The canvas was both a nightmare and a pure fantasy - a huge, white monotony. Colin was scared of its blankness, and fascinated with the idea of breaking up the monotony. He sat in the corner of the empty room on the top floor of the vacant garage, which overlooked the ocean. The plastered walls were peeling and filled with dents and holes. Windows - huge windows - were shattered to pieces as the salty air forced its way through their holes, into the lonely room. The sunlight shone in - filling the room with warmth and pure light. Seagulls cried near and in the distance. Mice scurried along the broken glass - the sound of the tiny feet was scratchy and dry, just as in T.S. Eliot's poem. A boat blew its horn in the distance, its deep tenor echoed through the garage.

Colin, crouched in the corner, stared across the wonderfully vacant room at the huge white canvas. He had bought it yesterday - it took months to save up for. And he brought it here, his sanctuary. This place was like a snake charmer, charming the creativity out of Colin, luring him with inspiration.

He got up slowly and crossed the room with his paints. He approached the white monotony - how could he begin to overtake it? Just then a cloud hid the sun - covering the light. Colin's eyes fell to the chipped-plaster-covered floor. What he thought would be the day that he'd create his greatest work had turned out to be a failure. He became angry - he clenched his teeth together, picked up a brick nearby on the ground, and indignantly hurled it through the window. A few more pieces of glass shattered and sounded like tiny bells as they fell to the ground way below. Just then, the sun came back, emerging from the thick blanket of clouds, shining its splendor on Colin and the room about him, making his blond locks appear golden, filling him with life. He smiled, grabbed his sky blue paint, and threw it on the white monotony. The paint drippings ran down it - liquid summer sky. The more he worked, the more charged and inspired he became.

Colin, the intense artist, created a masterpiece as his gleeful laughter echoed through the vacant snake charmer. n