The artist that doesn't understand.

In a small village, there was a talented artist. Early every morning, he would take a walk on a neatly paved road along a big river that separated the village from the other side. He then would find his favorite couch from which he found the best view to help him get some new ideas of what to draw out of dozen other couches placed along the roadside under rows of bushy evergreen oak trees. Villagers who passed by were greatly impressed by his remarkable coloring combination and detailed depiction of the beautiful scenery in the morning.

One day, the artist woke up earlier than usual in hope of a chance to capture the image of the sky before the sunrise. When he got to where he usually was, the sky was covered by several thin layers of clouds barely lit up when the sun almost touched the horizon. The river's surface was so clear that it perfectly reflected the charming scenery. The artist loved to see this, and he excitedly pulled out his art equipment from his backpack, including his favorite graphite pencil that his dad treasured for him. He then walked to the edge of the river sketching scene.

While the artist was drawing, a young woman in her twenties came and casually sat next to where his bag and stuff in it were strewn. Like him, she loved drawing since walking in the morning became her habit that inspired her to become a professional artist. As he sat down to have a break, her marvelous and unique delineation of the road and rows of oak trees captured his attention. "I love the way you use light to shade," he awkwardly said, but the woman didn't react. He rummaged through his bag looking for his water bottle. "I can tell you that you'll be a great artist in the future. The way you express your creative imagination is just-," he said a bit louder as he gazed at the horizon after taking a small sip of water, but her beautiful sky blue eyes still intensely focused on her sketch pad.

Feeling irritated and ignored, the man decided to leave this place as he began to pack up his things hastily and angrily. Suddenly, with a joyful and proud face, the woman murmured, "I finally did it!" as she finished her final drawing line. She then glanced around and gave the man a surprised look. "Oh, I love your work! It looks so realistic and majestic," she said, awkwardly smiling. But the man, now filled with annoyance, snatched his drawing pad from her gaze and continued packing up, leaving an ugly smudge on his meticulously sketched river. Just before he stood up and left, he said to her with a mockery face, "Don't quite believe that there are still people like you in this society." The smile on her face collapsed, but she didn't understand what the man talked about.

As the sun emerged from the horizon, the man finally found another great place to satisfy his need for astonishing ideas. As he opened his bag and began to draw a sketch, he couldn't find his favorite pencil that his dad gave him. "I must've dropped it on that couch," he said angrily, scratching his head, "but I don't want to see that face again." So he chose to use his worn pencils and began drawing. Later on that day, he decided to return to where he met the young woman to find his missing pencil, but he couldn't find it anywhere. "Now I see. That woman even steals my most precious gift from my father," he grumbled as he began to head back to the village.

Walking on the road leading to his house, the artist brooded over everything that had happened to him. When he came in sight of his house, he saw an old woman sitting on wooden front door steps.

"Kristas, you're home," the woman said, standing on her feet.

He didn't say anything but gave her a heartless look.

"You know the woman who sat next to you this morning?" She continued.

"Yeah..." he stopped walking with his head half turning.

"She asked me to give you this pencil," she said as she pulled out from her pocket the pencil the man was looking for and gave it to him, "she told me that she was looking all over this village for someone who can give it back to you. She said she loved the stuff you drew by the way."

Holding the pencil in his hands, the man stood completely still filled with regret.

"And also," she said, "that young woman told me that you didn't look well when you left her this morning. She mentioned that she was deaf since birth and wanted to apologize if she did something that make you feel unconfortable."