“ It’s so beautiful, Evan! I mean like amazing!” Emily gushed over the life like painting that Evan made for her to give her at the Christmas party. His face turned bright red, blushing from the flurry of compliments that he received from her. Starting to feel a little anxious as he watched Emily head to the door with the painting underneath her arm, Evan quickly approached her.
“ Oh wait a minute! I only painted that for you and I am not sure if I am ready for everyone to see.” Evan said in a sheepish tone.
“ Oh Evan! I can’t believe you would be embarrassed about this! I think it could go in a museum it is that good!” Emily exclaimed as she placed the painting gently next to the wall and grabbed Evan’s shoulders. At first Evan was startled but quickly loosened up after looking into her eyes.
“ Evan! Life is short. There is no reason why you should keep these beautiful paintings from everyone! This is magnificent and I think that people need to have more of this in their life!” She announced with a big smile that made him blush again.
“ Man, Emily you are making me blush again! You really think so?” He asked as she took her hands off of his shoulders and bent over to pick up the painting to bring to the other room.
“ Of course ! I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it!” Emily answered in a somewhat dismissive tone. “ C’mon with me back to the party.” She turned and looked at Evan. He stood there, still blushing as he looked down at the floor and reluctantly followed her back in to the other room.
“ Hey everyone! Look at this beautiful painting that Evan just painted for me!” Evan cringed as he feared that she would introduce his art to people for the first time in such a fashion. Forcing a fake smile, he awkwardly raised his hand in the air, not knowing quite what to say.
The was quite a lot of chatter amongst the other guests at the party as Emily brought the painting in the kitchen to place on the table under the brighter lights. A crowd of people flocked over to examine this work of art more closely. Many people turned their heads and smiled at Evan with some of them even waving. He nervously waved and smiled back at them. Evan was starting to feel very anxious and uncomfortable. He looked at his phone in an effort to pretend that he needed to be somewhere else to be soon. Cautiously approaching the table while more people began to approach the painting and offer their own critique, Evan tapped Mona on the shoulder.
“ Excuse me, Mona?” Evan said softly as he tapped her on the shoulder. Holding a full drink in her hand, Mona turned to look at Evan.
“ Oh hey Evan! You really painted that? That is amazing! I can’t believe it!” Mona raved as she kept a watchful eye on her drink to make sure that she didn’t spill anything on Evan.
“ Yup! Believe it!” Evan answered, his voice cracking unfortunately at the worst possible moment. He smiled nervously and added,” I am sorry but I have to go. Thank you so much for inviting me!” Evan reached out to shake her hand. Grabbing his hand, she put the drink down on the nearest counter and hugged Evan. Slightly surprised but comfortable enough, Evan embraced her.
“ You take care of yourself, Evan. You have a real gift. You should share it more.” Evan nodded his head and managed to catch Emily’s eye. She was standing across the living room having a glass of wine with a Middle Eastern looking man with a thick beard. He smiled at her and waved as he pointed to the door. For a slight moment, Evan envisioned Emily putting her drink down and racing into his arms and begging him not to leave. That, of course played out a little different than what Evan imagined. She flashed him a big smile and tapped the man that she was talking to and pointed towards Evan. She whispered in his ear while still pointing at Evan. Nodding her head, she gave Evan the thumbs up sign. Evan nervously smiled once more as the rest of his confidence evaporated. Emily waved at him as he turned around and headed straight for the door. A few people patted him on the back as he left the house.
The bitter cold reinforced its superiority over the moment as Evan quickly buttoned up his jacket. Shivering, he quickened his pace while contemplating calling a cab. Not wanting to deal with any more people tonight and quite possibly for longer, he elected to walk instead.
Moving faster with his hands jammed into his pockets, he almost lost his footing as he hit an icy patch that was difficult to spot due to the evening conditions. Soaring over the icy winds, sounds of a group of Christmas carolers could be heard. Evan stopped for a moment to see where the group was. Convinced they couldn’t see him, he stopped , closed his eyes and listened.
“ Not bad.” He said out loud, nodding his head in agreement with himself. Smiling, he quickened his pace and for an unknown reason, he neglected to pay attention to the black ice that was everywhere amongst the sidewalks. Losing his footing completely, he slipped head over heels and sailed through the air, landing squarely on his head. Blackness washed over him.
