The Ingenious Mr. Baron

Chapter 2

Mr. Baron stepped out onto the backyard deck and felt the winter breeze meet him. He shuddered slightly. Beck swiftly ran out the door and down the deck stairs to the backyard. Mr. Baron watched him. Beck then observed the dog next door and planted his front paws on the fence and barked at it. The other dog cowered away from him, as it was about one fourth of Beck’s size. Mr. Baron placed his eyes on Beck but was not really concentrating on him. Instead, he was trying to think of what to teach the two boys, Harris and Eli.

    Harris had seemed interested in the thought of writing, and Eli seemed to like the paintings. But how would he explain to Eli how to move his hand in the swift motion across the canvas? And how would he tell Harris how to define his characters to make them seem real? He had waited half his life for this opportunity. And Mr. Baron was only realizing now about how difficult it would be.

  He stood over the side of the deck for what seemed days. Finally, Beck nudged his leg, reminding Mr. Baron that tomorrow was coming in a few hours time. He went inside and poured Beck some food, still pondering how he was going to teach the boys.

 It was after Mr. Baron had gotten into his nightclothes that he found the solution. His eyes opened wide and he dropped his toothbrush. He hurried to his Inventing Room and sat down at his desk. He started writing a paper on how he was going to coach the boys.

**

  Mr. Baron woke up to a sharp bark from upstairs. He lifted his head from his desk and the paper he had finished writing stuck to his face. He peeled the paper off and went upstairs. Mr. Baron was slightly more confident. He had a plan. He had written this plan late into the night and early into the morning. It was nearly nine thirty in the morning. Beck greeted Mr. Baron with a fit of licking him on his face, which Mr. Baron turned down decisively.

  After Mr. Baron finished his breakfast, he went back to the Inventing Room to edit his drawing a bit more. His red ballpoint pen was almost out of ink from all of the scribbles he had run across his paper. Now it just looked like a big red mess. Mr. Baron still knew how to paint it. He still had the general idea of what to put in and what not to put in. So he walked over to his cabinets where he stored his canvases. He picked a larger one, so he could fit almost every solitary detail in the painting. He was going to need to buy more paint. And so he did. He went to the art store and bought plenty of canvas paint. Everything he needed. He got toothpicks for smaller detail; he got cotton balls for drafty, fluffy detail; and he got large paintbrushes, and small paintbrushes, he got everything he needed to make this painting perfect.

   When he got back home, he opened the door with a little bit of a struggle, and then headed downstairs. He set his canvas down on the table. He put the paint to the left of the canvas, and the utensils to the right.

  He was just opening the bottle of green paint when there was a knock on the door. Beck went crazy upstairs.

  Mr. Baron’s face lit up. The boys were here. He went up the stairs and when he reached the peephole in the large door, he saw two boys standing there, looking uncomfortable. Mr. Baron smiled again and opened the door, holding back a laugh.

“Oh, hey Mr. Baron!” said Harris brightly, immediately shifted from his uncomfortable doorstep look.

“Hello boys. Would you like to come in?” The boys stepped into the house and the three of them headed straight down to the Inventing Room.

“We saw you carrying quite a few bags in from your car. What did you buy?” said Harris curiously.

“Harris,” said Eli awkwardly. “You don’t just ask people what they bought from a store!” Mr. Baron laughed heartily.