• Painted Stars •

chapter one

   He squinted his eyes, trying to catch the perfect shade of red. When he mixed red with a little bit of white, he got a little bit too bright color but when he mixed red with black, he got too dark color.

   Thomas sighed and tried again. He mixed red with white and then with grey, then added a little bit of black. Perfect. Now, he had to bear it on the paper. He wiped a sweat drop away from his forehead. The window was open so the fresh air could come in but now the only thing that came in was a gentle breeze what moved the rose a few inches, but it was enough to change the color. Thomas snorted and leaned against the chair's spine.

   It happened again. But Thomas didn't give up. He leaned in again and started to mix another shade of red  when the door opened and one man walked in.

   "Came for your painting, Fry?" Thomas asked, frowning when he failed again mixing the right color.

   Frypan nodded and put his hat on the coat rack. "Yep. Is it ready?"

   "Sure it is." Thomas put the brushes and colors away and walked to the back room. Frypan looked around the painting room.

   "Ya got a very nice place here, Thomas." He admitted. "How's your business going?"

   "Business?" Frypan heard a smirk in Thomas' voice. "Well...I wouldn't call it a business. Just a thing I love to do and people buy it. Now, where did I put it? Here."

   Another crash made Frypan laugh. It was deep and jolly. Finally, Thomas came out of the back room, holding one big painting. Frypan couldn't see him from behind that.

   "Whoa, that's one big piece of joy."

   "You call that joy, I call it 'I'm hungry'" Thomas said, looking at one big table with lots of food on it. It was a painting that Thomas had worked on three weeks. He spent even few nights awake to make it look perfect because that was what Thomas lived for. Perfection.

   Frypan let out his deep laugh once again, put a hand in pocket and took out one fat wallet. "There ya go, boy." He said, giving Thomas a small packet.

   "Thanks, Fry."

   "Ya welcome." Frypan took the big painting, struggled a little bit to get it out of the door, but finally succeeded. With a little bit of help from Thomas.

   The brunette sat back on his chair behind the easel and looked at the red rose in front of him. It was hard to draw but Thomas tried his best. He breathed out and took the paintbrush. He drew a curved dark red line. Then he took the black color and drew one small line with it too. He breathe out deeply. It was an accurate job. Nothing couldn't go wrong. Another line with brighter red. He wiped the sweat away from his forehead.

   Then the door opened again and Brenda walked in.

   "Hey, Thomas!" She said and walked next to the painter. "What are you doing?"

   "Painting."

   "Okay."

   "Do you know that flowers, especially roses, are one of the hardest things to draw?" Thomas asked from the girl. "It's very hard to befall the right shade of color." He looked at Brenda who nodded. "Okay, anyway...Do you want something?" He looked up at the brunette girl who walked around the shop and admired other paintings.

   "Yes, I actually had one small wish."

   "What is it?" Thomas had finished the rose's florals and started to draw leaves. He needed dark green what was mixed with a little bit of white.

   "I thought that maybe you'll draw one thing for me. A sun."

   Thomas raised his eyebrow. "A sun?" He asked suprisely.

   Brenda nodded. "Yes, please. My favorite color is yellow and one sun is missing from my room. It so bright and warm and beautiful..." Brenda sighed happily. Then, she looked at Thomas. "Would you do that to me?"

   "Yeah, sure." Thomas said without raising his eyes from the painting.

   "Thanks." Brenda started to leave the shop but then stopped and turned around. "Do you know what they said on the TV today?"

   "No, you know that I don't have a TV but I'm listening."

   "The weatherman predicted that there won't be any clouds at the night today and you'll see the stars very clearly. And I was just wondering that maybe you'll want to paint them because they're so beautiful."

   Thomas looked up. "Really?"

   Brenda nodded.

   "Whoa...That's amazing! Thank you for telling me this! I will draw the stars. I've always wanted to draw them!" Thomas was so happy. When he was a kid, he liked to watch the stars at night and sometimes he draw them too. But they were more like white stains in black background. Thomas smiled on the inside of the memory.

   The girl smiled. "But I want to see that painting first."

   "You will."

   "Okay. I'll go now. Bye!" She walked out of the door but poke her head back in for a second. "Don't forget my sun!" She reminded.

   "I won't." Thomas answered to her and continued painting.

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So, how was the first chapter? Was it good or bad? Please let me know! Thank you for reading!