I knew a painter once, when I was mad and they shut me in that dreadful place, full of screams and grey walls. I call him a painter. He was a murderer as well, of course. Yet his paintings were truly beautiful, if you were one who could see the beauty in horrible things.
I asked him where the inspiration for these dread landscapes came. He tapped his head and smiled.
“I paint them from what I see,” he said.
“How can that be?” I asked. “For you have no eyes.”
“Some things,” he replied, “cannot be seen with eyes.”
Word Count: 100
This is for Friday Fictioneers. Thanks to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for running the challenge and providing the prompt photo!
Other responses to the prompt can be read here!
(The above story was slightly inspired by Richard Dadd, though Dadd of course was not blind. Inspiration sometimes moves in odd directions.)
Joshua, your story is riveting and disturbing and very well told. You created a very vivid scene in my mind!
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Thank you!
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You’re welcome.
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I feel like this story could be expanded on. Captivating.
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Thank you!
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There’s nothing so beautiful and so terrifying as the inside of someone’s head
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Very true. Thanks for commenting!
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Excellent, beauty found in horror and death – what’s not to like!?
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Thank you!
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Very, very, good.
And,as writers, we know this to be true.
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Thank you! Yes, we do.
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Dear Josh,
A bit of the macabre breathes life into this piece. Well rendered.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you!
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Fascinating…I’d like to read more about existing in this place from an insider who lives it.
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Thank you! I think I’d need to do a lot more research if I were to attempt something like that. Still, it could be interesting.
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Oh, this is dark, dark, dark. To “see the beauty in horrible things.” Good one, if chilling to me.
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Thank you!
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You’re welcome.
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…the windows of the mind. A dark and disturbing tale.
Here’s mine!
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Loved that line “somethings cannot be seen with eyes.” Much to dwell on there.
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Thank you!
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Perfectly constructed and paced. Chilling. Well done.
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Thank you!
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Eerie and disturbing, well done. Reminded me a little of Richard Dadd who painted beautiful pictures from the asylum he was in for killing his father.
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Thank you! I was thinking of Dadd when I wrote it, actually.
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I have to agree with everyone. So very well done. Creepy good.
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Thank you!
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