And So They Met

Part 6

The sun hadn't quite set, casting a warm, orange glow into her bedroom. It was the time of year where the weather changed drastically between sunrise and sunset. The temperature pleasant during day hours and cooling off with a chill as the sun descended below the horizon. It prompted her to ask for the fireplace to be lit.

And that's where Alara laid sprawled on the floor, paints splayed around her while she stroked the brush over the canvas. After her conversation with Napoleon, thoughts about the night sky swirled in her mind, prompting her to attempt to recreate it with her paints.

The brushes all coated with different colors were lined up on the towel coated in various colors. At least Sebastian wouldn't have to clean up paint stains on her floor. She hummed to herself, the tune one that had been floating through the mansion from the resident musician's piano, although she couldn't remember it all and made up some of the arrangement herself.

Isaac lingered in the doorway for longer than he'd intended. Having finished tutoring the town kids, he'd been informed of one little girl awaiting a lesson about the stars. Of course, he didn't mind teaching her, but how was he to start a conversation with her? Isaac didn't wish to end up as Leonardo had, someone that Alara ran away from on sight. Would she even remember his name? They hadn't seen each other since her first night here.

"Oh! Isaac!"

His heart jumped in his chest when she called his name with such excitement. It wasn't warranted. He wasn't that exciting to be around. And yet, she'd scrambled to her feet, painting in hand and bounded over to where he stood. "Is that the night sky?" It wasn't a Vincent rendition, but it did vaguely resemble it...

Alara lit up, overjoyed that it was recognizable. "Yes! And I made a lot of little, tiny dots that are the stars. Cause there are so many! Way too many to count, and I've tried!" Her gaze drifted down to the picture, and she smiled once again. "I like painting but I'm not very good at it."

"No one is very good at anything on their first many tries. Gods know I didn't invent anything of value at first." He scratched the back of his head, hoping that his words made at least a little sense.

The physicist had learned that children required time to respond. If he thought of her brain like a machine, the parts were moving slowly, connecting little by little as the information was processed and then considered before finally generating a response.

"So, if I keep painting, I might make something like Vincent?"

Isaac nodded but refrained from speaking of the natural talent that Vincent also possessed. He believed that hard work could take one extremely far, but there were occasions where an innate talent pushed one farther than ever imagined. But he couldn't very well explain that to a six-year-old, so he simply replied, "Yes, that's a possibility."

It escaped him how such a vague answer could placate a child. She simply smiled at him at the possibilities ahead of her. Isaac didn't consider himself any sort of genius, but there were a lot of gifted residents in the mansion. If she stayed, it would be interesting to study nature versus nurture.

"It isn't quite dark enough to see the stars, but we could set up the telescope." If it were broken, he'd easily be able to repair it, but avoiding that outcome would be optimal.

Out in the garden, Alara curiously watched the physicist work. "What does it do?" It only had three legs, which confused her on how it stayed standing. She gently poked her finger against the side, but the telescope stayed upright. "A telelecope."

"Telescope," Isaac corrected for the third time. She struggled to grasp both the concept and the word. Although, it was a little humorous how she pronounced it. He almost didn't want to fix it. Isaac adjusted a knob, contemplating on how to explain this to her. "It helps you see things that are far away. Like that tree over there. Can you see the bird nest?"