Where is the Artist? by Emily Tee

Harbour and Room, by Paul Nash (England) 1932–6

Where is the Artist?  

The fireplace wasn't happy.  Usually he wore a smile but today he had that dogged look, the one that said low-key annoyed.

“It's the stripes.  They're just not me.  Or maybe it's the colours.”

The fancy French gilded mirror shrugged.  She liked the introduction of purple and she felt the verticals complemented her own slender lines.

The fireplace continued to frown, making him look a bit like a bank manager who had just refused a loan because the form hadn't been filled in properly.

“C'est la vie, my friend.” the mirror eventually commented.  “Myself, I'm more concerned with the water levels.  Will our abode be redecorated every time the artist invites the harbour to come in here?”

The harbour, lapping at the base of the walls, kept their silence.  They didn't get asked into homes all that often although occasionally they strayed into some of the lower kinds of dockside taverns.  That's where they'd met the artist and struck up a rapport.

“Leave the harbour alone, will you?  They're just another poor soul trying to get along.  At least it's less of a problem than when he invited the Vernal Equinox back for a drink.”

The mirror smiled at that thought.  She had rather taken to the personification of spring, who'd been so vital and lively, a fresh-faced youth full of optimism.  Of course the fireplace had hated that, the artist had no need of a fire when Vern, as the artist had called him, was so warm he lit up the whole room.

The three lapsed into silence again, lost in their own thoughts as they waited for the artist's return.  Each of them knew that somehow he'd make sense of it all.

Emily Tee

Emily spent her working life making numbers sing and dance. These days as well as writing poetry or flash fiction she volunteers with a heritage organisation.  This allows her to spend time with historical artefacts and she meets a lot of interesting visitors.  Emily is a relatively new writer and has appreciated the encouragement of having work selected in several Ekphrastic Review Challenges and has pieces published in print elsewhere. She lives in England.