while Gabe's words from the other day echoed through my head. He liked another girl. I wasn't the girl he could fall in love with when I was only good for best friend duties.

Tears flooded my eyes and everything blurred in front of me until I blinked a few times. Paint splashed onto that canvas with a sense of urgency. Mired in my emotions, I painted them onto the canvas in front of me.

Even the bell ringing didn't deter me, I kept painting. I'd like to say I felt better for it, but I didn't. Mrs P's hand on my own stopped its deft movements.

"There's the talented Holly I know." She sounded pleased, so I stepped back and finally looked at my creation.

A few years ago in science, I recall our teacher showing us all a pigs heart. Pigs were supposed to be a great biological representation of us. Makes you think, doesn't it. Anyway, the boys laughed, some girls fainted while I saw a fascination that I could never describe.

That one organ helped to keep us alive and yet we put all our emotions as in coming from our heart. That day, I didn't see a pigs heart, I saw a masterpiece of emotions.

Stepping back from my canvas today, I saw that pigs heart again. This time, it spurted blood that resembled tears. It looked so sad and alone. A realistic pigs heart that seemed to portray the hundred different emotion I've had since Gabe's announcement.

Yes, it was as creepy as it was sad, but to me, the sadness overwhelmed the whole canvas. I gulped and stared at it for a while. That's when I realised my creativity had returned from whatever box it had shoved itself into. The trouble was I didn't feel any freer or happier. It only made me sadder.

"You found you again! I'm so proud of you, Holly." Mrs P's thrilled words seemed dull in comparison to the painting I couldn't drag my eyes from.

"It's not pretty." I admitted.

"Art doesn't have to always look pretty. Art needs to tell a tale. This tells of a sadness and an unexpected heartbreak. This tells me a story." Mrs P seemed too pleased.

"I can't paint a pigs heart for my final." I frowned at my work.

"I had assumed that you would add more than just this canvas to your work," she encouraged but I came up blank. "Think on it. Now go home. If you want, you don't have to attend Pips painting class anymore."

"Um, I think I might still go. There's a girl there, she's a bit of a maths head and she doesn't quite get how to be creative. I've sort of helped her the last few weeks." I admitted and Mrs P grinned at me.

"So I've heard. If Pips doesn't have a problem with you being there then you should continue to attend."

"Yeah, she puts us in a different room where we can make as much noise as we like. Some of the others in the class are a bit stuffy."