Status: A one shot for a contest; I hope you love it like I do :)!
Plain
one/one
Plain always scared her. Plain meant boring, plain meant sad – it meant that you hid behind yourself just as everyone else in that forsaken town. Elisa was different; she wouldn’t allow herself to hide behind anything, no matter what the cost was.
As the young girl put down her paint brush, she smiled and finally rolled herself into bed at 7 am on the dot; just tired enough to not have to think before she drifted deeply off to sleep. Unfortunately, life had to kick in at some point, so she was awake just 3 hours later.
“Eli, Eli!” her best friend, Heather, screamed into her ear through the blackberry. “I have such wonderful news, hurry to the office downtown, someone saw your work at that art show last week and wants to talk to you about future plans!”
Elisa kicked off the covers with no trouble at all and threw on the cleanest outfit she could find among the various dirty clothes around her room; each filled with color and obnoxious prints.
Don’t get her wrong, Elisa put effort into her clothes, she just didn’t always put effort into cleaning them.
One cup of coffee and a sort-of clean outfit later, Elisa was out the door and into her blue jeep in a matter of minutes. All of a sudden, the 22 year old got scared, her breath hitched and stress began to hit her. Someone was interested in her everything; the thing that made her happy, the thing that steered her away from death, and most importantly – the key to her dream coming true.
She took a deep breath and started the engine, ready to appreciate everything artistic on her drive as she always did; just a more rushed version - letting all the stress leave her mind. She began by examining the people; person by person walked by with suits and a smug look on their face; all in different shades of gray or black – depressing.
As she turned the next corner, a smile lit across her face. It was the graffiti wall in her town. Sure, in most places these things were against the law, but the one good decision this place made was to not wash the beauty off.
She parked her car in the no parking zone and stepped out to take one last look at “the wall” before heading to huge news that could make or break her. Elisa walked the length of the wall, admiring each piece of work before finding her own – a piece she did when she first started doing art when she was just 13 years old.
Her fingers traced around the sloppy work as she smiled at her own stupidity as a child. The picture itself stood for everything she wanted, the words “I will make it” with splashes of color in every single place available, all mixed together in the most perfect of ways. As everyone else aged in this community, Elisa was one who always kept strong to what she wanted, and here she was about to accomplish it.
She shook her head and realized she’d already wasted 15 minutes just staring at people’s past art. While stumbling in her black pumps, she slid back into the car and drove too quickly to the practically-abandoned Theatre and Arts center.
The door was pushed open by Heather as Elisa fixed her skirt and began running towards the office, not wanting to waste this person’s time in the least. Elisa was always good with impressions, and arriving early would enhance that.
“Hello, Elisa, I am Mrs. Gunfrew,” a middle-aged woman greeted. “I’m here to talk to you about this art piece you have been putting up here for the last few days.”
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Elisa nodded with a flashing smile, mentally thanking her mother for the 5,000 dollars in braces in that moment. “What would you like to know about the piece, ma’am?”
“It’s very interesting, and like nothing I’ve seen before,” Mrs. Gunfrew told Elisa, her mind spinning with ideas. “I wanted to know if you would like to talk further in my office a few hours away about making a few pieces for an art show coming up. There will be some very important people there, and I would despise for your talent to go unnoticed.”
A tear graced Elisa’s eyes as she responded. “Oh, Mrs. Gunfrew, I would absolutely love to! Please just give me a call and I will be more than happy to come up to speak with you.”
A small chuckle escaped the woman as she spoke. “I see you are quite excited; so happy to see someone so enthusiastic in their work. It’s so seldom found, and I can’t wait to get your spunk back into this business. However, I must get going, it was nice chatting with you for a few moments, have my card.”
Mrs. Gunfrew handed Elisa the small slip of paper and walked out of the office without any further explanation. She put the card in her purse and sat back down in the plain seat below her once more, letting this new information sink in; her heart racing.
She had made it one step closer to her dream; one step closer to getting out of this town. One step closer to brightening up this dreary world with the magic that came out of her fingertips. She was going to make a mark on this world, and this was only the first step.
As she walked out of the room and into the hallway to meet Heather, a smile beamed on her face. Everything was going to change from that moment on; she’d no longer have to live filled with people in the shadows – she no longer had to live with plain – and it’s all she’d ever wanted.
