I think I will follow my previous pattern of writing the story first and then write about the story. So here we go!
“Um Excuse me…” She looked up at the strange male voice that disturbed her leisure time. She was met with an almost puppy dog face sported by a handsome young man. She couldn’t help but smile at his look as she asked “Yes! How may I help you?”
“You see I have come for the inter college cultural fest. I am participating in this event called pencil sketching. I started out a little late and have just one hour left to depict a lonely girl…” he paused.
“Why are you telling me all these?” she asked him even though she understood why he was telling this to her.
“I was wondering if I could use you as my model for the theme…” he paused again but continued “You know you kind of depict a perfect lonely girl! I am not telling that you look depressed or anything, I am just telling that you have this serenity around you. You looked kind of interesting especially the way you were sitting resting on that trunk and reading your book. I shall give you a part of the prize money as royalty if I manage to win!” he exclaimed.
She raised her eyebrows for a moment.
“I am not asking you to sit in any particular way or anything. You can continue reading your book and I will just draw you. You look like an intent reader! I promise you I won’t be of any disturbance!” he held up his hand as if taking an oath.
“Alright!” she said and sat down in her previous pose. Resting on the trunk of a tree and continued reading her novel titled ‘Me & U’
He sat down in front of her and started spreading out his materials.
As he started drawing her portrait, his entire concentration was fixed on the girl and her features. Her thick black hair that was tied in a lose pony, the way her bangs framed her face, her thick long lashes that made her eyes attractive. The more he drew, the more he had to cover her fine details and the more he started liking her.
She was not the type of girl who would make you turn around and see. But she has this calm appearance that does not scream ‘Give me all the attention’
Her silent persona is what he really liked about her in this short span of time. She is really beautiful and if she wished she could even be a model. But her conservative clothes and style shows that she wishes to be by herself and not surrounded by a big group of fake friends.
She must have come across a good part in the book, because she was smiling. That moment she looked up from her book and noticed the weird guy drawing with a goofy smile on his face.
“What are you smiling about?” she asked him out of curiosity.
“You smiled, so I smiled!” he said and continued his work as she continued her work.
Though she looked like she was reading the book, she was actually stealing glances at the artist every now and then.
She noticed that he was rather handsome. Any other girl in her place would have started drooling at this good looking artist. But she had to read or at least pretend to read now because that is her pose. She can’t look at him for long.
His thin button up shirt did not do a good job in hiding his toned muscles. His piercing look had the power to shatter anyone’s concentration and he was successful in her case.
While he intently drew the details she intently saved his image in her head. She wanted to remember each and every detail about him. He already had a portrait to remember her. But she had her memories alone. She was not good at drawing to draw his portrait later on and preserve.
The said one hour was almost over and he was done with his sketch. As he gathered his stuff and got up to leave she called him.
“Um, can I have your mobile number?” she asked in a really shy tone. He should have been the one to ask for her number. But him being the gentle man, he decided to leave the girl in her peaceful shell.
It was his turn to raise eyebrows “Why do you want my number?” he asked wanting to tease her a little.
“You said you will give me royalty right! Your sketch looks pretty impressive. In case you win, you will need a way to contact me right?” she said smartly.
With a smile he took out his mobile and went towards her in order to get her number.
Just a portrait, but it may be the beginning of a lot of small or big things…
So this story popped into my head when I went with my friend to an actual drawing contest. Nah! I am no good at drawing, much less pencil sketching. Even a 10 year old child will hand over a better drawing compared to mine. But this friend of mine, he is a fantastic artist. He was the runner up in that contest. They were given three themes out of which the participant can draw under any one topic. Though he didn’t choose the ‘Lonely Girl’ topic, I felt that it was an interesting theme that too it has to be depicted in a pencil sketch. The beauty of that theme is that, the artist has to bring out a girl’s emotions using the grey scale. That is a challenge and only a few drew out of which none were good enough.
So I was waiting for the contest to get over and I had nothing but my imagination as company. So this piece came to me. Hope it does not resemble the scenes in Titanic Movie 😛
Aratrika