The Welkin 2013 | Page 7

The Artist Scarlet decorated porcelain furnishings, colors of the varying sorts following behind in shorthand, silken tendons moving about the canvas wildly, a maniac look upon the creator’s features. Shapes of all sizes were soon intergraded into the portrait, his attention darting back and forth between the subject and his work, capturing each detail they dared allow his hand to wander and his brush to stroke. Bit by bit, the outline became dominant, a twitch lining his brow as he glanced over, the corners of his lips slowly curving heavenwards before returning to their original dismay, a look of tension lacing itself about his entire atmosphere; hands still eagerly kept to the work’s frame, fear now striking his core. Within an instant, with the remainder of his strokes coming to an end, fingertips  effortlessly  across  the  surface,  drip  by  drip,  the  canvas  growing  darker  from  lack  of   control nor patience. Water splashed across the artist’s feet as he stood, dragging an elongated nail across the perforated edge, slicing the paper away from its containment, settling the work in his hands. Again, his eyes returned to the subject, perking a brow. Every little mistake he made became obvious, and he knew it, he’d repeated the same image a dozen times in the past several days. Not a wink of slumber had coated the male’s eyes, his whole-hearted attention devoted to that sole human, the sole heir to his affection. His  fiancée. Without a word, chocolate locks framed his face, dusting off his post, silently cleaning his supplies before returning them to their proper cabinets and cupboards, not a sound penetrating the silence he’d once dreamt of - the silence he’d come to know during his time alone. In a way, though, he found the silence soothing, appealing as if he had found a forgotten friend or someone that he had lost in a past life. There was a joy inside him that he, himself, could not produce words for. However, in many cases, the very silence that he found comfort in was also the Hell he had only just removed himself from. Like slender arms embracing a lover, anxiety had become a regular abuse to his delicate form, brows trained to wrinkle at the smallest tap at the window, though relaxing just as quickly once the urge had vanished just as they all did. The scars of what was once and what remained lined broken wrists, sleeves raised to reveal dozens upon dozens of scarlet indentations. Battered hands  kneading  into  a  dirtied  cloth,  somber  features  studied  the  finished  painting  with  a  smile,  a   single digit extending to carefully trace along the overworked surface. Hazel irises narrowed for a  moment,  nails  tracing  through  wet  paint  with  a  twisted  grin  before  sinking  to  the  floor,  hesitation in his eyes as he attempted to reach for a brush that would never join his hand. A single stroke  out  of  place  caused  his  body  to  arch,  searching  frantically  for  any  sort  of  material  to  fix   the  mistake,  despite  his  former  pleasure  with  the  final  product.  Minutes  passed,  the  artist  remaining in his position as he searched for a brush, no longer aware that he himself had disposed and returned his materials to their proper places. All in an instant, however, he grew docile, head hanging low as a smile formed on his lips. The dust settled once more around him, voices he had grown to adore in his nightly endeavors quickly  filled  his  conscious  and  rang  throughout  the  once  peaceful  space,  hands  attempting  to