8

Sunday morning was quiet, with the sound of rain pattering against the windows of the house. The chill air woke Nathan up as he curled his toes and pulled his sheets up closer to his face. It wasn't until he felt a drop of water fall on his forehead that he opened his eyes. He stared up at the ceiling, getting out of bed while keeping his eyes trained on the spot above his head. "Damn…" He sighed, turning on the lights and noticing something out of place in his room.

Walking over to a bag that his sister placed, he took a peek inside and pulled it out with his fingers. He held it up to the light, smiling as he put it down on his desk. It was a set of new pencils, so they were appreciated. He left his room and went downstairs to get something to eat. "Good morning." Penny said, waving him a good day as she picked up her umbrella. He nodded toward her as he entered the kitchen, hearing the door shut.

He silently made himself a sandwich before scarfing it down and entering the garage. He did some stretches, finding his usual spot and picking up his brush to continue his art. He closed his eyes for a moment, envisioning the scene in his mind again. He saw what he was missing, painting his vision of the boy in the painting quietly.

He started with his face; soft features and a childlike smile that seemed to brighten up the expressions on the others in the painting. Next were his clothes, a bright blue shirt with a lion printed out on the front of it. He wore simple shorts and a pair of white and blue sneakers. With that done, he took a step back and let out a breath of relief. With that, he smiled, taking it of his easel and placing it against the wall to dry. "That's finally done. It was faster than I expected." He said, looking around the room at his paintings as he lowered his head. "Is this good enough?" He asked himself as he walked toward the painting, taking a closer look as the paint dried.

He stood there silently for a few minutes; his mind racing around and his eyes scanning the canvas to find any kind of imperfection in his work. He swallowed his breath, frowning as he got up and left the room in a fit of frustration. He found himself in his room looking up at the ceiling again and noticing that it was getting wetter by the second. He sighed, moving over to his desk and opening up the new pencils he got. Sharpening them and pulling out his notebook, he left and set himself up in the living room by the window. It was chilling, sending a tingling sensation up his leg as he got started on a new drawing.

It started off as a generic landscape piece, just a forest during autumn with leaves blowing in the wind. As he finished up the details on one of the smaller trees, he felt a vibration in his pocket that came from his phone. It was a notification from the game that he was playing, inviting him to play again with a tempting offer of new characters that he could get. "Maybe for a few minutes." He mumbled to himself as he heard his aunt cooking in the kitchen.

What started off as a few minutes escalated into multiple hours. Time passed by in a blur as he kept trying to roll for new characters. His eyes were glued to the screen even as he walked around the house, ending with him lying in bed with his phone raised above his face. He was so focused that he didn't even notice the sun setting outside or his sister's return at the end of the day. No, the only thing that broke his immersion was a message from the phone itself.

"Battery…" He grumbled as his screen shut off. Turning over to the side to plug the device in, he sighed and made his way back to the living room to get his notebook, staring at it as he returned to his room. "What am I doing?" He asked himself, frowning as he stuffed his things into his bag for the week of school that was approaching. "Should I really be doing this?" he thought, staring up at the ceiling as his head squished down on the moist pillow that gave him an uncomfortable night's sleep.

He tossed and turned in his bed as the rain continued pouring outside, his face contorted into a frown as his eyebrows furrowed. He kept rolling around until he eventually fell out of his bed, hitting the floor with enough force to wake him up around midnight. He tried going to sleep again, he tried, but nothing would work. He wasn't wide awake, nor was he sleepy; he was just awake with his thoughts keeping him from enjoying the rest of the night in peace. He looked over at his phone before shaking his head and getting up to go to the garage again. There he stood, surrounded by his paintings. He hoped that he'd find something to do, something to fix, by coming there.

Then it hit him. He walked over to his latest creation. The paint had dried up and it was beautiful even in this low light. He sat down, resting the canvas on his lap as he placed his hands on the top corners of the painting. With one fluid motion, he tore a large hole down the entire thing. "I can make this better." He mumbled as he looked over at the ruins of his work. "At least nobody saw it yet… It's not good enough." He said slightly louder now. He gathered up the canvas and threw it into the trash, stomping around the garage before he looked around for a blank one to start his next work with. "Again…" He said with his eyes still weary from his rude awakeni...