The Lily Painting The Lily Painting It was a warm spring day in 2008, and Lily was once again watching her father struggle over his easel. He had been like that for days, and Lily couldn’t stand it anymore. Her heart was breaking. Lily’s father had once been a celebrated artist, famous the world over. However, he had recently lost his wife, and with it, his inspiration. Lily’s sisters, Mona and Lisa, were both moody, vain girls. You never quite knew whether they were smiling or frowning, and all they cared about was being rich and famous. Now that their father wasn’t doing well, though, they had become increasingly whiny and difficult. They refused to help around the house, and put the entire burden on Lily’s slight shoulders. Lily loved her father, though, so she went about her work without complaint. Later the next week, Lily’s father came to her with a proposal. “Lily, my dear, I know you have been suffering with me ever since I began failing as a painter.” “No, father,’ said Lily, “you are just having trouble finding the right inspiration. You are still a wonderful painter!” “I appreciate that, but I am not fulfilling my duty to care for you and your sisters, and now it has gotten even worse. Last week, I went to the house of a very famous art collector. I was hoping he would commission a painting to help us. However, he was not interested. As I was leaving, I walked through his front garden, and he had wonderful replica of Monet’s water lily garden, and I picked one to bring home to you. However, his son, a hideous man, caught me and threatened to call the police. Water lilies are apparently endangered. However, I explained the situation, and he agreed not to call the police on one condition. He wanted you to come work for his father. I told him no, but he said it was either that, or jail.” “Oh, no, father, you can’t go to jail. What would Mona and Lisa do? I will go work for this art collector. I will pack my things and leave tomorrow.” ******************************** The next day, Lily arrived at the mansion bright and early, but her mood did not match the blue sky above her. She was happy about saving her father, but not about being away from her family. The butler who answered the door showed her to her room, which actually wasn’t that bad for a servant, and then she began to work. All day she scrubbed and cleaned, dusted and vacuumed, polished and waxed, unaware that someone was watching her every move. At night, after the cooking was done and the dishes were cleaned, Lily had a few hours to herself. Being in an art collector’s home, she decided to wander around and look at the artwork. Lily was very fond of all art, but her favorites were watercolor landscapes. Lily’s father had named her for the famous painting of water lilies by Claude Monet, and she found several works by the French painter in the collector’s watercolor gallery. She was just examining one of a river when she heard a shuffle and a cough behind her. Whirling around, she gasped as the ugliest man she ever saw began to speak to her. “I’m sorry for startling you, but are you the painter’s daughter?” “Yes, I’m Lily,” she stammered, struggling to catch her breath. “Ah, yes, well, I’m Vincent, the art collector’s son. I trust you are enjoying the paintings? You seem to like the watercolors.” Lily had finally composed herself and was able to answer him politely. “Yes, I am. My father named me after one of Monet’s paintings and I was just looking at some of his other work. Your father has a very impressive collection. “ “Yes, he does,” said Vincent. “After my car accident, my father replaced all the mirrors in the house with paintings, so I would only have beautiful things to look at. That’s how he started his collection, and it’s been growing ever since.” “Oh, I see. I’m sorry about your face. Does looking at the paintings help?” “Sometimes. But looking at another person besides my father helps even more. “ Lily blushed, and seeing that he had embarrassed her, Vincent began to talk about the paintings again. Lily and Vincent spent the rest of the evening wandering around the gallery, discussing what they liked and didn’t like, and getting to know one another. ******************************** Days passed, then weeks, then months. Lily still missed her family, but she looked forward to her evening walks and talks with Vincent more and more every day. He might be ugly, but he had a kind spirit. One day, Vincent told Lily that he had to leave for a week on business for his father. That week was the loneliest of Lily’s life. She spent her time by the water lily pool, reading or sketching, and trying not to think about Vincent. Finally, the day of his return arrived. Lily quickly finished her work, and then ran out to the pool. She looked at her reflection, and then reached into the water to pick a flower for her hair. Vincent had often given her a lily for her hair, saying, “Two flowers cannot be kept apart.” She made sure she looked presentable, then sat down to wait. But Vincent never came. ******************************** Then next morning, a sharp rap on Lily’s door woke her up. When she opened it, the butler stated, “Your employment with us has been terminated. Please pack your things and leave the premises immediately.” Bewildered, Lily did as she was asked and packed her things. She did not see anyone as she walked out of the mansion into the bright sunlight. ******************************** Lily’s father was overjoyed to see her. Because of her absence, Mona and Lisa had been forced to do the chores, and it had been a nightmare for him. However, it had also gotten him motivated, and he had started to sell a few small paintings again. With Lily’s return, he was even more inspired, and within a year, he was able to pay of the bank loan he had taken out to help cover his expenses. Mona and Lisa were back to their old, mirror-glued ways, and it looked like the family was back on top of the world. Lily, however, did not feel that way. She spent her days staring at Monet’s water lily painting, and wondering what she had done to be sent away. She had tried calling Vincent, emailing him, texting him; she even showed up at the front door a month after she left, only to be sent away without a word by the butler. Her heart was broken, and she didn’t know how to mend it. ******************************** One day the following June, Lily accompanied her father to a gallery opening for new artists. Each painting or sculpture was the first to be shown by each artist there. Lily’s father hoped to find someone who would be willing to apprentice with him, to earn a little extra income. Lily followed him listlessly around the floor, nodding and smiling when she needed to, but not really caring about the evening at all. As she strolled towards another wall of paintings, something caught the corner of her eye, something like the shimmering of Monet’s water lilies. Whirling around, she stepped to the painting and stared. It wasn’t the work of the French master. In fact, she couldn’t call it work at all. It was light, pure light; the portrait of a girl leaning over a pool of water lilies, reaching out her hand to pick one was filled with the most glorious golden light Lily had ever seen. She didn’t need to look at the label to know who had painted the heavenly painting. ******************************** Lily ran in high heels the entire seventeen blocks to Vincent’s house. She found him waiting by the pool, his hair glistening in the moonlight. Lily walked right up to him and pushed him into the pool. When he came up spluttering, she asked him, “Why did you send me away?” Shoving the dripping hair out of his eyes, Vincent replied, “I suppose I deserved that. Please forgive me. I came home that day and saw you standing in the sunlight, and I knew I had to paint that picture. But I can’t get you out of my head, and I didn’t want any new images of you replacing that one. So, I vowed not to see you again until I had captured you perfectly.” By the end of his speech, Lily’s eyes were streaming, and she was almost as wet as he was. She gave Vincent a big, fat kiss, and then started bawling again. ******************************** The next day, Vincent gave Lily an exquisite ring in the shape of a water lily, and they began planning their wedding. They were married before the end of June, in front of the lily pool, and from that day on, Lily continued to inspire the two men she loved: her father and Vincent.
Copyright © 2009 M Schied |