Trust- Boreo

Mom

Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2019

"The first painting, this one. The one I've loved as a kid. Theo, have I told you? I always sat in the library, so entranced with this painting. Considering that it was just a picture in there, and not the real thing. I mean, there's so much to love about it! I started off loving the bird."

A young woman with stunningly perfect straight black hair and a lovely white fur coat stood holding the hand of a young blonde boy. The two were standing in front of a painting, surrounded by others on the wall. It was sheltered behind a glum red clothed barrier to make sure overly eager young kids would not brush their messy fingerprints on the fine oil.

"A tragedy, actually." continues this woman. She was the blonde boy, Theo's, mother. "A huge part of the town, destroyed. It's infamous in Dutch history."

"What?" Theodore Decker asks, looking at his mother. He had on round glasses and was wearing a simplistic coat and pants, enough to keep him warm. Although there was some rain droplets on this coat, it was in good condition. It seemed like the mother son duo escaped into this museum to get out of the rain. The New York rain could be heard fallen in steady streams outside, almost comforting to watch for anyone not caught in it. 

And Theo kept his hand holding his mother's, even if it embarrassed him a bit. He had to get on her good side, after all. They were to meet his principal later today, since he had been caught with someone smoking on school campus. Even being around a smoker in school could mean bad things for him, especially for the scholarship that was allowing him to go there. So, in case the worst happened, he had to make sure his mother understood he had no ill intentions. Then he would deal with the guy who smoked right next to him. They were friends, but he had to clear things up.

"Delft's disaster. So many paintings destroyed, and it also took the life of Fabritius. Haven't you learned this at school?" His mother's words sort of cut into his thoughts, making Theo look up at her.

It occurred to Theo that he had learned this at school, even if he had been less keen to enjoying school lately, he had learned it.

"Yeah, I remember now, mom." Theo says, looking around. He noticed a girl and what seemed to be her grandfather, speaking quietly as they drifted from painting to painting. Theo couldn't help but notice they seemed like specters to him. Not quite there. The girl, his age, was carrying a flute case with her name on it, reading "Pippa." Before Theo could watch them any longer, the boy felt his mother start walking again, and he came with her.

A couple of moments later, after his mother tried to keep Theo's attention by talking about more Dutch paintings (she was quite knowledgeable about art, Theo wished they had the money so she could finish her degree), there was a certain painting that caught Theo's eye.

It was a small one, one that could probably be mistaken for a textbook cover instead of a painting. It was a little bird that sat facing right of the small canvas. It had a chain attached to its feet, and its perch consisted of two small metal bars. And Theo couldn't help but notice how it was away from the other paintings, with its own red rope protecting it. It seemed as if the bird was lonely, in painting and in real life, watching everything from afar.

Noticing her son looking at this painting, Theo's mother allows a soft smile to appear on her face as she gently rubs Theo's cheek. "Isn't it sad? That poor bird has to spend its whole life there. I'm sure it chirps about it every morning.....It's pretty clear that Fabritius meant for this painting to show us the loneliness, the boredom we can face as humans. But we should try and find a balance between being a goldfinch and a free sparrow, right Theo?" His mother smiles at him, but she was still mad at him, of course. That was why Theo was missing his phone and was standing around in an art museum. But the apparent love for her son was still there.

Theo looks back and forth at the painting. Indeed, it was named "The Goldfinch." It was by Fabritius, read the little note, along with year he died in the explosion his mother was telling him about. It was still here, still chained, yet still alive. Its legacy here. Theo casts a look away as he nods from his mother's words of wisdom. A part of him felt oddly... connected to the painting.

"Right, the gift shop is over there." Theo's mother points at the place. "This is the end of the exhibit... I'll meet you at the gift shop. I want to go back and see that painting again. The one I looked at in the book, The Anatomy Lesson." Once again, Theo just nods, slowly walking away from the roped off Goldfinch. He waves to his mother, who was already walking back. Once standing in the gift shop, Theo turns around. He wondered what today would hold for him. Maybe his mother would give him back his phone after they cleared up the fact that Theo was a well behaved boy, that he would never smoke, especially not on school grounds....

Theo, lured into a sense of hope, failed to notice a security guard dash into the room. It was a rather odd sight to see in the middle of a peaceful procession through centuries of history and paints older than the walls supporting them by several hundreds of years. As if they had been woken up from a quiet slumber.

"Everyone needs to get out of-" A loud din, followed by a flash. Theo, despite being further from them, could hear it just as well as everyone else. All eyes were on the strange scene, and it was as if the world whirred to a pause for a split second before suddenly starting up again with a thunderous roar. It came too fast. A plume of smoke. Searing hot flames. The sensation of a fire that seemingly vanquished words. Smoke pummeled through the room. Theo felt himself get knocked down, hitting the ground, his glasses flying off of his face.

It took a while for the smoke to settle. Theo awoke coughing rancorously, feeling a bruise or two on his shirt. Getting up, he realized he could barely see two feet ahead of himself. All his eyes, deprived of glasses, could see was a canvas in front of him. 

"M-mom?" Theo calls out, immediately regretting it as his throat rattled hoarsely from inhaling smoke. He weakly tries to stand up. He managed to, but decided to crawl around instead to look for his glasses.

"Take it." An old man coughs violently, shaking his head. He looked like a completely different person, his hair matted and his skin covered in soot and dust. His foot was pointed the wrong way, and debris covered his chest. But he was alive. Theo finally recognized him as the old man who was with the girl in the same room, the one that he thought looked like a specter. Now he truly did look like one, covered in white from the cement that laid in crushed powder all around them.

Theo was dizzy, confused, barely able to comprehend anything. He didn't look as well either, his skin and clothing also covered in soot and a fine white coating. He heard someone shifting. The girl's .... Pippa's grandfather was moving again, and he had scooted over to give him his glasses back. Even if it wounded his body even more, and caused the heavy debris to cause more bruising and agony.

"How'd you...where..." Theo was too exhausted to speak. He looks at the glasses. This is what he meant by "take it?" Of course. He took his glasses back and slides them onto his face. The world slowly came back into focus, and Theo could see the ruined scene around him. It was like something from a movie. Cement and debris everywhere. Torn paintings, people laying motionless. Glass everywhere....

"Not just your glasses." The other continues to cough. "The painting." Theo's eyes shot up. The painting? "You have to save it. It's survived long... don't let this claim it."

"My mother... I have to look for her." Theo is stopped by a hand clasping down onto his arm. He stares at the man, but he moves to shift his hand away. He assumed that the man was just not right in the head at the moment, and he wanted to appease him. He could just return the painting after his mother and he got home. "I will, thank you..."

The man's breath expires, and Theo watches as the man... goes to sleep. He was just resting his eyes, Theo told himself. He would come back for him once he found his mother, she would know what to do.

Taking out his book bag, he slides the painting carefully into it, before getting up. Theo's mind was reeling, not fully capable of thinking about others as well. All he could think about was his mother. Theo didn't waste any time, pushing his shaky legs off of the ground as he walked away. The book bag was slung over his shoulder, protecting the Goldfinch from the ruinous world around it.