The Sun was rising in its full morning glory. Every now and then one could hear the delight of birds expressing their contentedness in their songs. It was just about 5’o clock early in the morning and the bustle and hustle of life had already begun. If one were to walk the city roads at this time, one would not be disappointed looking at the picturesque view of life. At this time when most city dwellers were sleeping, a few households glowed with faint light. In one of such households, a child sat painting the early morning scenery. She was almost finished with applying the final touches to her ‘masterpiece’. Her painting was a curious mixture of colors and could almost be mistaken for an abstract art if it were not for the detailed representation of the morning larks. Just as the child was done with her final stroke, a weak voice could be heard saying,” Aren’t you done with your painting? If you’re finished with your work, go and fetch some water for the morning chores. We have not a drop left.” Sighing, the child pushed her art supplies to one side and stood up. Taking an empty bucket, she went downstairs, put on her shawl and went outside.

There was a long line at the water pump. As soon as one person was done, the next person in queue would scramble forward with their bucket. The child saw the long line, sighed with dejection and like others joined in the long line. While she was standing in the line, she thought of her ‘masterpiece’: It was painting that symbolized beauty of Mother Nature from a colorful perspective. She had painted morning larks in a detailed manner and given a colorful background to them. It had taken her a week of hard work and patience to complete that painting. And she was pleased with how it had turned out. After all, she was going to submit it for an international art competition. The shifting of the line brought her back from her thoughts. Her turn came after about fifteen minutes of waiting. After she was done with filling her bucket, she proceeded to her home carrying the bucket by her left hand. On reaching home, she found her mother in her room with an apologetic expression on her face and her painting drenched. “I was just cleaning up the mess you made while painting but accidentally spilled the cleaning liquid on your painting. I am really sorry, dear.” The last sentence had just escaped from her mother’s mouth, when the child felt anger boiling in her veins. Her ‘masterpiece’, the painting which had taken her over a week to make was no more. Unable to control her anger, the child shouted,” How can you, mother? How can you be so careless? Do you even realize that you spoiled the painting which I was going to mail for an international art competition? What do I do now? The deadline is in two days’ time.” “I am really sorry, daughter. There’s nothing I can say to you more than that.” Saying this, her mother exited her room. The child was left staring at her recently spoiled painting. The painting was totally drenched and there was nothing she could do to repair the damage. The sound of the house landline ringing brought her out of her trance. She looked at her watch: it was six- thirty. It was time for her to get ready for school. Sighing, she got dressed into her school uniform, packed her bag and went downstairs to the dining area. There was a plate with rice and lentils laid out on the table with her favorite copper spoon. She sat at the table and ate her breakfast. As soon as she was finished eating, she retrieved her bag from her room and went outside. Her parents were office workers and they had been really busy the past few days, so much so that they didn’t even have time to spend with their only child.”They’re probably getting ready for work.” she thought to herself bitterly as she walked to her bus stop. Waiting for her bus to arrive was the worst part of going to school for her. Sometimes the bus would show up thirty minutes late, sometimes even an hour. But that day, the bus arrived on time. The child got on the bus and sat on the usual window seat that she liked so much. Sitting there, peering through the window of a bus into the lives of people usually calmed down all her anxieties and frustrations. But that day, she could not refrain from thinking about her painting and how it had gone down the drain. The ride to school was short: That day the bus reached school on time. At her school, she tried to find comfort in the fact that she had art classes after lunch which would allow her to start over with a new painting.

As the day wore on, she felt restless. She desperately wanted to get her hands on some watercolors and a paintbrush and get to painting straightaway. But unfortunately for her, art classes were cancelled that day the reason being the absence of the art teacher. She felt agitated to an extent that she excused herself to be allowed to leave early. She was granted permission to leave and as soon as she had the permission slip in her hand, she rushed out carrying her bag. Her house would probably be locked as her parents were really busy as they said on the phone when the school administration contacted them regarding her agitation. Sure enough, the sight of a locked house greeted her. She retrieved her key from her pocket and entered the house. It was quiet except for the constant chirping of birds   and this was the environment that she yearned for. Once she was done freshening up, she sat down at her desk and imagined a better version of her life; A life in which she was not an artist, in which her imagination and curiosity were limited. The thought of such a life somewhat pleased and horrified her. Of course, her artistic talent had made her more of an intuitive person but it had come with a curse: It had made her aloof. She technically had no friends. Coming back from her thoughts, she took her paintbrush in hand and started painting. Splashing and sloshing colors of all variety- sky blue, magenta and violet, she brought out her innermost thoughts into her painting. When she was done with blending colors, she looked at her painting from every possible angle. She felt it was missing something, something that her painting could not do without. Then suddenly, realization hit her, she had painted the clouds, the hills and the lake but she had left out the brightest and the most glorious part of nature: the Sun. Using the brightest shades of yellow and orange, she completed her painting. Looking at her painting one last time, she muttered “I wish my life was as bright as the Sun”. Then carefully placing her painting on her desk, she put all her art supplies away.