Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Adventure

The night before*

It was nearly 11 pm and all I wanted to do was to just finish this stupid art assignment before I went to bed and lost my inspiration.

Art was pretty much my life, I've been the master of finger painting since I could barely walk and then drawing fancy stick people by the age of 3. I've won more contests than I could count on one hand and have a photographic memory and can paint pretty much any scene I've ever laid eyes on. Even for a moment and I have it captured inside my mind, just waiting to be captured on the canvas placed in front of me. The talent is something that runs in the family, my mother is an amazing artist, as was my grandfather and his mother. All I wanted was my work to be placed in museums for all to see one day, to just have people mesmerized by my masterpieces.

An hour later and I had finally placed the finishing touches on my newest work, it was a beautiful sunset I had seen at my grandparents camp on the shore back when I was a child. It had the beauty of a crimson sky blended with a lingering orange. Off in the distance was a ship headed out to sea, with the waves crashing along side of it. I couldn't wait to hand it in tomorrow for an entry to the next art contest of the semester. I wiped off my paint brush in the water and fixed up the finishing touches on the sky. There perfect. I took a final drink of my tea couldn't wait for my head to hit the pillow to call it a night.

In a rush to get to class on time I grabbed my keys on off the counter, and started to head out the door. Of course I was running late again for the 3rd time this week. Before leaving I heard some shuffling around from upstairs and then what sounded like a horse galloping down the stairs heavily. I smiled and turned around to see my dog Maisie sitting there giving me the look she always gave me as I was leaving the house for any reason; even to take the garbage out.

"I'll be home later, I promise baby girl!" I reassured her reaching out to pet her soft head; she licked my fingers gently and waddled off to the living room to lay on her favorite blanket I had set out for her.

I loved that dog so much; I had her since she was a puppy about 2 years ago when my boyfriend Stephan and I found her on the side of the road in a box that read 'free puppies'. There were about 5 or 6 other puppies in this box, soaking wet from the storm we were having. We took all of the puppy's home with us and I instantly fell in love with Maisie who was the runt of all her brothers and sisters. The rest of the puppies went out to family and friends and anyone else that we could find who wanted a puppy.

Unfortunately from her rough start in life she was blind in one eye and had one patch of fur on the end of her tail that for some reason never seemed to grow, but she was beautiful in my eyes and I loved her. She was half Labrador and half husky with the cutest floppy ears I've ever seen on a dog in my life.

I gave her one last goodbye and told her to be a good girl before fixing the plaid scarf around my neck and heading out into the hallway of my third floor apartment. I was greeted by my neighbor Mrs. Taylor who was waving a newspaper in the hallway, she was a strange old lady and I never questioned her behavior but this was odd. I just tried to ignore it and walked past her to the stairs before I heard her soft voice speak.

"Oh Delilah! Be careful out there sweetie, it's quite a stormy day!" She told me holding out a black umbrella and trying to hand it to me.

"Thank you for the heads up Mrs. Taylor but I don't think an umbrella is going to do much in this snowstorm. You have a nice day though." I told her declining the offer of the umbrella and hurrying down the corridor to the staircase that led to the lobby of the building.

"Don't let the cats out! The cats know everything!" I heard her shout as I was halfway down the stairs. I shook my head and continued walking down the stairs.

She always said strange things like that so I didn't think twice about it. The man at the front desk greeted me with a wave and the usual, "Be careful in that storm!" that he always said to me when it was storming out.

Giving him a nod I buttoned up my jacket and threw my hood over my head before heading out to my car, the air was icy and the wind was strong as it ascended the snow that fell from the gray sky all over the ground in twisters of snowfall.

I unlocked my car as quickly as I could before jumping inside and turning on the engine so I can get warmed up as I was already starting to feel the effects of the snowstorm in my frozen hands.

Luckily it never took long to warm up my vehicle and as soon as I could feel my fingers again I pulled out of the parking lot and made my way towards the college.

