As fervent as she was, she had to tone down her excitement. Hearing the stimulating news that her mother already agreed to pay for the entrance fee to enter the competition roused Janie to an extent. She didn’t think it would be that easy to convince her mom, moreover have her waste her money on her interests.
Janie was in her room planning and looking for references or inspiration to submit to the competition, spinning around in her chair and scrolling through pinterest, slowly, and obviously, getting irritated by what seems to be a prolonged and endless road of inspirational pictures. She felt indolent, and she hated it. Being inactive just ignited something in her, shaking her leg constantly, tapping her fingers on the chair arm, gritting her teeth, she was restless. Moranda was dozing off, her eyes heavy and her head leaning to the side irregularly. It didn’t help how the darkened sky made everything somnolent. Janie, soon too, became a victim, repeatedly telling herself that she’s closing her eyes for a few minutes only to be drifted away in a deep sleep. And every quarter of an hour she would wake up with an urge to move her hands, stand up, do something productive, only to fall fast asleep.
Maybe she shouldn’t worry too much, afterall, she has 14 days left to actually submit her art into the competition…
“IT'S BEEN THREE DAYS AND I”VE STILL GOT NOTHING.”
Like she said, it’s been three days and Janie still got nothing to work with. Thankfully, Leona and Cindy were at her house.
Moranda watched Janie pace back and forth in her room. Leona and Cindy did too.
Janie felt a constant fear, fretting that she may have gone into art block, and she wasn’t able to look at Moranda with pleading eyes since it would make Leona and Cindy suspicious. Now that she recollects on it, she never really mentioned Moranda, or the canvas. Now her attention was diverted to that, agonizing over when is a perfect time to mention Moranda to her friends.
Cindy was the taciturn type, always being reticent around everyone else except Itsumi. Those two were like a twain, always amiable with each other and consecutively talking about literature and such. Moranda concluded Cindy as an apanthropy type, always loving the quietness of solitude and avoiding crowded areas. She couldn’t adapt herself to understand her thoughts. No matter how hard she looked at her body language, what she said and what she did always felt dissembled. She was truly an enigma in Moranda’s eyes.
Leona, on the contrary, was a fun concoction for Moranda. She compared her enthusiasm and profound knowledge to one like Rosana, her demeanor opposite of Annalise, and her upbringing alike to Janie. She was quite a layered cake in her opinion.
The one thing Moranda disliked was how awfully silent it was, so silent she swore she could hear her dead friends whispering to her to join them in the afterlife. The sound of Janie pacing back and forth, Leona awkwardly trying to initiate a conversation, and Cindy just breathing was putting Moranda back to sleep. She prayed her old soul for someone to speak, make commotion, do something!
Sigh
Moranda’s attention perked up. Was somebody about to speak? Was it Janie?
And to her disappointment, nobody did. Janie exuded deliberately, waiting for someone to speak, and staring at Moranda with pleading eyes to assist her, since she rarely spoke to Cindy and didn’t want to seem persistent for Leona to speak all the time since she came. Soon, she submitted to those pleading eyes, drifting over to her.
“Wouldn’t it be a good idea to go outside?” Moranda suggested.
Janie shrugged her shoulders, still being dithering towards any opinions. And besides, it was too hot to do anything, and she knew the minute they all went outside, one would be heat angry. Best to stay inside with the cool air if they wanted to cognitively produce ideas.
“Back in my days, I used to look at peaceful villages, or travel the mountains to their zenith with my teacher. Why don’t you?”
Again, Janie rejected.
“Oh quit dilly dallying! Come on now, go outside!” Moranda persisted, “I promise, you won’t regret it.”
Janie exuded breath out through her mouth, grabbing the attention of the bored Cindy and awkward Leona.
“Let’s go outside. Maybe we’ll get some inspo?”
----------------------------------------
With some suggestions from passerbyers and relatives, sweating under the summer heat, countless buses and unexpected walking, they made it to an idyllic scene far from their homes. The cooled breeze hitting the back of their necks being revealed from the parting of their hairs made the trip worth it. The visual experience in itself was ethereal, the plain white clouds floating in the blue sky, the green blades creating a wave effect due to the wind, the little toy windmills tucked in the trail making a wispy noise, the experience was beautiful.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
The beautiful fantasy-like place was called Halcyon Village. It’s not a village technically, it’s a land owned by a family of farmers who happened to invite a bunch of people with its majestic attraction, that's when the family decided to open it up as an attraction for the world to see. And that is how all four of them ended up here. Its serene and tranquil vibe did its work, bringing in people and giving them an emollient view to take in.
