One Star

One star

Only one star shone in the sky that night. She didn't know why, she
just knew that it was the only one she could see and that it was not
shinning for her. The streetlights blazed and shimmered as they guided
the hardworking folk home and the lovers to dark alleyways. It was time
for her usual run, she felt better about running in the dark, it felt
like she could see everyone else but they couldn't see her and that was
the way she liked it. Most women would feel anxious about being out at
night on their own, but Elizabeth was sure she could take care of
herself. From a distance the town sparkled, but when she ran through
the streets the lights showed up the blemishes, like white pen on black
paper. The star still shone in the sky, she wondered if it was the
northern star. Whatever it was, Elizabeth felt like it was laughing at
her. "No amount of running will get you to your destination Elizabeth,
you lost your way along time ago so now all you're doing is running
away. Every night you fly down these streets and every night you go
home without your answers". She lent on the lamppost outside a large
semi-detached and cried. As she moved to sit on the wall of this house,
their security light came on. This made her smile, for right now she
was the least dangerous person in this town. She stood up again and
carried on running. She took a different route home, variety is
supposed to be the spice of life! However this route took her home,
just as all the other paths did. There was no variety in her life, no
excitement, no new thing to look forward to each week. There was no
intervening event ready to make this evening any different from all of
the others. "So" she thought, "I'll have to create some myself". She
had been taking art class for a while now but had never really bothered
to practice. When she got home she had a shower, put on some clean and
warm clothes and went out. She took her easel, paints and paintbrushes,
and paper of course and went to find a peak. She knew of one place that
she could go to but that was commonly called Lover's Point. She had as
much right to be there as those horny youngsters, and elders! When she
reached the peak there were about five cars in a row. Some were
shaking, others were swaying to the sounds of tacky love albums. She
sat down and painted the sky. She made the one star her focal point,
imagining the face it may have. A satirical face with a glint in its
eye, a wise star that knew its wisdom, like an arrogant Einstein.
The paintbrush moved but she had little control over it, her arm felt
detached from her body but it still painted what she had in her mind.
Her painting complete she packed up and left. Her teacher had told her
that staying in one spot for too long wasn't good, you couldn't picture
the landscape from different angles then, or at least not appreciate
them in that fresh way, anyway. It had clouded now and her star was
hidden, time to go home. Her star may have been laughing before the
clouds came but at least it had been there, watching.
Sleep did not come easy that night, her body wanted to sleep but not
her mind. It was full of a thousand thoughts but none stuck around long
enough for her to really think about them. They just danced around her
head, teasing her, keeping her awake and making her irritable.
The next morning the sun awoke her early and although it felt like she
had just dropped off, she knew she wasn't going to get anymore sleep.
The kettle whistled and so she poured herself a cup of herbal tea. Her
caffeine intake over the last few years was enough to keep anyone awake
for months, so she now drank herbal tea when she could. However there
was always one day a week that sent her on a caffeine binge. Outside in
the garden the flowers were waking as the sun dried off the morning
dew. She sat outside for breakfast and read her book, she was only on
page 27 but already it was getting interesting. The breeze stirred her
hair so she swept it up into a loose ponytail. She read to chapter ten
before putting her book down, three hours had passed by, but Elizabeth
wasn't going to be late for anything. It was a Saturday where most
people would be shopping with their partners, or getting ready to go
out with their friends, or maybe even dressing for a wedding. Not
Elizabeth, when she moved into this town, 16 miles outside of the big
city, she had made no friends and that was the way she liked it. Okay
so it wasn't really the way she liked it but she had become used to it.
No one interfered, no one dropped in at inconvenient times and although
the neighbourhood watch man had come round once she didn't think he was
going to return again any time soon.
For some reason Elizabeth felt that today was going to be different to
the rest, she didn't know why she just felt something where it was
usually numb. A few minutes later the doorbell rang.