***

"Okay class, your thesis for the end of semester project is due at the end of next week; please make sure to not leave it until the last minute." My English professor told the class and making sure to eye me down as he mentioned that final bit. I was incredibly bad with waiting until the last minute to do anything, I know everyone in college is but I was just terrible with procrastination.

I heard a couple of snickers ring out from people in class including my best friend Sierra; I shot her a look which made her laugh even more.

"Gee thanks." I laughed getting up and stuffing my binders in my bags as we got ready to head out for lunch.

"You know it's true!" She said patting me on the back as we excited the classroom. I felt a buzz in my pocket and reached in to grab my phone and seen a text from Stephan.

'Just got out of class, meet you in the cafeteria in 5!' it read.

I smiled and sent a heart faced emoticon back and a simple 'See you soon!'

Stephan and I have been dating for nearly 3 years now, and it hasn't been the easiest relationship I've ever been in. We've had our ups and downs like most relationships do, and the occasional fight here and there but other than that everything has been amazing.

We met in our junior year of High school, he was the new guy every girl instantly fell in love with but for some strange reason he only had heart eyes for me, and no one else. He first asked me to hang out after we finished a huge project for science class which ended with a volcano blowing up in both of our faces resulting in endless laughter.

Sierra and I arrived in the cafeteria, the noise of all the chit chat and laughter ringing throughout the room. I scanned the room for a moment and finally spotted Stephan leaning against a wall, his arms crossed and chatting with some friends. He seemed to be really engaged in the conversation as he didn't seem to notice as I approached him at first. So I flung my arms around his neck and put my hands over his eyes, he turned around abruptly and pretended to be surprised.

"Oh, hey babe; you remember Kyle and Jason from the old band right?" He asked pointing out the two guys he was talking to.

"How could I forget?" I snickered rolling my eyes, remembering back to their 'band' they had back in High School. A gig here and there but it never really lasted long, but he was really consumed in it. He still played his guitar every now and again but was never serious about it as he was studying law.

He put his arm around me and placed a soft kiss on my forehead, I smiled and leaned my head into his chest and breathed in the scent of his cologne. It was the one I bought him last year for his birthday.

"How was class?" He inquired pulling away from me and brushing the hair out of my eyes like he always did.

"It was...enlightening." I joked and Sierra chuckled in agreement.

"Oh really now, I'm hungry are you hungry babe?"

"I could eat."

"See you guys later! Hit me up some time and we'll jam or something." Stephan said waving to the guys and heading off with Sierra and I to the line.

"I think I want pizza." I declared looking over the menu at the different types of pizza and ordered one with just cheese as I hated anything else, especially pepperoni.

"I don't know what it is you have against pepperonis." Stephan laughed as he was handed his plate of a cheese burger and French fries.

"I just don't like them; they remind me of skin slices."

"Okay that's just wrong." Sierra put in making a face.

"So you see my point right?" I laughed sitting down with my pizza at our usual table in the cafeteria.

"Not really, but whatever floats your boat my dear." He laughed pulling me close to him for a brief moment before taking a bite out of some fries.

That's what I loved the most about Stephan and I, we had things in common but we also had things that we had different opinions about and it's never been a problem. We just laugh at each other's expense and move on. It's a wonderful feeling.

After we finished eating Stephan and I said our goodbyes for the day and he headed off to his next class, I wouldn't see him until tomorrow as he had work tonight at the restaurant his parents owned and I had a study session that would probably last a few hours.

Sierra and I headed to the library to finish up an assignment before our next class had started started, I felt myself starting to get sleepy so we decided to get some coffee before going to the library; our usual routine before a study session.

On our way to the library I had passed by a flyer hanging in the hallway, the excitement grew inside me as I read the details of the flyer.