As the young girl put down her paint brush, she smiled and finally rolled herself into bed at 7 am on the dot; just tired enough to not have to think before she drifted deeply off to sleep. Unfortunately, life had to kick in at some point, so she was awake just 3 hours later.
“Eli, Eli!” her best friend, Heather, screamed into her ear through the blackberry. “I have such wonderful news, hurry to the office downtown, someone saw your work at that art show last week and wants to talk to you about future plans!”
Elisa kicked off the covers with no trouble at all and threw on the cleanest outfit she could find among the various dirty clothes around her room; each filled with color and obnoxious prints.
Don’t get her wrong, Elisa put effort into her clothes, she just didn’t always put effort into cleaning them.
One cup of coffee and a sort-of clean outfit later, Elisa was out the door and into her blue jeep in a matter of minutes. All of a sudden, the 22 year old got scared, her breath hitched and stress began to hit her. Someone was interested in her everything; the thing that made her happy, the thing that steered her away from death, and most importantly – the key to her dream coming true.
She took a deep breath and started the engine, ready to appreciate everything artistic on her drive as she always did; just a more rushed version - letting all the stress leave her mind. She began by examining the people; person by person walked by with suits and a smug look on their face; all in different shades of gray or black – depressing.
As she turned the next corner, a smile lit across her face. It was the graffiti wall in her town. Sure, in most places these things were against the law, but the one good decision this place made was to not wash the beauty off.
She parked her car in the no parking zone and stepped out to take one last look at “the wall” before heading to huge news that could make or break her. Elisa walked the length of the wall, admiring each piece of work before finding her own – a piece she did when she first started doing art when she was just 13 years old.
Her fingers traced around the sloppy work as she smiled at her own stupidity as a child. The picture itself stood for everything she wanted, the words “I will make it” with splashes of color in every single place available, all mixed together in the most perfect of ways. As everyone else aged in this community, Elisa was one who always kept strong to what she wanted, and here she was about to accomplish it.
She shook her head and realized she’d already wasted 15 minutes just staring at people’s past art. While stumbling in her black pumps, she slid back into the car and drove too quickly to the practically-abandoned Theatre and Arts center.
The door was pushed open by Heather as Elisa fixed her skirt and began running towards the office, not wanting to waste this person’s time in the least. Elisa was always good with impressions, and arriving early would enhance that.
“Hello, Elisa, I am Mrs. Gunfrew,” a middle-aged woman greeted. “I’m here to talk to you about this art piece you have been putting up here for the last few days.”
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Elisa nodded with a flashing smile, mentally thanking her mother for the 5,000 dollars in braces in that moment. “What would you like to know about the piece, ma’am?”
“It’s very interesting, and like nothing I’ve seen before,” Mrs. Gunfrew told Elisa, her mind spinning with ideas. “I wanted to know if you would like to talk further in my office a few hours away about making a few pieces for an art show coming up. There will be some very important people there, and I would despise for your talent to go unnoticed.”
A tear graced Elisa’s eyes as she responded. “Oh, Mrs. Gunfrew, I would absolutely love to! Please just give me a call and I will be more than happy to come up to speak with you.”
A small chuckle escaped the woman as she spoke. “I see you are quite excited; so happy to see someone so enthusiastic in their work. It’s so seldom found, and I can’t wait to get your spunk back into this business. However, I must get going, it was nice chatting with you for a few moments, have my card.”
Mrs. Gunfrew handed Elisa the small slip of paper and walked out of the office without any further explanation. She put the card in her purse and sat back down in the plain seat below her once more, letting this new information sink in; her heart racing.
She had made it one step closer to her dream; one step closer to getting out of this town. One step closer to brightening up this dreary world with the magic that came out of her fingertips. She was going to make a mark on this world, and this was only the first step.
As she walked out of the room and into the hallway to meet Heather, a smile beamed on her face. Everything was going to change from that moment on; she’d no longer have to live filled with people in the shadows – she no longer had to live with plain – and it’s all she’d ever wanted.
♠ ♠ ♠
This is jut a one shot I did for a contest. The picture just really gave me a good idea, and now you know Elisa's story :).Explanation: The picture doesn't seem to really fit with the story, but I swear it makes sense. The umbrellas are all black and plain, as is the man in the picture; unlike the four that are colorful and bright. The bright umbrellas stood for Elisa and what she does to brighten up the world.