Читать книгу Noday (The Unknown Day) - - Страница 3

“Anna, my child, look,” she said, pointing toward the sun-drenched street outside the window. “Do not let yourself drown in this whirlpool of agony. These walls won’t offer you solace; they will swallow you alive.”

Marta paused for a moment, then gestured toward the paints and brushes sitting on Anna’s shelf.

“I know how much you love to paint. Pour your pain out of this life and onto the canvas. Come back to life, my dear! Do you remember that park in the city center? The trees are beautiful there right now. Go there. If the world looks colorless to you right now, then create the colors yourself. Distract yourself for just one hour, if nothing else. Doing this doesn’t make you a traitor; on the contrary, it will give you the strength to live.”

Hearing about the park, Anna remembered running there with Oliver a long time ago. Her eyes filled with tears, but this time, alongside the pain, a tiny spark of hope seemed to flicker.

In the center of the park, around a lawn and a tranquil lake, artists had gathered. They were busy with their brushes; some trying to capture the shimmer of the water, others the glow of the setting sun. Anna chose a spot off to the side. Her easel opened with a creak. For several hours, she did not paint the nature around her, but rather the longing deep within her soul. In her painting, the sky resembled the hair of a weeping woman, and the trees looked like helpless arms reaching toward the heavens.

When the painting was finished, she began to sign the bottom corner as was her habit: “Anna.” But when it came to writing the day of the week under her signature, her fingers froze. She realized she had no sense of how many days had passed.