As the song began, with piano keys sounding one by one, her brush glided across the canvas. The classroom was empty. She stood alone in front of her desk as she painted this dark dance. The brush dipped in midnight blue, laying a few wide strokes onto the canvas, and some wide sweeps of deep purple to add that hue of the night. Then she dipped the brush in white, using careful flicks to bring the sky to life, and as the tempo of the song picked up, so did her pace.
Something . . . someone started to form on this nighttime canvas. She was fragile and beautiful as she glided across a stage you could not see. She was frozen as painted stars twinkled above her, illuminating her small figure. The night sky did nothing to hide her in darkness as a highlight was added here and there.
The sound grew louder; the artist’s heartbeat pounding in her ears with every beat of a drum. Her paintbrush flew as the ballet dancer started to move, gliding across a stage as the moon shone brighter, and a quick crescendo quickened the artist’s breathing.
The instruments fell silent so suddenly, leaving only one voice to harmonize the end of the song. As the voice went on, the dancer stopped moving, frozen back in place. The artist stepped back and admired her work with her brush gripped tightly in her hand. Finally, the voice faded, and she opened her eyes to find herself back at the campus library, a pen in her hand and a notebook in front of her as her headphones began to play the next song.
Emily Zecchini is a senior at University of the Cumberlands majoring in Creative Writing and double minoring in Communications and Psychology. When not at school, she lives in Jellico, Tennessee. This is her second year volunteering for Pensworth.
Pensworth 