Artist

Kicking off his shoes and haphazardly tossing his coat onto the couch, Jimi rushed towards his room with a book clutched tightly to his chest. Sliding into the seat in front of his desk, he quickly opened the book and nearly teared up when he was met with blank white pages. Jimi sucked in a shuddering breath, reaching across his desk to pick up one of the many pencils scattered atop its surface. Then, he began to draw.

After using up all the blank pages in his old sketchbook last week, Jimi hasn’t found an opportunity to get a new sketchbook until today.

For one entire week, Jimi was rendered unable to draw. Never again. That single week was the most excruciating week of his life. His hands constantly itched with the desire to draw and a sense of loss permeated the entire week as he lost idea after idea when they faded without being brought to life on paper. By the end of the week, it took all of Jimi’s willpower to hold himself back from unleashing his frustrations onto whatever surface he could reach. He hid his paints, oil pastels, color pencils—whatever art supplies he had from himself just to prevent his home from being covered in them.

So, as soon as he finished up his urgent matters, Jimi sprinted to the nearest bookstore he could find. Luckily for him, a new one had opened up on his street, allowing him to purchase a sketchbook much closer to his home.

But, despite his burning desire to grab a book and start drawing, once he entered the new bookstore, Jimi was briefly overwhelmed by awe.

Dimly lit, the bookstore was practically filled to bursting with books. Tall, dark oak shelves and soft warm lighting created a homely atmosphere that was further accentuated by the random smattering of cushions on the floor that allowed customers to sit comfortably while they browsed a book that caught their eye. Jimi took his time wandering through the store. He naturally drifted towards the section displaying art supplies, getting lost in testing and adding new supplies to his shopping list for the future.

Just as he finally reached the store’s selection of sketchbooks, Jimi felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning to greet the employee that had tapped him, Jimi was introduced to a sketchbook unlike any of the others on the shelf. Despite the thick leather cover of the sketchbook being worn at the edges, the pages within the sketchbook were all still blank, looking just as pristine as a new sketchbook right off the printing press.

A single glance at the sketchbook renewed the intense itch Jimi had to draw, and he decided to purchase the book right then and there. Thanking the employee, Jimi rushed home.

Fully immersing himself in drawing, Jimi finally peeled himself away from the sketchbook hours later. Leaning back into a stretch with a satisfied smile on his face, a glance outside his window told him that it was time for bed. Leaving the sketchbook open on his desk, Jimi went to bed, dreaming of what he would draw tomorrow.

The next day, Jimi was awoken by the sunlight slowly filtering into his room. Sitting up, he turned towards his desk, freezing when a familiar figure greeted him.

In lieu of the empty space in front of his desk, stood you—the very character he had inked onto the page yesterday.

“{{user}}?!”