Broken Bottles

Broken Bottles: chapter 21

"Then this is what we made the third week." Polly pointed to her clay figure on the table.

"It's really good, Polly." I said. We were at her middle school art club show and Polly was showing us all of her work.

"It's amazing. I think art is your calling." Penny commented. Polly smiled up at her and moved on to show us a little paper machete piece.

I looked around the crowded gymnasium. Kids were running around with their families showing their art work, but I was looking for one person in particular. I eventually spotted him at the door and waved him over.

"Hey." I greeted when he reached us.

"Hi, Danny!" Sadie said with excitement.

"Hi." He greeted back with an easy smile.

"What are you doing here?" Sidney asked.

"Polly invited me, remember?" Danny said.

Polly announced the art show at the dinner Danny was at earlier this month and she invited him to be polite. To our surprise, Danny accepted the invite and said he would come. I wasn't too convinced he would actually show up, but after he texted me this morning that he would be here, I knew he was serious.

"You're a little late, so you missed some of my pieces, but it's okay, we can just start over." Polly said and redirected us back to the beginning of the table. Sidney groaned, but I nudged him on the shoulder to shut him up. This art club meant a lot to Polly, so I was going to let her have her time to show us everything.

We walked with Polly through all of her art. She took the time to explain the week they worked on it, the inspiration for the piece, how she went about making it, and why it means something to her personally. I'll admit that about halfway through even I got a little bored, but I watched as Danny gave Polly his undivided attention. He seemed just as immersed in the backstory of each piece as she was.

"Students and families if I could just have your attention for a few minutes." A lady yelled over the buzzing of the crowd. Everyone quieted down and listened.

"I just want to thank you all for coming out and showing your support for not only your wonderful students, but also the art program in general. As another thank you, we have set up refreshments and small snacks in the cafeteria, so help yourself. Again, thank you and enjoy the art show."

"Can we go get some food?" Sidney asked. He was just about bouncing of the walls from boredom.

"We can once Polly is done showing us her art work." I said.

"I only have one more to show you. I saved the best for last." Polly told us and walked over to the end of the table.

"We had to paint an interpretation of the best and worst part of our lives. The point of the piece was to draw the bad part as the majority and the good part sprinkled in. That way, we could remember that even though we have terrible aspects of our lives, we also have good parts that overshadow the bad." Polly explained the painting.

I marveled at the canvas. The whole canvas was a gray room that was all torn up and destroyed. Tables and chairs were flipped upside down. Books and papers were littered throughout the room. The television had a cracked screen and there was shattered glass all around the floor. Everything was painted in black, white, and gray. The part that stood out was the five cocoons hanging from the ceiling. They were dark and murky in color just like everything else. Four of them were already hatched and one was in the process of hatching. Hatching from the one cocoon was a gorgeous brightly colored butterfly. Scattered throughout the rest of the trashed room was four more beautiful and vibrant butterflies. The butterflies were the only colored part of the canvas and they added a touch of magic to the painting.