Moranda wandered off, leaving Janie being boisterous and excessively taking pictures for references. Just walking made her sentimental, walking in solitude lost in a pensive state. Back when she was just 16, her teacher and her would always venture around his town after she willingly left her family on her own accord. The trips varied in seasons: in the winters they went to fields to capture the trees in their nude state, in fall they went to lakes to capture the reddened leaves floating atop the water, in spring and summer they went to gardens to pick flowers and of course paint in the moment of perfection. In some rare cases, they would travel all the way deep into the mountains, to only then descend back down when it was foggy and hazy. Her teacher said it was his favorite immersive atmosphere to paint.
Back then, she never understood the point of painting in the moment, years later after he died she finally learned the significance of being in the moment to create a flow of persuasion and movement. The persuasion to make the viewer in a mood and movement to bring the viewer into the world.
Leona and Cindy were having the time of their lives adventuring and rolling through the grass, the zephyr keeping them going against the blazing sun. Janie ran on the trail, trying to take a picture of her summer dress flowing, with the toy windmills and grass blowing towards the same direction as her. Everyone was letting their inner child out. Nobody wanted to let the feeling die.
But by the end of everything, their energy were drained out. Leona and Cindy laying in the grass catching their breaths, Janie trudging to her bag to grab a drink, and Moranda sitting down, gazing at Janie who sipped her apple juice.
Now that they were alone, they could finally talk.
“Guess you were right.”
“Told ya.”
Janie raised an eyebrow, “now that i think about it, you’ve started talking modern.”
“What do you expect? Being with you made me adapt to your habits.”
“And me being with you made me better at art.”
“Looks like we’re getting the best at both ends,” A smile drew on Moranda’s face. And Janie, flushed, squinted her eyes at her, getting a laugh out of Moranda. This was her first time hearing her laugh out loud, and she snickers too.
Before Janie could drown her mind with Moranda’s snicker, which she was was cute and funny, Leona and Cindy ran back to Janie who was uphill; Leona playing with the frills on Janie’s citrus summer dress and Cindy being the same, taciturn, staring at Leona and Janie talk.
The weather proved to be clear throughout the whole day, so all three of them decided to stay for a little while more, with the guidance of a mature ghost guardian.
Leona had packed a whole five course meal. Strawberry shortcake, salad with tangerines, coffee milk in a carton, and freshly baked bread stuffed with melted chocolate. Cindy was quick to grab the coffee milk and down it down in one gulp, and Janie voraciously gobbled the strawberry shortcake, leaving the salad with tangerines to Leona, which she didn’t mind. The whole meal was splendorous, Moranda hoping this scene recommences again, hoping it would be perpetual, replaying over and over again for her to witness, yet only time could tell when that time would happen again.
“Oh yeah! Janie, I know we fooled around a lot, but did you get any references?” Leona spoke, covering her filled mouth with her hand.
“Oh yeah! I got a ton, I just have to choose which one I wanna draw.”
“Well if you ever need help, remember, me and Rosana are free.”
“Don’t worry, I'll be asking you for help, so watch out for me hehe.”
Leona laughed in her low, soft tone.
This whole day was eventful, and Janie’s itch for drawing was imminent, making her shake her leg underneath the bench they were sitting at. But of course, she had to wait until she got home to unleash her desires and have it take the wheel.
It would be Janie’s first time drawing or attempting scenery or nature as a whole, she’s been mostly drawing and sketching human figures and what not, so she’s playing russian roulette with scenery. She either does so terrible it makes her lash out, or, she either does well enough to convince herself to practice more with nature. But she’s assured with herself she’ll outwit any challenges that comes her way when she has her best teacher, friend, and older sister by her side. If anything looks off, she has Moranda to alter and attune to bring harmony to the painting.
She shouldn’t be restless now.
All four of them continued to immerse themselves in the beauty of Halcyon Village, before they had to leave. There were still three hours left until the sun started to set west, so they stayed, this time with a tranquil peace of mind as they walked the trails once more, the toy windmills creating peaceful wispy noises as they walked by, elapsing throughout the whole Halcyon Village amidst the quietness of the place.