Mouldy Paintings

  Mouldy paintings



In one cave of the city, under one cold isolated building, in a complete loneliness, exactly, in the other western side of the city, he was sitting on a wooden chair, he wasnt dangling just was carring a  notebook for painting. Disorganized lines were drawn on one of its pages (papers). Knowing nothing; what do these lines mean? Or at least until that time.

He felt tired of all that ?! He threw evryyhing then had a cup of  hot milk ; let the spoon swing inside the cup, It’s sound; he liked so much.  Until he started feeling tightness in his chest when some while remembering in the past days.

Few minutes later, he dropped the cup on the dirty floor. It wasn’t so clean as it must be; the insects were dancing every night there. he let his body dangling smoothly on the wooden chair, his eyes were moving from side to side, looking at the lamp up the roof. It was snowing outside and the wind was so cold. suddenly an aged woman went out of the building wearing heavy clothes towards the master of the city, in her way, she met a gentleman who stopped her asking: “ Do you live in this building, Madam?”

She replayed: “yes,…Why?”

He said: “I’m looking for a friend. I want to know if he lives here, in this building. One of his friend gave me this address, isn’t it?”.

She said: “what’s his name?”

He said: “his name… his name is…..

She commented: oh! That guy … - she moved her head; showing she is upset and thinking, finally she noticed that the man was looking at her waiting for an answer .

She said quietly: yes, he lives here, this is the address, you can find him in the cave, and he leave if only at nights: cats and dogs remained there. (Pause).

She said: excuse me sir, I ‘am so busy see you later but make him go outside he started to look dirty like his unpleasant room and mouldy paintings. (Her voice tising again and gain).

(the gentleman was looking at her face; want to know what does she mean)

After, he ordered his collection of paintings beside the wall, he took one of them and cleaned it (they were very dirty).

He was quite happy while he was looking at it again and again especially when the light comes on the beautiful colors, covered the painting and the funny faces were drawn before. May be he forgets those faces or just want not to remember.

Somebody* bow down, sitting upon his knees while the painting is still in his hand, still looking at it. The faces of boys and girls all were happy, staying all on the long seat. They were all smiling ( really, it was a recordable picture he couldn’t ever draws something like it.

The personages seemed strange but at every glance they become more familiar.

He knew them, they may be friends… People.. Suddenly, he had a headache, a big pain while trying to remember who are they? He couldn’t look at these faces any more so that he put the painting down on his desk and walked toward the kitchen.

Having another cup of coffee , then he became more closer to the window, it wasn’t really a window but rather a small hole in the wall. Through it he can see the road; everything was so quite, the mountains, trees, crows. The heat of the coffee became closer to his face, he drunk some, then he turn backward.

suddenly, the door was knocked, there is a stranger. ( Nobody cares about him except the aged woman, asked him every month to give her the rental of the room; she was kind with him because she know that he likes to be alone).

The stranger stopped for instance then he knocked the door again.

*Somebody* thinks that the stranger will leave immediately but he is still there behind the door. He turned the key and opned fastly the door ( he found him, he was  quietly surprised, he didn’t expect him because he couch him  at last).

*Somebody* said/ what do you need from me? Why did you come ? How did you know my address?

The stranger replied with another question: “ What did happened  to you dear friend?, are you crazy? (he looked at the angels of the room ), what is this?, is it a graveyard?; How could you live here? I have never imagined to find you in such place; I couldn’t believe the woman (he walked all around the room looked at last at the ranges of paintings ). How many are they, how dirty are they?, tell me *somebody*. When did you draw all these paintings? It was disorganized lines, dark shapes dark colors an0d shiny ones.

In another picture, there were sad faces and collapsed building walls, sick hors… and soon.Some of the crows flied from  the closest trees. ( he turned to see them then started to look for another painting, it was dark sad painting, the trees are all dead without shadows but under them, there were been people, i twas shiny picture).

The stranger commented : « they are all same, they are similar ; the same colors ». The stranger said to * Somebody* : tell me why did you come here ? why did you leave your beautiful home ?country ?family ?, why did you come to this poor town ?

(there was no response, only the sound of having coffee )

The stranger moved closer to *Somebody* and put his hand on his shoulders, looked at his face, he couldn’t recognise him, he was silent, the stranger took another step to him until he found the painting Left on the desk, he took it and said : look here, how much we felt happy, me , you and the others even the lovely lady look here (he pointed here by his finger..) the big clock of the institution, but i twas a clock with a disorganised numbers. The stranger added : why did you disorder the hours of the watch ? it’s strange behaviour but it doesn’t matter..

( he felt that somebody doesn’t care about what he was saying ; he looked at the painting once more).

He pointed : this is me !... me I seemed much more beautiful than in reality. Oh, that suit I can’t  remember it any more.

How much more beautiful the suit ? he pointed again to the girl with a fine long hair sitting on the seat, on the back was a smiling guy putting his hand on her shoulder and the other hand on the seat.

There were also many other people around them.

The stranger commented : in reality, she wasn’t with free hair but well arranged and well held ; especially when she was painting in the institution.

She was always like that, I had never seen her differently  except when you asked her for marriage. *Somebody* told him : the past, it was the past ( at last the strange, let him speak up) but he felt sorry for him beacause the lady left him) the stranger started to remind him of the past and how serious somebody was and very intelegent was he.he urged to speak, searching inside the memory about what was funny ( the strange smiled).

*Somebody* :  really, I was clover, but you was clover too.

( finally he started to implement about the lady). The stranger said : the spider , you were ?... you make  her captured but she did the same with you.

*Somebody* stood up and smash the chair on the wall.

He said to the stranger : shut up, did you come in order to kid me ? what do you want ? go out ! the stranger seemed sad , tried to calm him down.

He said : I will go, I am just trying to tell you that she was in Europe and she returned again.

She asked people about you and tell me to search for  you immediately, that’s why I am here friend !? She want to meet you.

*Someone* became more aggressive and moody person. The strange said you must go out of the dark room into the light of outside.The darkness was not the good place for you. you had many thing to do outside the room. The two were screaming, all people in the building had heard the noise in the dark room. ; one of them  an old man  came to see what was going there, he get  closer to the door then he knocked it slowly .

The door was opened in few seconds, the old man saw how the gentelman was leaving. the man was very upset but  the old man took a quick look inside the room tried to see  what was going  on there ; it was a painting color used when drawing.

Next day, in the early morning he went to the house of the lady, he landed her  beautiful garden ,  decorated by diverse nice flowers until he get more  closer to the door.

The lady opened the door so quickly, she was the same as, he had known here before with the same beautiful eyes..









Finished...