The Painter

Chapter 5
Part 5

Chapter Description: On his own whim....

The painter looked out into the distance. What lay out before him was a sea of gray and black. This used to be the world’s oldest forest....until it was destroyed by arsonists several years ago. The painter could not bear to look at it any longer. He had not come here based anyone’s whim. He had come here of his own accord. This was to be his final act before the time came to....

The painter was startled when he felt a raccoon run across his foot. He chuckled and unloaded his equipment from his truck. He set up his easel and set a blank canvas on it. The painter grabbed a box full of his paints from the bed and set those on a collapsible table next to the easel. He lifted his brush.

The painter started with the sky, seeing as it would make a great barrier. He outlined the clouds he saw in the sunny sky. He held off on the sun. He filled in the sky and clouds with blue and white respectively. He moved on to the forest in the distance and worked his way closer.

The painter outlined the many trees he saw. He recreated the perception perfectly on the canvas. He added so much detail, that an untrained eye would perceive this as a photograph. He moved his detail brush slowly and with inhuman dexterity. He lay back as he finished the trees. He was not done yet, however.

The painter began to add animals, animals of all kinds. He drew in squirrels and raccoons, deer and elk, mountain lions and bears, anything he expected to be in the forest. He lay back again, and before signing his name, he drew in the moon in the space he had left open in the sky. He signed the name on the bottom.

The painter breathed in the cool night air. He moved the easel to the side and was met with a beautiful sea of green trees. He could hear owls in the distance, and saw deer moving in to bed for the night.

The painter felt great pain in his whole body. He struggled to pack up his things. Finally, he fell into the truck and drove away.