The Final Goodbye

 ATTENTION: THIS IS NOT FOR THE PROMPT

   I frown at the canvas in front of me, holding my paintbrush between two of my slender fingers. Something doesn’t sit well with me. I followed the picture in my mind perfectly, but it still doesn’t look right. I sigh and stare some more, willing something to jump out at me. I look at the dark sky, at the girl with a peaceful expression, wearing a crown of thorns. I look at all the dark colors of the painting, save for the red running down her face. Her auburn hair is tangled and flowing down, over her shoulder. Her dress showing her figure perfectly is flowing as if a gust of wind had caught it.

     This should be a beautiful painting, but I still feel like something isn’t right. I look at the face and step back, startled. It’s the face that’s not right. Her face is too peaceful. It’s as if she doesn’t care about anything. I dip the end of my brush into the dark paint and I start adding sharper edges to her face, making her look as if she is deep in thought. I scrunch her eyebrows and make her lips curve down is an ever so slight frown. I dip my brush in the red and add to the blood dripping down her face from the crown. I look down at her hands. They are touching the face of a man. His face is more of a blur. Only his eyes are clear. They are a deep green, a hint of sadness in them. A single tear traces it’s way down his face. I add to the color of the tear, making it shockingly real. You can see the outline of his face and some of the edges that make his face realistic, but it’s like he’s in the shadows. Her hands are as clear as the rest of her. Dark edges make her hands look sharp and realistic, but graceful at the same time. I step back and smile at myself. 

     There. Perfect. It’s taken me months to complete this particular piece. I’m not even sure where I got the idea from, maybe a dream, but I woke up one morning and had the urge to paint. So I picked up my brush and this was the outcome. I always have a story for my paintings, it’s always more than just an appealing picture. This one is about a woman who is in love with a man. They loved each other. He didn’t always make the best choices, but she never got angry because she knew he didn’t mean any of them. He finally made a huge mistake and had to pay for it. Too big for just forgiveness. She has taken his place and is taking the pain for him, showing how much she really loves him. His face is blurred because they can no longer be together. His eyes show his emotion and how regretful he is for being so careless. The crown and blood show the pain she’s taken from him. Her hands touching his face are showing it’s the last goodbye before she fades away from him. 

     I step away and wipe my hands on my apron, getting as much paint off as possible. I untie my apron and hang it on its hook before going inside. My studio is attached to my house, it has glass walls where you can see everything outside. It gives the studio good lighting for painting and it gives me lots of inspiration. I close the studio door and head inside. I look out the window and watch the trees swaying in the wind. The clouds are a dark grey, sitting in the sky. I smile to myself. The weather has been pretty hot and humid lately. I’m glad that it is going to start cooling off, especially since it’s already the end of September. It’s about time to get some cooler weather.

     I open the front door and step outside. The cool wind makes me laugh joyfully, like I’m a little girl again. Some things just make me very happy and cool weather with the smell of rain is one of them. I start strolling down the street, thinking about my painting. It’s probably one of the best ones I’ve ever done. When I was a little girl I thought I was going to grow up to be an acrobat. That’s what I wanted to be for my whole childhood. Well that is until a paintbrush got placed into my hand. It was amazing what my little paintbrush could create. I might enter this one in a contest, could earn something off of it.

     That’s when the unexpected happens. I start to cross the street when a speeding car slams me head on, sending me flying. My heart drops as I sail in the air towards the pavement. A thousand sounds zoom through my ears. I ready myself for the pain as I hit the pavement and even that couldn’t prepare me for the pain. Sharp, hot pain. I crash Into the pavement and lay there, unmoving. Screams sound in the distance, people yelling and sirens wailing. I can barely hear any of it. All I can hear is the pounding in my head. All I can think is that I want it to stop. I scream at the pain to stop. I clutch my head and rock back and forth trying to get the pain out. I rock onto my ankle and I scream louder at the new burning in my ankle. Everything hurts. I just want it to go away. Those are my last thoughts as everything fades to black. 

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Five minutes earlier

I look around at all the people strolling around the neighborhood, taking advantage of the beautiful weather. I wonder at what is going through their heads. Whenever on a walk, I always look at the people. It’s interesting all the things you can learn about someone by just observing them. I look at one person in particular. She walks with an air of confidence. Her dark hair is tied back into a messy bun, strands of hair have come loose and hang around her eyes. Her hands sway to a hidden rhythm by her side as she walks. Her blue eyes seem to be aglow with pleasure. Her hands show streaks of red and black. My heart leaps. It looks like she fell and has dirt and blood on her hands. I take another look and realize it’s paint. It looks fresh. If I were to look closer, I can imagine there would be paint on her forehead from wiping away loose strands of hair from her face as she painted. I wonder to myself if her paintings are any good. Just as I’m about to continue my walk, I watch in horror as she steps into the road right as a speeding car slams into her, head on. I react too late. I hear the sickening sound of her body landing with a thud and a scream onto the pavement. I bolt over to where she is lying. When I reach her she is holding her head and screaming for the pain to go away. My heartbeat races way too fast for my liking as she starts rocking back and forth, but then screams when she rolls on her ankle. I take a deep breath and gather her in my arms. 

     “Someone call an ambulance!” I call to all the onlookers who are doing nothing but staring at us. I stand up with her in my arms. She shudders in my arms and then her body goes limp. I look down at her and see that she’s blacked out. This is not good. The shudder implies that she’s cold, and even though the weather is cooler today, it’s not even cool enough for an extra layer of clothing. This really concerns me and I need to get her help as soon as possible.