Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Raven's 82

Today I face another Raven's Challenge.

The words for this week's ten word challenge were: Tibetan sky, symbols, won’t you come home Bill Baily, shadow figures, brain cortex, practice makes perfect, life, start of school, lavender, chow down And for the mini: mental hospital, falling leaves, apple cider, packing crates, clues





Ten Words:

The Tibetan sky began to emerge from behind the brush as stroke after stroke was put on the canvas. Lester Frost did not work quietly, he sang "won't you come home Bill Baily" while he painted. A moon was in the sky and shadow figures of lavender. Where did the images come from? Lester did not know, or did he care if they came from the brain cortex. Painting was his life. Practice makes perfect he heard, but he did not consider his works of art practice, although he spent many hours working on the canvas. Practice is what you had to do with the math symbols. The start of school was soon and he would have to chow down and practice. Maybe he pondered he would have an art class this year.
15 words:

Mary Beth felt the sadness as she put Lester's belongings into packing crates. The paints of many hues even lavender would not go with him. He would not be able to finish the painting of a Tibetan sky. Mary Beth studied the shadow figures trying to find a clue in them of Lester's illness.
What in Lester's brain cortex pulled him from the world, where it was the start of school. He should be walking through falling leaves, chowing down on cookies, and drinking apple cider. Lester's life had taken a new turn from the working on symbols, practicing to make perfect what he learned, to a life in the mental hospital. Now silent not singing "won't you come home Bill Baily." That careless driver had ruined many lives that day.

5 words:
Seated by the mesh covered window of the mental hospital Lester watched the falling leaves. He sipped the apple cider he was just served. He then turned to observing those in the large lounge. He grew bored and returned to his room.
The room was sparse but he noticed the packing crates in the corner. He wondered if they would give him some clues to why he was not at home. He found framed pictures of Mary Beth, his sister, and of his parents , who he knew passed away. He placed them on the small table next to the single bed. That was all there was, the rest were cloths used as packing material. Then one of the cloths jarred his memory. The cloth was covered with blobs of different colored paint.
"My painting," he exclaimed.
By speaking those words he drew the caretakers to his room. He had not spoken a word while he was in the hospital. He had grown silent after witnessing a hit and run driver killing two of his classmates while they were on their way to school, the first day.
Mary Beth was excited. There was a breakthrough. Lester was speaking and interacting. She rushed to the hospital.

14 comments:

Indiri Wood said...

Oh, I love these! I really like how all of the 3 tales flow into each other and tell such a great story.

Argent said...

Indeed, this is a most elegantly constructed tryptich, really lovely.

quilly said...

Oh! Get Lester his paints! His art will heal him!

Wonderful story, Betty. It's nice to see you writing again!

Batteson.Ind said...

ahh.. man!.. These were pretty heavy!... but absolutely beautiful!

Dr.John said...

Hey those are really good. Practice does make perfect after all.

Nessa said...

Poor Lester. I hope he heals soon.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Betty. Very nice my friend. :)

Melli said...

Ahh! How wonderful for Lester! And Marybeth! His art will set him free!

It is GOOD to see you! I miss you MUCH!

Raven said...

Brava! You are back with a glorious splash! I loved your three part story. You took me through a range of emotions (the middle piece left me so sad) and back to happy again. Well done. Good to have you back.

DawnTreader said...

Agree with the others - good writing! :)

CJ said...

I like how you wrote a continuing story using all three prompts. Great job.

My Wordzzle is HERE.

Aunt Julie said...

You have won a prize on my blog and I'd love to send it to you! Please contact me by e-mail so I can get your address! Hope you & Dr. John like the Poprs!

Anonymous said...

Laura is getting married in July. Details will follow.

Sue

Stephen said...

I'm glad Lester is getting better. The stories were good and had a good ending.

Stephen from Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
http://stephen-has-spoken.blogspot.com/