After an undetermined amount of time, he slowly began to rise to his feet. His vision slightly blurry, he immediately headed to his apartment which wasn’t that far away. All that he could think about was getting home where everything made sense to him and he was comfortable. Not much longer after his unfortunate fall, he arrived at the front door of his apartment building. The door swung open as the young couple that lived downstairs burst through , holding hands and laughing. The man held the door open for Evan who gladly accepted it and immediately entered after they left.
Bursting through his apartment door, he threw his jacket on his chair and smiled. Rubbing his head, he strolled over to his old school stereo that he still had as his graduation present from high school and pressed the button. Lionel Richie’s smooth voice began to caress his ears slowly as the opening notes of the song, “ Hello” rose from the large speakers that surrounded his whole apartment. Slowly moving his head back and forth, he grabbed his painting apron and tied it firmly around his waist. Finding himself struggling more than usual to put it on, he started to feel dizzy. Shaking his head, he headed directly to the fresh canvas that had been awaiting him to return ever since he left the party. Grabbing the stool that was directly in front of him, he stared at the empty canvas that seemed to reach deep into his mind. Leaning back ever so slightly, he felt certain colors begging him to be the foundation of his next piece.
Nodding his head along with the music, Evan reached over and grabbed his palette off the small coffee table that held the paints he was using. Closing his eyes tightly, he proceeded to passionately paint a picture in less than an hour. Almost as if he was in a trance, he never opened his eyes the whole time. Even after he abruptly placed the brush on the table, his eyes still remained tightly shut. After a long moment that coincided with the last notes of the song, “ Easy” rang through the air, Evan slowly opened his eyes.
What lay before him was a deeply detailed and lifelike rendition of a train derailed on fire. Vivid hues of bright orange and muted tones of red danced throughout the passionately depicted flames of the inferno. Twisted hunks of metal lay across the tracks as unbelievably accurate images of passengers fleeing the train were interspersed amongst the flames. Evan leaned closer to examine the accuracy and the brilliantly chosen colors that were splashed all over the canvas. Shaking his head, feeling progressively more nauseous, he pulled off his apron. He immediately darted towards his bed and crashed into the sea of blankets. Not more than a few minutes later, he was snoring loudly.
The morning sun made a brief appearance through the slits in the blinds that hung in front of the window. Dark clouds were picking up steam in effort to thwart the sun’s efforts. The darkness was aided by the cold rain that was starting to beat against the windows of Evan’s apartment.
Rubbing his head, feeling like he was hungover, he grabbed his phone. Still rubbing the back of his head, he checked the newsfeed on his Facebook. As he scrolled down he slowly stopped rubbing his head and grabbed his phone with both hands. He rose to his feet almost as if he was sleepwalking wide awake and headed over to the painting he created last night.
Holding the phone alongside the painting, it seemed as if he had taken a picture of the crash with his phone. Staring harder at the phone then alternating to look at the picture he shook his head in disbelief. Evan frantically started scrolling through the story to read the details. After reading the article he immediately returned to his bed. Hitting the pillows , he dropped his phone on the floor. The headlines read, “ CATASTROPHIC TRAIN DISASTER!” which soon went back to the home screen as the sounds of Evan’s snores filled the air.
The following morning started out with the sun making its usual futile attempt to shine as the nasty clouds of winter stifled its efforts. Evan rose out of bed and methodically marched over to his painting apron which he fastened quickly. He returned to the small stool that sat in front of the easel. Staring briefly at the easel in front of him, Evan reached behind it and pulled out a blank canvas. After he inserted it onto the easel, he closed his eyes again. Suddenly he grabbed his palette and brush and frantically began waving his arms, painting like he was conducting a large orchestra showered by the rich sounds of horns filling the air. Closing his eyes even tighter, he slowed his arms down to a delicate slow moving motion that caressed the canvas yet firmly depicted its message. In less than an hour, Evan put down his paintbrush. Slowly opening his eyes, he moved closer to the canvas to obtain a much clearer view of what he had painted.
A classroom of elementary students were scrambling around the floor , dodging and hiding from what appeared to be gunfire. There didn’t appear to be any dead children as he examined the details of the painting to the best of his ability. Breathing a sigh of relief as he realized this, he suddenly shook his head. Scanning all throughout the picture he feverishly searched for a shooter or an image that could reveal a clue or something more which could help him decipher the details more accurately.
