From Sunrise To Sunset

Solace 2

Jonathan

I could not fathom why she had left me standing there without an explanation. I wondered if I had done something wrong. Maybe it was because I put my arms around her, or maybe it was because I said nothing while she was in my arms. I wasn't sure what it was but I was beginning to realize that love was something complicated. Margaret made me feel things I didn't know I could feel. She made me want things I never thought I would want. When I was in her presence my actions were automatic. I did them without thinking. In some ways, it felt unnatural to me but in others, it was the most natural thing I had ever done.

I stood in my studio, staring at my now-finished painting of her while waiting for my parents' arrival. My father had phoned earlier to let me know that he would be paying me a visit along with my mother so they could see the finished painting of Margaret. I walked over to the window and stared at the lighthouse. I knew now that she lived in Suffolk Park which was only fourteen minutes away from where I lived. All this time she had been only seven minutes away and I had never met her. A part of me wanted to go there looking for her like a madman, but I didn't think that she'd want me to. So, I decided to wait until the next morning to meet her at the lighthouse.

"John, are you in there?" My father called from outside the studio.

I walked to the door and opened it to let him and my mother in. "Johnny," my mother said, cupping my face with her hands. As usual, she was always happy to see me.

"Good day, Mum...Dad." I said, pulling my mum into a hug and kissing her on the forehead.

"Good day, son," my father said, tapping my right shoulder.

"I've missed you," my mother said.

"I was at the house last Friday for dinner, Mum," I teased.

"I know, but still."

My mother has always been like this since I left the house and started building a life of my own. If it were up to her I would have lived with her and my father until the day they died.

"Please come in," I said, letting them walk past me.

"I'm so excited to see your new piece," she said. "Your father has been going on about it. Where is it?"

"It's near the back window," I said, closing the door and making my way to it as they followed behind me. I removed the dust sheet from the painting and revealed it to them.

My mother put her hand over her mouth as she stared at it in awe and my father stared with a small smile on his face while nodding his head in approval.

"You did it, son! This is your best one yet!" He said, tapping me on the shoulder again. "I can't wait to see people's reaction when they see it at the exhibition."

I nodded my head as thoughts of Margaret came to my mind. I hoped that she would say yes to coming to the exhibition with me on Sunday. I wanted nothing more than to see her reaction when she realized that the painting was a painting of her.

"It truly is beautiful!" My mother finally said as she removed her hand from her mouth. "The light of the sun peaking from behind the ocean, the strength of her grasp around the fence. It all speaks volumes. There's a lot of pain in this art, but there's also hope, strength, and love. You have captured it all, Johnny. It's not like your other paintings...it's different."

"Hmmm," I said softly as I listened to my mother's words and stared at the painting. She was right about it being different from my other paintings. I had painted at least three hundred paintings and none of them were like this one. My other paintings consisted of things from my imagination, like a random house or animal in the wilderness, things I had seen on my travels in Europe, random things that piqued my interest, and things that came from my imagination.