Short Stories

The Artist

He came home one day to his desk and found a pen lying there. It wasn't unnatural for a pen to be there, but he had never seen it before. The handle had gold lines going from top to bottom, and was jet black.

"Odd..."

He sat down and picked up a piece of paper. He used pencil to make a sketch and then went over it with the pen. The lines were smooth, it was as if the pen knew exactly where to go. He looked at the pen and tilted his head, looking at his drawing.

"Wow, th-that's really good!"

"Oh, thank you-" He said without thinking. He turned and jumped a bit, staring at his drawing, in the flesh, standing in front of him. A woman with brown hair and green highlights, wearing torn jean shorts and a baggy t-shirt. He stood there for a few moments, and she looked confused, looking down and touching her face.

"Wh-What's wrong?" She even had a stutter, just like he had suspected.

"You... You're real..."

"What? No, I-I'm a drawing. I-If I was r-real, I could touch th-thing-" She stopped as she put her hand on the desk, her eyes going wide.

He looked at the pen in disbelief. "Woah... This pen just brought you to life!"

She stared at her hands in horror, thinking she was an abomination. "Wh-What... I-Is going o-on...?"

He sat back down and looked at the drawing, then got another piece of paper to test the pen. Again, he made a sketch, and made the lines with a pen. The drawing was a young boy, and he thought he would be an excited and happy young man, who would call him his older brother. Sure enough, the boy appeared and was very excited to be real.

"That's amazing! Hey, what do you think we should-" he turned to look at the woman, and she wasn't there. Only a door, and a trail of blood. The boy saw and gasped.

"What happened to her?"

"I... I don't know..." He stood up and slowly opened the door. The trail of blood ended at the door.

"Is... Is that going to happen to me, brother?"

"I'm... not sure... maybe I can bring her back?" He picked up another piece of paper and started to draw.

The boy saw the door close, and then it slowly opened. He gasped and looked at his brother drawing, going towards the door. The woman looked in and pulled the boy through.

"We have to get out of here! He's gonna kill you!"

He was starting to freak out, but he ran with her anyway. When they couldn't run anymore, they stopped to catch their breath, then they kept running. Eventually they settled down in a town nearby, and the woman got a job. He started going to school, and began training to become an artist. The man kept trying to draw with the pen until it ran out of ink, and continued to try with other pens until he ran out of breath. The boy grew up, graduated college, and became an animator.

One day, he came home to his apartment, and saw a pen laying on his desk.

"Huh... That's odd..."