Watercolored

Sara sat at her art table contemplating what to draw next. She had a deadline on her portfolio but had no idea what to do for her final piece. A piece about imagination. Slowly the sun outside started setting and the world around her grew quiet. Clearly sketching wasn't helping her creativity flow. Sara knew she needed help. She pulled out her phone and texted her dear friend. "I'm stuck and I'm not sure what to do for this piece. How am I supposed to sketch something that is imaginative?", she typed with a sigh. If anyone could help her it had to be her friend. She took one breath and then hit send patiently waiting for a response. A very slow response.

Thirty minutes passed before she heard a ding. She very nervously looked at the text... a simple sentence. "Think outside the box and use a different medium." Confused and upset, Sara considered scrapping her whole portfolio; however, she knew that such a hasty reaction would only result in her failing the last class she needed before graduating. So instead of flipping out she simply went to bed and promised herself she'd get a fresher look at things in the morning. Sara turned off the light on her desk and disappointingly walked to her bed. She quickly braided her long hair and then cuddled up in bed falling asleep to the sounds of crickets chirping and owls singing outside her bedroom window.

As she slept she dreamt she was alone and scared in a very dark place. As she searched for a light she feared the worst. Finding a light switch she quickly turned on the lights only to find that everything around her was grey. She looked down at her hands, but they sat in the same muted grey tone as the walls around her. It was as if the world around her was void of all color. She looked outside her window but found everything outside her tiny little home was also a lifeless shade of grey. Sitting down at her table she pulled out her paint supplies. Acrylic, oil, and even watercolor... everything was grey except for the watercolor palette she held in her hands. Watercolor isn't exactly her favorite medium. It's soft and definitely isn't the neatest but she did have to admit it was pretty. Sara dipped her brush in water and then touched one of the pots. Purple pigment clinging to her brush she stared at it with amazement when suddenly a drop slipped off the brush and onto her dress. slowly her grey attire turned a beautiful shade of purple. Her once-grey hands lit up with color. "Could this really be happening?", she said to herself in amusement. With curiosity in mind, she dipped her brush in water and then in the softest yellow and quickly touched the wall to her left. All of sudden the walls around her went from a solemn grey to the prettiest soft yellow shade. She giggled with joy only to catch a glimpse of the rain-covered grey world outside her window. It made her sad to look at it; however, she wondered if the pretty watercolors would light up the world the way it did her room. She quickly ran outside and into the middle of the street letting the falling rain fill up her palette. She watched as the colorful water filled the palette and then poured onto the street. Color spreading as if it was magic. Trees came to life and the grass shined in the brightest green. The houses around her slowly turned to pretty colors. As the color brought life to the world she noticed the rain moving backward as if someone was pulling it all up. In a burst of color, the sky lit up blue as a rainbow stretched against the sky.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP", screamed the alarm clock, waking Sara up with a start. She looked around her room. Her soft pale yellow walls stared back at her. The pretty flowers painted on the walls popped out as if to say good morning. Sara looked over at her desk, lit up with the morning sun rays. She sighed remembering the portfolio that was due tomorrow. One final project weighing on her mind. One final project that would dictate her grade. Imagination... how was she supposed to create something using her imagination. She thought about crawling back under her covers and ignoring it but then remembered her dream. Jumping up and running to her desk, Sara quickly pulled out her watercolor and a watercolor canvas and proceeded to paint. Looking at it people might not understand the meaning behind it but Sara looked at her finished project with pride. She smiled and simply named it, "Watercolored world" as a reminder that when life is stressful you should paint your world with all the pretty colors you want.