Inspiration

This is a response to the six-sentence story prompt of STROKE by girl on the edge. I wanted to go bright and happy on this one and then, something happened at the end.  I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s weird. See afternotes for more details.

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Maddie was smiling so hard that her face was starting to hurt, this was it, everything was coming together at last.

She wiped the sweat from her brow and giggled as she felt the wet smear from the back of her hand, and God there must be as much on her as the canvas, but she didn’t want to stop now, not while she was the zone.

Her agent said she had enough pieces, but Maddie had wanted a big one, a show stopper, and so she was working through the weekend to get this one, the centerpiece done for Monday.

It was going to be perfect, her first gallery opening, all of the friends and family who said that didn’t believe in her, said that she wouldn’t amount to anything, they were going to see how far had she had come, and she couldn’t wait.

She wished Matt would be there, lovely Matt, who made up for all the crappy guys that had left her over the years, was almost perfect, except for the part where he took a business trip the week of her first opening, but it was okay, he loved her, and he would be there in spirit.

She leaned over, dipping her brush in the pool of red, making another long stroke across canvas, marveling at the vibrancy of it, wishing she had thought to try this before, and as she wet her brush again she met Matt’s empty eyes, and she wished again that he could have seen it.

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So I just heard the song The Red Means I Love You, by Mads Buckley.  Which is what was playing when I wrote this and probably why it took such a turn at the end….  If you haven’t heard it before, give it a listen.  It’s…fitting