Okay, before you read this chapter, just know this: my knowledge of Atlantis and Atlanteans is quite limited. And my memory of Down Time isn't so great, either. So I'm not sure if they have dry indoors or not. So, just in case they don't, I made it so that they do in this chapter. If you don't like it, sue me. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!^^
Colors streak across white paper as Kaldur spends the afternoon creating a masterpiece. Garth was sick, and Tula was off visiting relatives, leaving the young Atlantean alone. So he sat himself down at a table and started coloring.
Orange and white stripes fill a black shell in the shape of a small fish. Kaldur added a charismatic eye to finish that part of, and a few bubbles streaming out of it's mouth. There, a perfect clownfish. He then added forest green seaweed; the regular green just wasn't good enough. Their stalks waved in the water in an almost peaceful way. Bubbles, too, were added around. In fact, Kaldur just put some bubbles all over. He liked bubbles; they amused him.
But the hardest part of that whole drawing was the water. Who was he to give the water a certain color? And who in their right mind thought blue was fit to do so? Water wasn't just blue; it was also green and grey and every shade in between. And that's without the sun's light shining through. How was he going to depict that?
Kaldur puts down his crayons. He had some serious thinking to do. And there was nothing better for a thinking Atlantean than a snack. So he grabbed an apple [1] and took a bite, his mind trying to think of a solution.
Well, he could always smudge. His mom taught him that method earlier that year. You just use color upon color, and then rub them in together. He supposed that could work. But what about the sun? He took another bite of his apple, humming lightly to himself. Well, he was eight years old; he didn't have to create a Picasso. So he figured it wouldn't hurt to leave the sun out of it; it just creates too much problems.
So he finishes his apple and eagerly gets back to work. He gets out the pathetic blue, the not-so-seaworthy green, and the good enough grey. The young Atlantean then fills the white parts of the page with all three of those colors, and starts to rub them in. And he finds that, once done up that way, they do make a pretty good sea.
The picture is almost done; he just needs one more thing. With a black crayon, he signs his name on the bottom right of the page, just as his mom told him to do. There; it is finally complete. He takes a moment to look at the picture, taking it all in, before setting it down. Then, with one last proud glance, he goes off to help his mom make dinner.
[1] Okay, I have no idea what Atlanteans eat. And so I figured I couldn't go wrong with an apple; those things are universal.
So, did you like it, love it, hate it? Review to let me know.