A Picture Complete!

Clouds swiftly came across and draped the moon shining so brightly in the night sky. The wind howled, and mist started to cover nature's surroundings, warning the wayward wanderers of its intentions. It was Halloween night, and mischief was about to knock on someone's door.

The old man passionately scattered splashes of red, brown, yellow, and blue on the canvas. He swayed a little to the left, and then to the right, while he vocalized with Mozart playing on his gramophone, and caressed the canvas with his paint brush, with large strokes as he formed the wings of his majestic creature.

"He's gonna love this ", he whispered to himself as he imagined the child impressed with the dragon-themed painting he was creating for his birthday. Just a few weeks ago, it had been announced that the young boy who was turning 3 will be having a grand birthday bash. Citizens were welcome to send gifts to express their affection for the president's son.

Nobody loved the president's child more than the old man. He had a strange obsession with him. His walls were furnished with countless paintings, and sketches of the young boy. With Mozart continuously playing loudly, a rush of adrenaline came through, and the old man hurried to finish painting the president's toddler. He gave the child the appearance of a knight in a shiny armor, holding a sword , riding the majestic blue dragon, soaring through the deep valleys. " I wish he was mine. Just need a little bit of magic", he mumbled under his breath. The man, lost in his thoughts, didn't realize when slumber conquered his eyes, and he drifted asleep.

The clock struck midnight.

It blinked first. Perhaps, a few more times to allow things to come into focus. Then, it tilted its head, and carefully observed the steep hills, and the river flowing beneath. Then suddenly, an unusual force overtook its body, and lifted its wings, as it peeled itself off the surface of the canvas. It's claws grasped the edge of the canvas stand while it turned around to look at the gigantic frame. There was a white stain in the middle of the deep valley that resembled the outline of its body. But there was another white stain just above where the dragon's head was supposed to be. It seemed as if it was carrying something on its back, the dragon thought. Confused as it was, while trying to adjust to this new life it had gotten, it looked around to see its new world. There lay its creator, sound asleep in his house, surrounded by incomplete dreams. The red paint dripping off the stand caught its eye.

Drip, drip, drip.

But something else caught the new being's attention as well. A trail of footprints that were leading out the window. It could hear the sound of tiny feet in the distance. Pitter, patter, pitter, patter. Then there was a giggle. And then it clicked. There was supposed to be a child, in an armor, holding a sword on top of it.

The dragon realized that it was not the only one that came to life. There was someone else too. Seeing that the child in the painting meant a lot to the old man, it would be devastating for him if something bad happened to the picture. Realizing this, the dragon vowed to bring back the missing character, before the old man wakes up from his state of slumber.

The dragon extended its sky-blue wings, and leaped in to the air, and headed out the window as it curiously explored where the footprints would lead. As it soared out the window, the strong gust of winds blowing in the misty night rejuvenated the excitement of existing. It was enjoying its new power, when traces of red, yellow, and silver paint, on the ground caught its eye. It flew down to get a closer look, and saw the same set of footprints leading towards a forest. The trail of tiny feet stopped in the middle of nowhere. They just seemed to disappear. The majestic blue creature swooped under the branches, over the canopy of trees, closely eyeing the hints that would lead to the whereabouts of the boy from the painting. There were traces of yellow, and red, and silver all over the bushes, and on the rustling leaves, but the child was nowhere to be seen. He heard mindless giggling every now and then. A shadowy figure would appear every so often from behind the trees, and then disappear into the mist. This frustrated the dragon. But the mystical creature didn't stop looking. And finally, after hours of mindlessly flying in the dark, his quest came to an end.

There he was. The young child standing all by himself in the same armor suit. Although, it seemed a little darker than the dragon had remembered it to be. Or perhaps, it couldn't tell because of the dark. The child turned around. Its eyes widened with horror as it took one look at the beast standing behind him. Before the child could make a move, the dragon, using its claws, snatched the child, and ascended into the sky. The young child wailed, and cried. But to no avail. Tonight the earthlings were deaf to its pleas.

The new dawn was on the horizon, and the dragon managed to return with the missing child to complete the painting. The wind calmed down, and the mist started to clear up. As the sun rays were coming out, and the old man was starting to awaken, the canvas sucked the dragon and the child right back into the deep valleys.

The old man got up, and looked at his painting. Something was off, he thought. The painting looked a little different. And the colour of the armour was different. And this mess. Where did these footprints come from?, he wondered. He brushed away these thoughts, thinking he might've been too out of it last night.

The morning news played in the background as he headed in to the kitchen to make himself some coffee.

"Breaking News! The President's son has gone missing! Last night the President and his family were camping in the woods for Halloween. The family was having a campfire, when they realized the 3 year old has gone missing. One of the residents managed to capture on his phone, what seems to be a big blue bird, almost like a dragon carrying the child away. The child was last seen wearing a Darth Vader outfit".

The old man's eyes widened. He carefully looked at the paint again that had dripped all over the floor, and the footprints. "Maybe I just needed a little bit of magic", he whispered to himself, and smiled.

THE END.