Prisms of Light

Chelsi Remington sighed, setting her sketchbook down on the couch beside her. She'd been sitting in the same place for quite a few hours now, so she got up and stretched. The earphones she had had in her ears fell out as she stood up, her CD player's weight tugging them down. They landed on a pillow at her feet. She could still faintly hear strains of music. Chelsi had listened to the same CD at least three times while sitting there. She extended her arms above her head until she heard a small click in her shoulders, looking down at her pad at the same time. Since she wasn't allowed to tear any pages out of her sketch book, her instructor would see all her distractions; pages and pages of doodles, amid more serious drawings. He would see how she couldn't focus, and what passed through her head while she was attempting to do something serious. Chelsi sighed again, anticipating the embarrassment. Why hadn’t she used a different pad? It was too late now.1

Chelsi didn't understand the assignment her class was given. Why did she have to draw the same thing repeatedly? What was the point? Her first fifteen drawings all looked the same; all depicted a glass saltshaker, surrounded by a gray-white area. Around the edge of each, she'd drawn a black boarder. Each picture the same, but each with its small flaws: A smudge there, a crooked line here, little things that showed the difference between each. But now, drawing the saltshaker was habit. She didn't even have to think about it. Draw a straight line here, curve here, and shade there - simple and easy. In between the pictures of the saltshaker were doodles of everything that floated through Chelsi's head: birds, dragons, flowers, rainbows - everything in the same monotonous gray charcoal pencil.2

Sitting back down, Chelsi pulled the pad back onto her lap and groaned. Because she had procrastinated so much, she had no choice but to finish her drawings now. The last thing she needed was to fail the class because of a stupid, pointless assignment. Her instructor had assigned the small class of eight students the rather simple drawings a few days back, letting them pick what to draw from a list. Other things on the list included a glass, a bowl, and a fork. Obviously, the assignment focused on the kitchen area. Chelsi had picked a saltshaker, but now regretted it. It was just so boring. The same picture, repetitively. It didn't matter what angle she was sitting at, it still stayed the same. She put her earphones back into her ears, and then turned up the volume of the Finnish rock band's CD. She stared at the saltshaker - maybe if she looked long enough, it would change.3

Or not.4

Chelsi started drawing. What began life as the bottom of the saltshaker metamorphosed into a lily, which expanded to become masses of lilies, and then finally to evolve into a lily-covered pond. She had just finished - adding a duck to the pond - when she felt a thud beside her. Chelsi looked up, shocked at first. She relaxed when she saw it was only Radley, her brother. He was licking a purple lollipop, his blond hair messy – as if he had just gotten out of bed. Chelsi considered who it was, and then decided that he probably had just gotten out of bed.5

Though Radley was only a year older than her, most mistaken them for twins. They had stopped correcting people a while back. He was the type of brother who loved to tease, but would protect his little sister to the ends of the earth. Chelsi removed one of her earphones so she could hear him.6

"What's up?" She asked. 7

"Just got up," Radley said.8

"I figured as much," Chelsi laughed. Sometimes her brother could be so predictable. "Now shoo, I'm busy."9

"Nah, I think I'll stick around." Of course, Radley had picked that day to be annoying. As he yawned, Chelsi poked him. He coughed and glared at her.10

"Leave. I'm busy." Chelsi glared back.11

"What? You're still not done with that assignment? It was easy!" Despite the age difference, the siblings were in the same art class. While Chelsi struggled with keeping on task and had a hard time with the assignments, Radley had effortlessly managed to keep abreast of the class. He grabbed her sketch pad now and began looking through it. He scowled at the uniformity of her drawings as Chelsi cringed. As much as she disliked admitting it, Radley knew what he was doing. Sometimes it could be worse being judged by him than by her teacher.12

Radley sighed. "You're not looking at it right. The point of the assignment was to try to find a different view on something typical."13

"Oh." Chelsi said. "I knew that."14

"Sure you did." Radley laughed. He got up and moved the saltshaker. He placed it directly between Chelsi and the sun. At once, she noticed the difference. As the light passed through the glass of the saltshaker, it transformed into a prism of light; the small squares of salt suddenly glowing as if from within. The entire picture transformed from ordinary to extraordinary. "Now draw what you see." Radley commanded.15

"'kay..." Chelsi muttered, already reaching for her pencil and pad. She started sketching 16

again, this time much more animated about it. She wanted to capture what she saw as quickly as she could, for fear it would disappear. One picture after another flew from her pencil to paper; until she was finally satisfied with the result. The picture was different; it looked almost heavenly. Chelsi smiled, and settled back. In the time she was drawing, Radley had gotten himself a bowl of cereal and was sitting on the windowsill. As soon as Chelsi was done drawing, he took her pad.17

"Much better," he praised. "Want to go get ice cream now?"18

"Of course," Chelsi smiled. Leaving the pad on the table, they walked out of the house.19