Crunch: The Painting
Writing Exercise #16
Pressed for time—no excuses! Didn’t have this ready at the usual time.
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Enjoy!
Crunch: Write about a painting
It was just a painting of a house. A house on a field. Rolling hills, light clouds over a blue sky. It was just a house.
He was taken back to his childhood. His grandmothers house. An apple pie. He was sitting at the table, tucking into the pie, chirping happily. A dog wandered through the house, exploring, content. The morning sun filtered through the kitchen windows, casting light and shadows at low angles across the kitchen. It was a happier time.
He was nudged hard, and fell back into the present. “Oy, boss. Yew want I should stash that one too?”
He looked at the painting, hanging on the museum wall. “No. Leave this one. Do we have the others?”
“Aye. Vans loaded, waiting on you.”
“Alright. Let’s go.”
---
That night, he dreamed. He dreamed of a house, on a field, with rolling hills, and light clouds over a blue sky. Just a house.
He woke up at 2am. The safehouse was quiet, everyone was asleep.
He paced back and forth. He sat down at the kitchen table—an uneven, flimsy card table. He got a plate, wiped crumbs off it. He got something to eat from the fridge. He sat down. He tried chirping happily. No, something wasn’t right.
---
The news said it was the biggest art heist ever. An entire museum, cleaned out of paintings. Except for one.
They showed it—they showed the house. The house on a field.
He was taken back again.
(250 words)
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What’s your favorite painting?
Did you ever watch Bob Ross?
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Bob Ross is a staple in our house. Used to watch each morning to start my day. I enjoy painting so follow several contemporary painters. However my favorite classics are the Impressionists.
I agree with David Smart's comment that the thief left the painting to avoid corrupting a good memory he had of his childhood. I also saw that as the thief trying to retain, as best he could, a piece of his innocence. He's committed this grand theft, but he left one painting--the one that resonates most with him--as an act of childhood grace.
I also wanted to say, the last museum I visited was the Isabel Stewart Gardner museum in Boston...the site of the largest, and still unsolved, art heist in history. It was so fascinating to walk through that historic building and learn all about the art, the pieces preserved there, and the mystery of the crime...