Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Illustrate the meaning of "It's No Use Crying over Spilt Milk" (without using the actual phrase or literal exampl (02/07/08)
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TITLE: The Artist's Palette | Previous Challenge Entry
By Debbie Roome
02/11/08 -
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“Mommy.” Cameron had lost interest in his building blocks and tugged at my jeans. “Please can I have some juice?”
“In a moment, Sweetheart. Mommy just needs to finish mixing this colour.”
I squeezed out a little more paint, adding a smidgeon of silver but still it wasn’t right.
“I want juice, Mommy.”
Just then the phone rang and Cameron followed me into the kitchen.
“Hey Katy. You’ll never guess what I found at the mall.”
I covered the receiver with my hand. “It’s nap time.” I whispered to Cameron. “Go and lie on your bed and I’ll bring you some juice in a minute.”
A half hour later, I ended the call, feeling a little guilty for neglecting my son.
I found him in the spare room, eyes wide with fear as he took in my expression. On the palette were worms of paint; slugs of shimmering gold, turquoise and terracotta, dribbles of chocolate, moss and salmon and coils of sienna, cobalt and magenta. Most of the tubes were empty and the colours were oozing into an oily mess.
“Cameron James Carmichael! What in the world do you think you are doing?”
His face crumpled as I dragged him off to the bathroom. “I wanted to help you, Mommy. I thought if I mixed your colours then you would have time to get my juice.” He dragged a pudgy fist across his face smearing it with tracks of sunshine-yellow and vivid-scarlet. “I tried to squeeze them gently. I really did but all the paint kept coming out. Then I tried to push it back in but it wouldn’t go.”
An hour later he was tucked up for his nap and I lay on the couch in the lounge. I knew I shouldn’t be angry but I was. The paints had been my birthday present, a gift from my husband and now they were gone, wasted. I wanted to scream and shout and rant and rave. I couldn’t think, couldn’t pray. I couldn’t even bear to go and clean up the mess.
Eventually, I called my mother. “I don’t know what to do, Mom. I’m mad with Cameron, mad with myself and all I can think about is the mess and the wasted paint.”
She was calm and understanding as I knew she would be. “These things happen, Katy. What’s important is how you handle them. Look at it this way; on the large scale of life, is this worth stressing about or is it something you’ll laugh about in years to come?” She prayed with me then. Asked God to help me in my struggles and strengthen me as I put aside my guilt and anger.
With a kernel of peace blossoming inside, I gathered some plastic bags and cloths and prepared for the big clean-up. What was done was done and I had to accept it.
The paint had spread into a tacky mess, a congealed soup of pearls and metallics mixed with muted tones of earth. I was about to scrape it from the palette when I saw it. A tiny patch the colour of diamonds splashed on water, the purest shade of drops, dancing on a summer’s day..
Wonder spread into my heart, washing out the last vestiges of anger and rage. “Thank you, God.” I whispered as I dipped my brush into the paint and added the finishing touches to the canvas. “Thank you for helping me through this.”
I’d just finished when Cameron appeared at the doorway, eyes sleepy, expression troubled. I opened my arms wide. “Come here, Cammy. I’ve got something very special to show you.”
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A rather precocious three-year-old, perhaps?
With a kernel of peace blossoming inside, I gathered some plastic bags and cloths and prepared for the big clean-up. What was done was done and I had to accept it.
Way to say it! LOVE it.
Laury
But can I ask, are you writing about my daughter? At three she grabbed my wife's brand new, very expensive make-up set, and used it all up while painting the most amazing picture on the linen cupboard door--while mummy was on the phone, of course.