"Here he is, my Mr. Right, come to take me away to a place where
nothing material matters, only emotions and the clear blue sky"

"Morning Elizabeth"
"Morning Bob"
"The usual amount please"
"?3.29 isn't it?"
"Yes that's right. You don't want to change your order do you? Maybe a
pint of orange juice with your milk?"
"No thanks Bob I'm fine. Maybe when you begin to sell insurance and
give out loans you could ask again"
"You know everyone round here thinks you're a bit of a funny character
but you always manage to make me smile"
"Thank you Bob, that's very kind of you to say so"
"Oh I mean it Elizabeth, I'm not one who lies"
"No of course not Bob, I'll see you again in a fortnight I
expect"
"God willing you will. Bye Elizabeth"
"Bye Bob"

So maybe he wasn't quite her knight in shining armour but he'd help
her pass a few minutes, just 15.5 hours to go and another Saturday was
over. For once she had no work to do for Monday so she went upstairs to
change into something a bit less casual and headed out. Town was as
full as she had expected it to be so she bought a couple of small
things for the bathroom and left. She didn't like people at the best of
times but so many all together in such a small amount of space was too
much. The countryside was a matter of minutes away from her cottage so
she headed out that way to get more painting in; she hadn't unpacked
her car from last night so everything she needed was still in the boot
of her car. A field with both cows and sheep in was the first thing
that caught her eye so she pulled up at the gate entrance and collected
her things. Her chair, even more unstable than when she bought it, sunk
into the mud, it had bought her inspiration everywhere she had taken
it, so it wasn't going until it could no longer be called a chair.
Maybe with a leg missing she could enter it into the art competition
and win the Turner prize for its excellent representation of today's
economy! Whilst in mid flow a sudden breeze distracted her and made her
turn her head to the left. Sat just a few meters away was a man also
with an easel and paints. He noticed her staring and lifted his hat
away from his eyes. Elizabeth quickly turned away and continued to
paint as if she had never noticed him. He moved his chair, stood up and
walked towards her.

"If I was as strict as my father then I would demand you leave right
away"
"Why am I destroying the landscape, adding a complication to your
painting maybe?" She said in as sarcastic a way as possible.
"No, you're on my land"
"Oh"
It was the only reply she could think of just then and she felt a bit
silly. She was trying to remember the last time she had, had a
conversation with someone of the opposite sex, and Bob didn't
count.

"However, contrary to your first thoughts, I don't think you destroy
the country side and I don't have a problem with painting people, it's
animals I can't do, which is precisely why I'm here"
"Well thank you very much for allowing me to stay but if you don't mind
I would really like to get on with my painting now, I'm in mid
flow"
"Right, well I'll be over there if you need anything, maybe you can't
draw people, I don't mind posing?"
"I'm fine thank you, I just need a scene and some silence"
"Fine, well you know where I'll be"
"Yes, thank you"

He turned and walked back in the opposite direction he had come from.
As if measuring the land he held his pencil in front of him and moved
in close to where Elizabeth was sat.

"What are you doing?" She looked at him with her eyebrows raised.
"Well I'm assuming you know a bit about painting, I'm measuring my
subject"
"Right, well can you move away please? You're distracting me"
"Fine, okay, sorry, I didn't mean to put you off"

Again he turned away, but this time he walked back to his seat. She
heard nothing out of him for a couple of hours after that, no more
strange behaviour or annoying small talk. In fact Elizabeth caught
herself looking in his direction quite a few times. Annoyed with
herself she turned her chair away and began to paint the landscape from
a new angle, her art teacher would have been proud! The painting was
actually better from that angle and the clouds formed different shapes
above the small hill and farm. Happy with her work she stood and
strolled around for a while, it was tough on her body to sit still for
so long.

