Serenity

Written for Daily Flash Fiction Contest
Prompt: RADIO, CIRCLE, EYES
W/C: 299 words

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         The coffee shop was as lively as ever. Friends chatting at the provided round tables in laid back leather chairs. Children desperately trying to entertain themselves with the sudden energy from their sugary drinks. The radio occasionally peaking in with a subdued crescendo before retreating back into its relaxed jazzy lull. In this environment of sound and energy, trying to absorb all that I can with my eyes and ears before returning to the blank sketch pad in front of me. Gently and purposefully placing the tip of my pencil down the page and began to draw a short line before raising my pencil off the page again and sighing. I glared at the slightly less blank page, frustrated that it wasn't becoming something on its own. The page ignored my irritated request.
         Discontent with doing nothing, I placed my mostly empty coffee cup on the page and traced a circle from its base. Removing the cup, I recreated the circle sporadically across the page. Then I began to fill the circles with straight, parallel lines. Then I connect lines between the circles. Then other shapes. I continued, adding more and more, until the page was a nothing but practiced noise.
         Unhappy with the now filled page, I turned to a blank page and scanned the shop again. Same chatty friends, same unruly children, same occasional music. In the middle of it was a new face. It was a woman reading a book quietly to herself, in her own serene, little island in this sea of noise. In that moment I knew what I wanted to draw. Turning back to the previous page, I created some space in the center with my eraser. In it's own little world, I drew a book and it's reader, making due within the chaos.