The House

Chapter 41 - Day 4: Photographs

I didn't resist when David guided me down the stairs and into the kitchen; I just walked mindlessly, stumbling on occasion until my foot woke up completely and decided to behave like a proper foot attached to my body again.

David has yet to call me crazy or even remark on the strangeness of what just happened. I told him I'd be right back and then stayed away for as long as it took him to create the feast waiting on the serving island, and it is a feast. Thick, brothy stew (I didn't even know one could make something like that with the stuff I brought), rice and a salad. A real one!

I brought tomatoes and cucumbers and a bag of leaves; no idea what they are. Figured I needed to pretend to eat healthy on occasion. I was going to force myself to cook some of the frozen vegetables I brought because my mom insisted I buy some, and here a portion of those vegetables is now transformed into a dish that's causing my stomach to applaud even though I thought I'd lost my appetite.

My mom! She must be going out of her mind! 

I sent her a quick message just before I went to bed on my first night here to let her know I'd arrived. She tends to fuss and worry too much; therefore, it's best not to give her too much information. Craig said he told her that I'm fine and that the farm I'm on is not anywhere near the floods, but the internet connection and cell phone signals are sketchy.

I hope she believes him. I hate stressing her.

The salad is rather good. David made some sort of dressing which really hides the fact that it's supposed to be healthy. My kind of salad! I scoop a forkful of stew - meat, potatoes, and vegetables in a thick sauce - and pop it into my mouth. When I taste it, I let out a completely involuntary groan, and David glances at me, looking both pleased and amused.

"This is so good," I tell him. "You're hired."

"I was auditioning for something?"

"Yup, my personal slave," I grin, winking at him.

"Slaves don't get hired," he chuckles, and I roll my eyes.

It is all so friggin' normal!

I suppose we've developed a very warped concept of what passes as normal. Me drawing in the dark for at least an hour, if not more, without being aware of it is not all that unexpected anymore. The fact that I drew someone who actually existed at some point but I have never met is not weird at all!

Well, I'm rattled!

One minute I was on the steps heading up to the solarium, and the next, I was sitting on the floor in a pool of drawings, completely blinded by the light David turned on.

Apparently, one doesn't need light to draw by when you don't know that you're drawing. Did the same thing happen to me when I drew the children into my drawings and the man in the door? I was aware of drawing at the time... at least, I knew I was sketching the house and garden.

My artwork has never featured people before. I like drawing and painting scenes containing buildings, often in combination with nature. I sometimes think that I should've enrolled for a degree in architecture instead, but I got hi-jacked by fine arts. It's my passion. I'm not sure how useful my qualification is going to be, but I love it, and it has improved my technique a lot and helped me discover new media and methods.

I've been freelancing as an illustrator for a couple of years with some success, and I've sold quite a few of my drawings and paintings at pop-up markets. I get by. David might actually be steering me in a direction I haven't thought of before. I could potentially do for other renovators what I'm now doing for him, helping him visualise the end results.