"Age seems to do that to you doesn't it?"
"What?" Startled, she turned to find him stood by her again. "You
really shouldn't sneak up on people like that"
"Sorry, once again my behaviour was not intended to bother you"
"Well you're doing a grand job so far"
"Yes, well I'm sorry"
"What were you implying anyway, do you think I look old?"
"Yes, well no of course not, well sort of but in a very sophisticated
way. You know like Amanda Burton. Mature but still sexy"
"Thank you, I think"
"It was meant as a compliment although it may not have come out like
that. Look I'll prove what I think of you. I drew you, in my
painting"
"Oh, so that's what you were doing when you crouched by me in that
strange way"
"I didn't realise I crouched in a strange way"
"Well it was only because I didn't know what you were doing"
"Well anyway, what do you think, have I drawn you in a flattering
light?"

Elizabeth held the painting up in front of her; she turned in many
directions so that the light hit the painting from various angles. She
didn't know what to say because he had been quite right when he said
that he didn't have problems in painting people, it was a very good
picture of her. Her face was slightly scrunched, but that just showed
how much she was concentrating on her work. He had got the shape of her
figure just right and had been kind in not painting her nose or thighs
as big as they really were!

"I suppose it's okay. A little disproportionate in places but I think
I've definitely seen worse"
"You don't compliment people very often do you?"
"I don't speak to people very often full stop, let alone compliment
them. Let me try again. I quite like your picture, you have painted me
in a way that I've not seen before"
"So is that in a good way or bad way?"
"It's in a good way"
"There you go, that wasn't so bad now was it?"
"Don't patronise me, I'm not a child, I may not be an experienced
artist but I'm not a child"
"Once again I'm very sorry if I said anything that offended you"
"Well I'm going to go now and vacate your property, if I have caused
you to lose a patch of grass or anything let me know won't you?"
"Firstly I know that sarcasm is covering a genuinely nice person and
secondly I'm going to need a number or address to let you know if you
owe me for damages"
"I was joking"
"I'm not"
"Fine, I live in Blessop, there are a few cottages in the town but mine
is the one with a gravel drive and very little lawn, number 12. You'll
find that my neighbours are all very keen gardeners and there will
probably be one of them stood frowning at my grass. I don't care though
it's my patch of grass and I like it. It's simple and is very low
maintenance"
"Well maybe I'll come and inspect it myself some time. I could join one
of your neighbours, I have a very fierce scowl when necessary"
"Well thank you for that very kind offer, I'll look forward to
it"
Now everything she said sounded sarcastic but for once today, she meant
what she said.
"You should"
"Thank you for allowing me to pitch on your land, bye for now"
"I'd like you to have my painting. Please, no snide remarks, just take
it, I want you to have it, even if you do take it home and throw it in
the bin"
"Thank you, I might just place it next to my bin"
"Oh thank you. I feel quite honoured"
"You shouldn't, it just won't fit in my bin, luckily they collect on
Mondays"
"Oh, right, fair enough. Bye then"
"Yeah, bye"

Elizabeth lifted her chair, easel and his painting and walked to her
car. She loaded everything in the boot making sure nothing crushed the
painting and went home. As soon as she arrived home she emptied her
boot and placed the painting above her fireplace. As she was not the
focal point of the picture she didn't mind it hanging there where you
could see it. Besides, it's not like she would have friends calling
round to see her any time soon. The house was tidy and her breakfast
things were washed, so she began to think about having tea. Lunch had
been forgotten about, which was not a rare thing and so she took two
pizzas out of the freezer.
The television offered limited entertaining viewing that evening, so
she turned it off and went upstairs to put her jogging clothes on. That
same star was shining again and it still wore its wise smile, but this
time it was not laughing. Although her run took her around the same
streets and passed the same homes they seemed different. It was true
that her running gave her no answers, but tonight she was not running
away at least. She didn't need to lean on that lamppost to cry and when
she got home she enjoyed sitting in her chair and sipping her cup of
hot chocolate. It was not necessarily the beginning of something big,
but at least it wasn't the end.