True Gold

Chapter 4

Hey,

Sorry for the long wait. School has kept us very busy over the past few weeks and so it has been hard for us to update.

We still hope you continue reading and enjoy the next chapter of our story.

xox

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Her room is nothing like the dusty room outside her door. Her door is plain wood on one side and painted pale blue on the other with a hanger for her hats and coats. Her room is fairly large and is circular. The walls are painted cream and there is a medium sized window with glass doors and thin curtains on the far side which has a view of the ocean and part of the coast line. I head straight for the window, push open the glass doors and stick my head out. The wind rushes at me and blows my hair around as my eyes scan the horizon. I watch the waves lap at the shore and see seagulls fly above. I look down and see a 4 story drop, and so I freak out jump back inside and shut the window. I turn around and face Esta's laughing face as I slowly slide down the wall and land on bottom.

To my left is her bed, which has a pale blue bed spread and gold pillows. Next to her bed is a tall oak wardrobe and on the other side is a dresser. Next to the door is a mirror, tall enough to fit my entire reflecting within it when I stand up and to my right is another oak wardrobe. In the centre of the room is a plush pale blue rug. I reach out and touch it with my fingers and feel the softness of it. Esta looks at me when I say, "You room is beautiful."

"It's not that great. I mean, I've seen better."

I sigh. "When are you going to stop saying that?"

"Saying what?"

"Putting yourself down. You create an incredibly beautiful artwork and say that its not good. You live in an amazing house and have an amazing room and say you've seen better. It makes me feel terrible in comparison, with my ugly paintings and ordinary house."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I will try not to say things like that in future if you like."

"Yeah, thanks." I say and close my eyes, taking in and releasing breaths.

When I open my eyes again I find Esta sitting crossed legged right in front of me and jump in fright. "Sheesh, Esta, don't frighten me like that." She holds out her hand to me and stands up.

"Come look at my paintings." I take her hand and she pulls me up. I watch as she heads to my right and opens the oak wardrobe. The first thing I see are the clothes, each one beautiful and most likely, incredibly expensive. She parts them in the middle and pushes them to either side, exposing and oak door.

"Are you kidding me?" I ask incredulously as she pulls out her keys again. "A locked door in a wardrobe, in a locked room, up a flight of stairs which are in a room, in a mansion. How much protection and secrecy do you need?"

She laughs. "It's not that much. And besides, it's not really protection for my paintings, it's for me in case of danger, but because I have no room I store them in here." She turns the key and pushes down the handle. The door swings open and I follow her inside.

It's pitch black. The only light coming from the open door and a small window on the far wall. Esta closes the door behind me and flicks on a light.

My  mind can only form one word: paintings. Paintings adorn each and very single wall, even the wall itself is painted with the scenery of the English countryside. The ceiling has been painted with constellations in the night sky and floor is covered with green brush strokes resembling grass so real, I kneel down to touch it, just to make sure it’s a painting. There are easels everywhere, majority holding more than one canvas, and there are canvas on the floor, sitting on shelves and hanging from ropes attached to the ceiling. I look over to the right and find a painting which is actually sparkling. The paint has dried in such a way that it still looks wet but is dry at the same time. My fingers brush over it, expecting to end up covered in paint. To say it is amazing is an understatement. I cannot keep my eyes off it.