I like painting because of the colours.
Mana mixed the paint on the corner of the paper before applying the resulting colour on the rest of the paper. The light pink overlapped with the blue and she huffed.
Next to her was Yuki, her fingertips covered in paint. She pressed her thumb carefully to the paper with her tongue stuck out in concentration.
"It's time for dinner, girls!"
Kaien twirled his way into the living room and beamed to his adopted daughters.
"Oh, Yuki, what have you painted?" he asked.
Yuki smiled and held her piece of paper up.
"It's a tree!"
Mana looked at her picture. Yuki had spent the most time on the leaves of the tree. She remembered when they began, Yuki had grabbed the biggest brush, dipped it in brown and made the trunk. At that time, Mana still didn't know what to paint.
"Oh, it is beautiful, you are such a wonderful artist, Yuki!" Kaien patted Yuki's head. "What have you made, Mana?"
Mana looked at her own picture. The corner had some dots where colour had been mixed whilst the top half of the paper was a mixture of baby blue and pink.
"I'm not finished," she mumbled.
"Oh that's alright, Mana!" Kaien smiled as he patted her head. "You can finish it later! But you girls should wash your hands now. Dinner will get cold."
Yuki nodded as she sprung up to her feet and ran towards the bathroom.
Mana stared at her picture for a moment before getting up and following her twin.
At that point, she still really wasn't sure what to paint.
I like painting nature because it is beautiful.
Mana hung the framed painting in her bedroom and smiled, hands on hips. She had painted a mountain against a sunset coloured sky. It looked beautiful.
Mana tilted her head. Now that she thought about it, maybe the colouring of the mountain was off.
Mana nibbled her lip and frowned. Actually, the colour for the sky is too orange, it doesn't really suit the overall feel she was going for.
Mana gnawed on her lip and sighed in dismay. Who was she kidding? The painting looks awful.
There was a knock on her door.
"Oi, Mana," Zero stepped into her room without her answer, "dinner's ready."
"You couldn't even let me have the time to answer?" Mana drawled with raised eyebrows.
Zero noticed the painting she hung up.
"Oh, you finally finished it," he said as he drew closer for a better look.
"No, it's awful," Mana huffed. "I was just going to take it down."
"Can I have it in my room then?"
Mana raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Excuse me?"
Zero took the painting off her wall and smiled slightly.
"It's calming."
He walked out with it, pausing at the doorway.
"Be sure to wash your hair tonight, you've got paint in it again."
"Shit!"
Mana hissed as she patted her hair and saw orange paint on her hand. She looked up at her doorway and saw Zero was gone.
"Shit!"
She ran out after him.
"Give it back!"
"You said you didn't like it!"
"I said no such thing!"
I like painting because what I paint reminds me of my dreams.
Mana drew back from her easel and smiled. This painting was beautiful. The sky was a mixture of pink and blue. The mountain stood tall and proud against it. Before the mountains was a crystal blue lake surrounded by forest. Mana grinned proudly.
"Mommy, Daddy says it's time for dinner!"
Ayumi, her eldest child, ran into her art room and gasped.
"Mommy that is beautiful!"
Mana laughed as Ayumi hugged her.
"I could never be as good as you."
Ayumi pouted and Mana tilted her head, staring at her painting.
"Perhaps," she said, "but no one else can."
She rubbed her daughter's shoulder.
"You can only be as good as you can be."
She stood up and smiled down at her.
"Let's wash our hands and go down to dinner," she said as she offered her hand.
"You need to wash your hair first, Mommy," Ayumi stuck her tongue out cheekily before leaving the room.
Mana lifted her hand and felt the top of her head. Her hair was up in a bun so it couldn't be possible…
Mana stared at her hand when it came back with blue paint.
"Son of a bitch!"
"Swear jar, Mommy!"
Mana flinched and sighed.
I like painting because it brings forth positivity from those around me.