After an intense examination of the painting and reflecting on the painting that he had made the night before, he stood up. Starting to pace around the apartment he fell into an abyss of thought and strenuous contemplation.
“ Should I call the cops? Yeah great idea Evan. What are you going to tell them? A paranoid schizophrenic who doesn’t work or hardly ever leave his house suddenly can predict the future? Or maybe that was just a coincidence and I would look even dumber thinking I can predict the future with one painting?” All these thoughts were overwhelming him, planting the seeds for a massive migraine. He moaned as he realized that he hadn’t eaten in a couple of days. Heading to the refrigerator, he grabbed a yogurt. Sitting down at the kitchen table he wondered when the last time he took his pills were.
“ Did I take them before the party? When was the party? What day is it?” All these questions just gave him more of a headache that was just beginning. Dropping his spoon on the table, he tossed the empty yogurt container in the general direction of the garbage can. Caring less if the container arrived at its destination, he stumbled to his bed. Not much longer after, the rumbling sounds of Evan’s snoring filled the air once again.
The next day arrived without the slightest trace of the sun attempting to make its impression on this new day. The sky was white, snow flew around wildly in the air, its frenetic dancing fueled by the strong winds. The whole apartment building felt Mother Nature’s wrath as it shook.
Hair protruding in several different directions at once, Evan slowly rose up from under the covers. Yawning as wide as the oldest and wisest lion in the pride, he slid off the bed. Strolling over straight over to his stool without stopping to put on his apron, he removed yesterday’s painting from the easel and quickly replaced it with a fresh one. He grabbed the palette and a brush and closed his eyes almost immediately. Nodding slowly as if he was listening to religious chanting, he started waving his brush around the canvas. Feverishly applying several hard brush strokes in the same direction, the look of anguish and pain emerged across his face. Still closing his eyes as tight as possible, he abruptly placed the palette and brush on the coffee table.
Reluctant to open his eyes at first, he leaned back on his stool. As he ran his fingers across his chest, he realized that he forgot to wear his apron. He immediately opened his eyes. Slowly, he leaned forward closer to the picture and a look of confusion was now the dominant look on Evan’s face.
A middle aged man wrapped up as tightly as possible within the confines of his jacket, lay awkwardly in the middle of the road. Idling right in front of him was a large white pickup truck, headlights like the lights on Broadway shone directly on the road ahead of the man. Swirling gust of snow danced around the truck and the fallen man, all flawlessly depicted in the painting.
Evan sat and stared at the painting a little longer, he stood up and waved his hand in a dismissive fashion towards his new creation. As he walked into the kitchen, he turned back and glimpsed at the painting he did the night before. Stumbling across the kitchen to the bed, he reached over and grabbed his phone. Starting to sweat, he scrolled down his Face Book feed.
Crying out in anguish, he dropped the phone on the floor. As he began to cry and shake, he impulsively grabbed his jacket and put on his shoes. When he finished he sat down momentarily for a second to remember where the police station was in terms to his apartment. Suddenly nodding his head, he remembered. Still crying softly he grabbed his coat and dashed out of his apartment. He plowed through the driving snow, totally indifferent to the conditions that were currently surrounding him. The driving winds brought even more snow as Evan began to slow his pace. Nonetheless, Evan continued his frenzy trek to the police station. Suddenly he stopped and turned to stare at the lights across the street.
“ That way! I’m sure!” Not taking the minute to look both ways across the street in these especially treacherous conditions, Evan darted out in the middle of the road. Suddenly a loud thump and the sound of skidding brakes across the icy road resonated loudly throughout the night.
“ Shit! Oh my god!” a loud voice cried as the driver quickly exited his large white pickup truck The headlights shone brightly on Evan as he lay in a crumpled snow covered mass stretched awkwardly in the middle of the road.
“ Oh no!” the man’s voice shrieked as he realized what had just happened. Bending closer to Evan’s body , he gingerly positioned Evan’s head in his direction. Trembling with fear and overwhelming sorrow, the man checked to hear Evan’s pulse. He slowly fell to his knees as he let Evan’s lifeless body fall to the ground and screamed into the night.