Rough Draft - Part 3 of 3
Sam pushed her hair back out of her eyes and blinked blearily at her finished project. It had taken longer than she had expected, but her first project at the Chaos Library was done.
She reached around the back and flipped the tiny switch on the little LED pack attached to the back. Even in the bright lights of the smooshing room, she could see the glow inside the shadowbox. She had taken a panel and covered it with blue batik fabric, stenciled flowers onto the panel, and painted a giant bumblebee wood cutout to attach to the front. With help from staff, she had attached lights behind the panel and mounted it inside the shadowbox, which she had painted green and now the light shone around the outside of the panel.
She could see it glowing on her bedside table at home, or maybe she’d donate this one to the Library’s store and make another one for herself. She glanced at her phone for the first time in hours and realized she had missed lunch. It was almost 3:00. Time to clean her brushes and head to the kitchen. She needed to eat.
“Don’t forget to sign it, Sam.” Alice, the staff member, spoke from across the room where she was busy organizing paint by color. She was a young, blonde woman with a kind but firm manner who had been helpful without intruding on Sam’s vision.
“Oh, that’s okay. It’s not art,” Sam protested, but Alice had already pulled out a cup of paint pens and brought it over.
“Nonsense, you made it, you sign it.”
“Is that one of the rules?” Sam laughed, and Alice just shrugged.
“Should be. You make the mess, you clean it up; you make the art, you sign it.”
Read the rest on Patreon. No strings. No signups. No kidding.
Posted Nov 1, 2025, 11:51 PM UTC