Excerpt: Pointillism

I love to draw. I feel very focused when I'm in the middle of a picture, like I am now. The feel of the pencil between my fingers, the slow emergence of the lines and shading that reproduce what I see... it's calming, seducing. I seek that feeling out every waking moment.

Today, I'm at the mall, drawing random people in the food court. The twins, who are twelve, are with me, window-shopping in Zellers, I think.

I've just completed a study of my leftover fries when I look up and see her. That slim dancer's body, the long dark hair... I'd know them anywhere.

Rosemarie.

She's with Talia, as usual. Those two are inseparable. Talia is shorter than Rosemarie, compact and skinny. A gymnast. I can see the muscles moving under her skin as she lifts her right hand up to flick her fingers beside her ear. I do my best to capture the twist of her head, the lostness of her gaze, as she stares up at the ceiling. It's a gesture drawing, done on the fly, but Talia moves quickly a lot of the time, and she's in motion as it is. I'll fill in the details later, from memory - I've spent the last four years with these girls, so it's not likely to be a difficult image to construct.

They get their food while I force myself to sketch family groups sitting nearby. A child in a stroller, a mother feeding an ice cream cone to her toddler, a couple of teenagers looking defiantly at their father. When I look up again, it takes a moment to locate their brown heads, sitting at a table directly across the court from me.

I couldn't have asked for a better view. Rosemarie's profile is stunning, as is the rest of her. She has a perfectly straight nose, she holds her head up as though she was a bird, and her long fingers hold her chicken burger lightly. She even chews gracefully.

I make my base sketch quickly, capturing the girls' postures and expressions using a soft 8 graphite. Then I pick up my 6 and start to fill in some of the shadows, giving them form and solidity. The 4 fills in most of the details, and the 2 finishes the job, making fine lines that stand out from the shadows and creating the detail and form that makes a pencil drawing appear 3D.

I've just finished when Talia catches sight of me. Our eyes meet, and I freeze. She pulls her laptop closer and types something. Rosemarie reads the screen and glances in my direction. I duck my head and begin to put my supplies back into my bag. The spell is broken.

The look on Rosemarie's face is not one I ever wanted to see again. It's the look I saw every day at school for three months. You know, after I dumped her. One week after her sixteenth birthday. I suck.

Before anyone can come after me, I make for Zellers. That's where I left the twins, after all. It's where they should be.

But then I have to figure out what department they might be hanging out in. What do twelve-year old girls like to look at in department stores, anyway? I certainly have no clue. You know, being that I'm a guy. And seventeen.

I wander the perimeter of the store and find the courage to peek in the dressing rooms. No luck. Where on earth are they? I know I told them to stay put, that I'd be back in a little while. How long ago was that, anyhow?

I glance at my watch and nearly throw up.

Apparently, I got sucked into drawing at the food court for nearly two hours. God, no wonder they aren't in Zellers anymore! I wouldn't have stuck around, either. Then again, I'm not exactly the type to stay put for five seconds, never mind two hours. Unless I'm drawing or painting. Obviously.

So now I have to find the girls. They aren't in Zellers, so where else might they have gone? Probably some clothing store or another. I try to remember what kinds of stores they talk about at home, but I come up blank. I really need to start paying more attention when they talk.

I have no idea how to find them.

I head out of the store and go back toward the food court. I can't think of anything else to do. I'm going to have to suck it up and ask Rosemarie and Talia for help. I don't exactly want to, but... well... yeah.