Chapter two
One week later...
Kilik was making another trip into town for things were need to repair the roof before the rainy season started, and Helga also needed some groceries.
As much as he loved doing things for Helga, she picked the wrong time to need something from the market. It was pack with tourists since the sumer festivals were coming up.
"Oh good morning Kilik!" the old lady at the bakery greeted Kilik like she always did.
"Good morning Hilda" he laughed " so what kind of delicious goods do you have today"
She took a turn to laugh " I have some fresh loaves of bread. Just came out of the oven"
"Perfect. I'll take four loaves and... two dozen of the red bean cakes"
"Oh? You have quite a sweet tooth today Kilik"
"No, no" he laughed " it's for Helga and the kids."
"Your always doing so much for them. That's so sweet of you. Most young men these days don't even bring flowers to their mother when they visit. Maybe you and Little miss Helga should get married"
"Thanks for the breads Hilda. See you next week" He waved good bye. Kilik had thought about his relationship with Helga, and maybe that it could have been that way. He really did think of Helga that way, but he always got mixed signals from her, and because of that he was afraid to ask her out on a date.
While he was making his way through the crowd, something caught his was a painting, hanging in the window of an antique shop.
He thought he felt his heart stop.
The paint was almost identical to the drawing Helga had drawn when she was eleven years took a deep breath. He was almost afraid to enter the shop, as if something threatening was waiting for him inside. But regardless, he opened the door and was hit by a gust of thick, dusty air.
" Good morning sir! What can I do for you today!" the shop keeper stepped out from behind the counter.
"I was wondering about that painting that you have in the window-"
"Ahh! Now that piece " he pulled a canvas out from behind the counter " is a copy we had made. This is the original." He removed the cloth that was protecting the original looked even older than the copy, but it was still the same as Helga's picture.
"What's the history behind this picture?" Kilik asked, taking his eyes off the canvas. For some reason, looking at the place in the painting seemed to make him uneasy.
"Well, it was painted over one hundred years ago, by an artist named was the only one of her paintings that was saved when the Clairmont sanitorium was burned down a few years ago."
Kilik took another good look at the painting. He thought about maybe buying it and showing it to wondered what she would say.
"How much is it?" He asked.
"The original price was 20k, but since your the only person who's asked about it, I'll give you a bargain. I'll drop it to 10k.". Kilik held his breath. He didn't have that much on him right then.
"How about, I put some money down on it, and I'll make payments to you every week?"
" Eh? I've never heard of it done that way before..."
"Sure it has. They used to do it all the time with houses and furniture and all kinds of things until the economy collapsed"
The look on the shop keepers face showed that Kilik's persuasion was working.
"Alright" he sighed " A minium payment of 1,000 will do for now. And payments will be do each week until it is paid in ?"
Kilik laughed " you've got it."
"And as a little bonus, I'll even let you take it with you today."
" Your to kind"
" Flo! We've got a customer here!". From the back room, a young women with short dark brown hair and pale skin came out.
"Yes sir?"
"This is Flo, she's my part-timer here" the shopkeeper introduced her " Flo, would you help this young man put the Sanitorium paining in his cart?"
The girl did as she was told. After Kilik signed an agreement and paid, he helped Flo with the painting.
" So, you bought this old thing?" She asked.
"Yea, it's going to be a gift for some one"
" That makes me kind of sad." she said moving her hair away from her eyes, and pulling a cloth over the canvas to protect it.
"Why is that?"
"It always made me feel comforted. Like the place in that picture is paradise or something."
Kilik looked at her strangely, and her face turned bright red.
"Oh I'm sorry I must be boring you!"
"No, it's no problem."
"Thank you come again" Flo bowed as Kilik made his way back to the road that would take him back to the school is way back, he couldn't help but look at the birthmark on his left certainly was curious, how Helga knew what it said the moment she saw asked her about it once before, and all she said was
"I just have a feeling"
"I'm back!" Kilik called into the school house.
"Welcome back" Helga looked up from her desk where she had been going over some papers.
"Where are all the kids?" Kilik asked, pouring himself a glass of water.
"They're all out playing in the yard." Helga went outside to help unload the cart, but Kilik stopped her at the door
"Don't worry about that Helga, I can take care of it."
"Huh? are you sure? You don't need any help?"
"No it's alright" He wanted the painting to be a surprise so he couldn't let her help him with the loads.
"Alright, if you say so... but could you please bring in the things for dinner first? I'd like to cook early today"
Kilik nodded and did as he was unloading Helga's things he began his job of repairing the roof.
"You're still awake? It's so late" Helga caught Kilik in the classroom after dinner, observing his roof job.
"yeah" he laughed " I'm not quiet tired yet, so I came to rate my work."
"Hmm" Helga also observed the ceiling " I think that will hold for a long time"
It was silent for a moment....
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot" he took a hold of Helga's arm and pulled her into the storage room,
" There's something I want I to show you"
"What is it?" Helga was blushing because of Kilik's impulse to grab her flicked the light on,and the room became dimly Helga could still see the painting hanging on the wall.
"Where did you get this?" She gasped
" At an antique store in town. According to the shop keeper, it was painted by a woman named Serifine almost a hundred years ago. It even has her signature on it."
Helga ran her hand lightly over Serifine's signature, which was barely visible in the bottom right hand corner of the canvas.
"Sera...fine...."
" umm Helga? are you alright?"
"Huh?" She was snapped out of her trance. "Yeah I'm 's a lovely painting Kilik, I'll hang it up some where nicer tomorrow.
As he got ready for bed, Kilik thought over his disappointment. He had expected more of a reaction from Helga.
Meanwhile, downstairs in the classroom, Helga had taken out some sheets of paper and some crayons. She hadn't drawn it in almost eleven years, but nostalgia commanded her to do so now. She began drawing the place where she wanted to go to.
