Senseless Acts of Beauty
"Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty."Ann Herbert
Elementary school was a rather tumultuous time in Clary's life. The spelling bees and races to the juice and cookie line almost made her have a nervous breakdown and don't even get her started on the supposed deadly cootie epidemic that broke out within the entire second grade which Clary didn't her mother telling her it was chicken pox until she was 10. Yet there were fond memories in the building as well. Clary still remembers the first time she ever dipped her fingers into the cool jar of red paint. If she could pinpoint the one moment where her passion for art began was right there in room 260 in Mrs. Bard's second grade art class when she painted her first self portrait. Of course, it had come out looking like a twig with brambles of red spirals twirling crazily outward for a small circle that was supposed to be her head but nonetheless it made Clary smile every time she walked by. It was odd how that class could inspire the more senseless pieces of art from her.
Beauty and kindness go hand in hand. No one can really erase their impact as they will be remembered for forever. Make something beautiful, something that will last.
Mrs. Bard wouldn't call herself Principal Jones's favorite teacher...but it should be noted that after being a teacher at this school for 30 years, dealing with messy second graders on the most hazardous subject ever- art, she had earned quite a bit of respect from the usually stoic workaholic. 30 years in the small, gray building, 30 years of rushing 7 years old to the nurse after falling off the slide when doing outdoor sketching, 30 years to see the amazing stories kids could create from a misshapen hunk of clay or the dragon they could dissect from a blob of green paint. She felt a pang of grief as she saw the back wall, the large, black letters of graffiti were almost impossible to clean and the tattered edges of the miscellaneous posters hung, heavy with moisture from the last rainy day.
It made the building look mournful, a dismal place that she; Ruth Bard had no place working at.
"What do you propose we do Ms. Bard?" Principal Jones's fatigued voice asked. "We have no money in our budget for these types of things."
"Well I'm sure there are plenty of students willing to help out their school." Ms. Bard said firmly. Principal Jones snorted.
"Who? The fifth graders? As I heard from the science teacher, they're still blowing up their volcano to the magnitude that would take out Texas. Besides, even if we could get enough students there's also the supplies, the permission forms, and the liability if someone gets hurts. I'm sorry but I don't think this can happen Ruth."
"You are so pessimistic jeez no wonder why you're not invited to the birthday parties-" Principal Jones looked up and furrowed his eyebrows.
"Birthday parties?" But Ruth went on as if she didn't hear him.
"I'm retiring this year dear, my husband has been hounding me about it lately and my doctor has been also, says bending down is too bad for my back but it's not my fault that second graders are so small! Anyway, I did not work here for the past 30 years just so I can see this school fall to shambles like this. Honestly, who would want to send their child to a school that looks like a prison? No, if I'm going out, I'm going out with a bang budget or not!" She snapped. Then she promptly spun and walked away, leaving Principal Jones sighing and rubbing his neck.
"Birthday parties?" He muttered.
"Oh my gosh Simon remember this?" Clary giggled as she ducked under the slide, feeling like she was seven years old again. Simon rolled his eyes and followed her.
"I remember, super secret detective club is in order." He said, mimicking a general's stance. Clary nudged the black protective padding away to reveal a small piece of soil.
"Remember when we used to bury our treasures here? I stole my mom's pocket mirror to bury here." She laughed.
"How could I forget? Remember our mini ant farm?"
"Yea...they all ran away after a day." They both burst out in laughter at the complete absurdity of their childhood plans. They were still chuckling when they went back into the school. It had been a while, but Clary could still trace all the halls to the cafeteria, to the bathroom where a kid got his head stuck in a toilet. It seemed so familiar but it seemed so odd to be here again. Clary was suddenly jolted out of her thoughts by Simon who was yanking at her arm.
"Hey! Isn't that Mrs. Bard?" She was waling down the hallway, her sharp gray eyes shooting in every direction. Warmth filled Clary as she saw her old art teacher.
"Hi Mrs. Bard!" Clary grinned. Mrs. Bard narrowed her eyes, the odd, red haired girl looked familiar but then again she has a lot of former students.
"I'm sorry do I know you?" Clary blushed and looked down.
"I was the girl who took the screw out of the corkboard and it collapsed." The memory dredged itself up in Mrs. Bard's mind.
"Clary! How are you dear?"
"Oh I'm good..just visiting." Mrs. Bard looked past her and straight at Simon.
"And here's Simon! How's your rat?" Simon cleared his throat remembering the disastrous show and tell day.
"He ran away four years ago...damn Scabbers" Simon muttered. Mrs. Bard laughed.
"Oh my...well it has been nice but I'm afraid I have my hands full with something."
"Oh is it anything we can help with." Mrs. Bard opened her mouth to say no but then closed it, examining the two teenagers.
"Perhaps..."
"Official Blog for Random Acts of Kindness"
Clary paused, stopping her typing for a moment. "Are you sure this can work? I mean who will really be interested?" Simon rolled his eyes.
"Just write it Clary. If no one comes then I guess we'll have to buy lots of paint for ourselves." Clary sighed as she set her hands to the keyboard again.
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"Kaelie! Two double ice mochas ASAP! Your break is almost over!" Kaelie waved her hand dismissively.
"Yea I'm coming Max." She logged into her e-mail. Clary Fray has invited you to see her blog! Kaelie furrowed her eyebrows as she clicked.
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"So then I said-" Aline held up a hand as her phone vibrated.
"Hold on." She said as she went to check her mail. One message from Clary Fray.
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Alec stifled a yawn as he listened to the Wall Street drones start rambling on about stocks and the monopolization of resources. He almost cried in relief as he saw Magnus's name flash on his phone.
"Hi darling, are you free anytime soon?" Alec grinned.
"What exactly do you have in mind?"
"Well there's something Clary needs help with..."
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Jace stared at the blank page, not knowing what to write. His essay had been put off for a week and now he couldn't seem to picture any words on the page. His computer binged at the arrival of an e-mail. Jace raised an eyebrow as he clicked into it.
Official Blog for Random Acts of Kindness
No School Left Behind:
I know that most of you hate school, or don't have fond memories. I know that most people don't even glance at a dilapidated building at the corner but for this one- I do. I do because that was my school. School, despite what people say or want you to think, will never be one of the happiest or worst times of your life because it will be both. What's important is what you learn and what you experience because it is where you spend some of the most important years of your life.
So I'm asking you, readers, writers, artists, and bloggers, everyone to donate a few hours of your weekend to help me fix up the back wall. Paints of all colors, rollers and other supplies are graciously welcomed. Everyone is welcome and encouraged. Artistic skills not required.
Jace smiled. That essay can wait a bit longer.
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Clary walked by the school everyday. Her fingers grazed the freshly dried paint. The green of the grass was startling against the blue sky. It was a carefree scene with children playing jump rope in the background with the night skyShe smiled as she remembered that day this masterpiece was made. Needless to say, Clary came home covered in paint. But her heart was leaping at the crowd that appeared. The mural was done in bits but ultimately it took about 3 weeks. (It took Clary forever to convince Magnus that a sparkly colored Puff the Magic Dragon wasn't exactly a practical idea).
"This will last for generations." Clary turned around to see a satisfied Mrs. Bard standing with her hand on her hip and the other holding a paintbrush. "But where's your name?" Clary grinned as she took the paintbrush.
Inspired by senseless acts of beauty.
A/N: When my elementary school had their mural painted they actually accepted volunteers but I thought it would be nice for Clary to be part of the organization.
Loads of thanks to the wonderful Liberty Hallway for the quote and her support of this fic! Again, the link to her translation is on my profile page.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading!