Excerpt: The Other Half

“What are you doing Mabel?”
Mabel jumped, apparently so absorbed in her project she didn’t notice Kaden until he spoke.
“Oh, hi Kaden. I am working on drawing those crocuses.” She pointed to some purple flowers peeking out of the ground. Kaden came around to look over her shoulder.
“It looks nice so far.” Kaden nodded approvingly. Mabel grabbed the picture and pressed it against her chest.
“Kaden! Don’t look at it! It’s not done!” Mabel peeked at it herself. “And plus, it’s bad.”
“No it’s not, it’s pretty.” Kaden protested. Mabel’s only response to the complement was sticking out her tongue at the boy. He laughed, and sat down beside her. Kaden knew this was a battle he could win. In fact he could rarely win an argument against Mabel. She was dreadfully stubborn.
An idea occurred to Mabel. “Do you want to give it a try? Drawing, I mean.” She looked at Kaden hopefully.
“Uh…”
“I’ll go get some more paper and charcoal!” Mabel was off before Kaden could protest.
Kaden picked up the drawing she dumped on the ground, inspecting it more. He would be lying if he said it was genius, but it was obvious that Mabel worked hard on it from the smudges surrounding the carefully sketched flowers. Kaden quickly returned the drawing to where it fell when he heard Mabel returning.
The girl ran around the corner a couple seconds later and thrust a wooden plank, a piece of paper, and a bit a charcoal into Kaden’s arms. She babbled excitedly.
“You can lean on that wood there and draw anything. Like at tree over there, or the barn!” Mabel gestured wildly. “Or anything, really!” She seemed satisfied with her explanation of drawing enough to return to her own work.
Kaden sat stupefied for a second before organizing the things he was given. He sighed, looking around him. What to draw… he scanned his surrounding with minimal success. He could draw the barn, he supposed…
That’s when his eyes landed on Mabel. Her brow was creased and her tongue was sticking slightly out of her mouth as she bit on it. Her brown hair was scooped all over one shoulder, falling gracefully next to her face as she bent to add to her drawing. He could draw her! He picked up his things to move to a better location, like leaning against that tree over there…
“Where’re you going, Kaden?” Mabel asked, not bothering to glance up form her drawing.
“Oh. Um. I am going to go over there to get a better angle on what I am drawing.” Kaden knew that if he told her that she was what he was drawing, she wouldn’t let him.
Mabel nodded, still focused on her picture.
He settled into his new spot and picked up his charcoal. He took a breath then began.
It was easier than he thought. His hand moved, almost of its own accord. Kaden glanced between the paper and Mabel; adding her petite nose, then her lips and chin. He sketched in her neck with a few brief graceful lines, then moved on to her hunched back, adding in the details of her dress on the way.
Kaden sat back and sighed, looking over his drawing. He cringed at how wrong the eyes looked, and how the legs folded funny. But he smiled. He liked drawing. Especially drawing Mabel.