CHAPTER 1
UNICORN PAINTING ON T-SHIRT
It was the day everyone had been waiting for. This was the day that they got to paint T-shirts in art class. Most of the kids were squirting squiggles and dots on their T-shirt, but not Moniqa. She sat deep in thought. She had intended to make her T-shirt look like everyone else's dazzle art. But when she picked up the bottles to squirt out the puff paints something had stilled her hand and her mind!
"Think," a thought whispered through her mind. "Think of the most wonderful thing you could paint. What image can convey wonder, peace, love, adventure...LIFE!?"
Now Moniqa sat with paint poised, staring off into space. What image would she paint on the T-shirt, to wear over her heart for all the world to see? Would it be squiggles and dots, like everyone else's? Or could she paint a picture to express what she really felt. Moniqa knew. She wasn't like everyone else. She was different. She always had been. She never really fit in. Oh, she had lots of friends, but even they thought she was weird most of the time.
Moniqa would paint a picture that would convey wonder, peace, love, adventure, the essence of Life itself. But what single picture could convey all these feelings? A tree? A seascape?
Moniqa's mind was black. Totally blank; as she stared off into space. Suddenly a picture began to form in her mind's eye. At first it seemed to be forming in a fog and far away. Slowly, the image crystallized, drawing closer until Moniqa realized what it was. A Unicorn! A mystical, magical Unicorn. Looking at the Unicorn Moniqa felt a sense of wonder, peace, love, and adventure. Of course!
She looked at the colors she had selected, dark blue, yellow and white, none of them her favorite colors, but the perfect colors for her picture. She'd need brown, also, for the eye. But, there wasn't any brown. Oh, well, she could mix orange with the dark blue and get a lovely, rich brown. Quickly she began to paint the night sky for the Unicorn to be silhouetted against.
As the bell rang for classes end, Moniqa put the finishing touches on the unicorn's golden horn. All the T-shirts were carefully hung on wires overhead until tomorrow when the paint would be dry. And tomorrow she would wear her beautiful creation for all the school to see.
For the rest of the day it was as if Moniqa looked at the world through the vision of the Unicorn, like looking at the world through a stained glass window. There was a slight ringing in her ears. Sometimes that happened when her head got congested from breathing paint or solvent fumes in art class.
Moniqa went to get her T-shirt before classes the next morning. She wore it proudly to class. All her friends complimented her on the beautiful work of art she wore. Even some kids who weren't her friends said it was nice. Moniqa noticed that more people smiled at her in the halls than usual. Whether they were laughing at her or delighted by the Unicorn, Moniqa didn't know, but, hoped it was the latter.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(C) 1991, 2001, 2011, 2020, Sharri Lorraine~
