Author's note:
Told you this would be up today. I'm trying to get something new up every day, but I've got a backlog that I can resort to if I'm ever in a pinch.
Dinner at the Heaslip home was almost always a quiet affair. Unless one of the ladies specifically wanted to share something, there was very little conversation. Tonight was no exception. The only words exchanged between the two dreamy women were compliments.
"Good job on the pasta, Mom. It's perfectly al dente."
"Same with that fruit salad, Vi. You're going to have a much better college experience than I did."
The chore of dishwashing went by equally quickly and quietly. Violet could barely remember what it had been like when there were three Heaslips. Her mother's brother had moved out when Violet was five.
Violet was never sure why her mother kept her maiden name but added Mrs, especially since her husband hadn't even met his daughter before he left. Maybe she wanted everyone to know that her daughter had been conceived in wedlock. Or maybe she just liked the ring of the name.
"Goodnight, Mom. I'll see you in the morning. Love you."
Violet and her mother exchanged cheek kisses before Violet headed to her bedroom.
"Ugh, I'm pooped!" Even though there was nobody in the room, Violet always talked to herself when she had a private moment. "I won't deny that I had a great day, but it was sure busy. Well, for summer, anyway. I'll probably paint all day tomorrow to work out that tension! Or possibly compose a chain of haiku!" As she chatted away, Violet got undressed, put today's clothes in the laundry, and hung up the seven extra sleeveless sweaters and the seven extra skirts and put away the seven extra pairs of socks. She put on the new silky pajamas. She went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth, and she was finally ready for bed.
"Oh, what's this on my pillow?" Violet picked up the package. It felt like there were several long, thin objects and a larger, heavy object that slid around inside. Violet opened the top and slid the sticklike objects into her hand.
"Paintbrushes?" Violet didn't need new paintbrushes. Maybe they were just a present from her mother? Shrugging, Violet gently slid the brushes back into the package and turned out the light.
When she woke up, Violet reexamined the paintbrushes. The handles looked like silver, and the brushes were sleek and white. The brushes had varying thicknesses. Violet set the very nice paintbrushes down on her pillowcase and pulled out the heavy mass.
It was a small silver pot that fit easily in the palm of Violet's hand. When she unscrewed the lid, she saw it was filled with what appeared to be thick, translucent paint with copious amounts of glitter stirred in. Violet dipped the thinnest brush in, and it came out black. Taking a scrap of paper, Violet trailed the brush around in a formless doodle. It glided easily across the page.
"Wow," whispered Violet. "This is really nice equipment."
Violet pulled out a piece of nicer paper and began to paint. The brush and paint seemed like they would work best with Chinese-style calligraphy, so Violet started at that.
She had made only two strokes when she heard a voice cry, "Stop!"
Violet spun around. Floating in midair was a tiny purple pegasus with golden feathers. Its eyes were obscured by its thick white mane, and it didn't seem to be flapping its wings at all.
"What?" said Violet, still holding a dripping brush.
"I said stop," replied the pegasus. "Sheesh, you humans are all the same. Just because most o' you will never see a century, you have no concept of waiting!"
"What?" repeated Violet. Oh dear, she thought. I'm not coming across as very intelligent, am I?
"The paint and brushes, fool! You see something in a wrapper, ya gotta unwrap it. You get something obviously very special, and ya gotta start playing with it! You're just lucky I stopped you before you did any serious damage."
"Hey, it was a present! And I'm an artist. I know how to use paints and brushes! And… what do you mean by 'serious damage'?"
"Yes, it was a gift, but… oh, for goodness sakes. You're also an arcanist, but that doesn't mean you know how to use powerful magical tools!"
"Arcanist?"
"Wizard, witch, mage, sorcerer, take your pick. You have a buttload of magic in you, and you're able to use it."
Violet found her ability to take this apparition seriously diminish when it said "buttload."
"Um… is there any way you can start from the beginning?"
Yes, I'm going to leave you guys hanging with this shorter chapter. Tomorrow, expect a lot of exposition.