ART EXHIBIT CONVENTION

HELD IN THE AUDITORIUM, NOVEMBER 17TH

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE IN BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK

ARTISTS OF ALL SKILL LEVELS WELCOME

FREE ENTRY

WINNER GETS AN ART PIECE OF THEIR CHOICE IN THE TOWN MUSEUM

I just had to enter this contest, having any of my art put up in a museum was a dream of mine. I took a photo of the flyer and made a mental note in my head to submit one of my works to the art professor before the end of next week. I just couldn't wait for the exhibit to happen.

***

"Wow, what a beautiful piece of art!" My favorite art Professor Mrs. Shelly said to me as I handed her the piece I had worked on practically all night. "And you said you painted this by memory from your grandparents cabin when you where a child?"

"Yes indeed! I basically have a photographic memory and can remember nearly anything I've looked at and paint it on a canvas."

"I think you should definitely enter this one for the art exhibit, it's seriously beautiful and very detailed work. You'll win for sure. I know you have my vote for 100%." She said handing me back a test from the previous week.

I glanced at it and seen that I scored a near perfect 97%, I thanked her and walked to my seat at the back of the classroom and began sketching my next piece I planned to work on. Stephan and I walking in the snow on a chilly afternoon, hand in hand.

***

"Did you hear about the party at Patty Hamilton's house next Wednesday?" Sierra asked me as we sat around a table in the library later day day waiting for some classmates to join us for our evening study session.

"Yes I did, Stephan and I were thinking of going. You should bring that Jordan guy that you've been seeing!"

"You mean that I WAS seeing." She groaned taking out her textbook and laptop to prepare.

"Ah, enough said. No worries, we'll find you someone." I told her patting her on the back and she let out a small smile as she booted up her laptop.

"I'll just go solo."

"Or you can do that."

Just then everyone attending our study session entered the library and sat around the tables we had set up.

"I brought donuts!" Kaitlyn Mathews said placing a giant box of sprinkled donuts on the table, my stomach grumbled just looking at them.

"Well I guess this is a snack session instead of a study session now." I remarked reaching in to grab one.

"There are rules to the donuts!" Kaitlyn declared passing around one donut to the other 5 members of the study group. "Everyone starts out with one donut, and after every HOUR of endless studying you can have another one."

"That's just wrong." A boy named Devon grumbled taking a bite out of his.

"Call it, a reward system for good behaviour." Kaitlyn laughed punching him on the shoulder and sitting down after passing out donuts to everyone.

The night went by smoothly, the group helping each other with memorizing definitions for the upcoming exam next week. I glanced at the time on my phone it was 9:35, I wanted to leave soon so I could take my time getting home in this stormy weather.

Everyone else had the same idea that I had as we all started packing up our things to leave.

"Wait one more thing guys; don't forget to finish your thesis that is due NEXT WEEK for English class!" Kaitlyn told us as well all grabbed one more delicious donut for the road.

Sierra nudged me and I just sneered at her as I gathered my binders and my laptop together.

"Whoa the storm has really gotten bad! Be careful out there!" She said to me as we both headed out to our cars which were parked on either side of the parking lot. I could hardly see the road as I pulled out of the school and onto the road. The only light was from my headlights, all the lights on the road seemed to be burned out or broken as the street was covered in a blanket of darkness.

I drove carefully making sure to pay attention to my surroundings as I neared my way home, it was going well until I pulled up onto an intersection and abruptly tried to step onto the breaks but they seemed to be stuck for some unknown reason and I couldn't stop my car.

Before I had a chance to react I felt my car fly onto the other side of the road and crash hard into a pole, my head bounced and hit the stirring wheel abruptly. I took my glove off my hand and reached up to feel a bit of blood dripping down from my forehead, I groaned in pain.

"Shit!" I swore out as I was about to get out and inspect the damages. But in a moment of impact I had seen two bright lights flying into my direction. A truck had crashed hard into me and I went flying from the seat and onto the icy hard ground.

I felt flashes of my life zip throughout my vision as I lay there staring up at the wintery sky, the pain turning into numbness and then in an instant everything around me began getting fuzzy before going into a deep dark blackness.