Back to the Drawing Board

"Time to get a new piece to mess with." Despite the plethora of trees around her, she didn't have a lot of options to choose from. A real mask wasn't formed from an oak base. Actually, these days wood wasn't the typical foundation for masks at all. 

It was a more popular type back in the ancient days since the materials were far easier to come by. On top of being available wood easier and sturdier than ceramic and glass, but they still were challenging to work with. Everything had pros and cons.

If her current piece was any indication, it didn't take much to make it uneven to the point of ruining the design. Another problematic factor was the risk of splinters. It thankfully hadn't happened to her due to using the endless amounts of sandpaper that was stashed away in her father's workshop, though that was always a possibility when working with it.

The ideal material was paper mâché, however there were a few reasons she chose wood over it. For starters, it was easier to hide from her mother. A block of would could just be thrown in her bag or under her bed with the hag not noticing a thing. But the moment she found even a hint of the typical water-glue mixture; it would be game over.

Zora, if given the chance, would probably love to help her stash it away. Hell, she imagined the five-year-old would probably offer to help since she loved doing arts and crafts. With how keen the old hag was though, Zenobia couldn't take that chance. She could see it.

A white blobby puddle hardening in the yard. The horrible woman she called family throwing the paper into a fire until nothing but tear-stained ashes remained. And she would make Zenobia watch. No, better she didn't.

Especially since another issue was that it was a messy process with a lot of wait time. To make a proper mâché mask, one needed to make a mold to put the mixture of drenched paper on, layer it up four or five times, then wait for it to dry before adding more on. Those were the basics and that took weeks. It didn't even count the paint job and decorations.

There were way more materials needed for it too. The glue mixture, which couldn't be lumpy, a bunch of newspapers that had to be cut into strips, a skeleton for the mask, usually made from wire, balloons or plastic molds…all of which Zenobia needed in bulks and sadly, that could be pricey. Even if it was easier to work with, she would need a lot of space, money and inventory. It would be too much.

Not that any of the other types of masks and their processes could be called easier. Zenobia's father often spent weeks, if not months working on a single mask and back in the day he always had four or five happening at a time. 

The main reason she wanted to work with it was because it was also what her father specialized in. Even if he was no longer in her life, that didn't mean the memories shared between them didn't mean anything. She cherished their time together. She wanted to remake her old mask.

With her own two hands she would create the perfect replica and continue his legacy. People shunned away from wood essentially because it was too difficult to make customs. She didn't want to take the easy way out if she aspired to follow in her old man's footsteps.

All she needed was wood and tools, things she already had free access to. So, what if she wasn't good yet, she could improve. The more she tinkered with them, the more natural she would be at wielding them. Zenobia already had the artistic aspects of it mastered, half of the task was already done.

Now she had to make those sketches she spent hours toiling over into a real creation she could hold and wear. Eventually she was going to leave her mother's house, further her education without those tundra brown eyes watching her every move. Once she made a name for herself, her masks would be used all over...and with the money she would travel.

She just had to survive a few more years. Then when she goes to college, she would rack up commissions online while applying for as many scholarships as possible. It would be a challenge, but not impossible. Zenobia already decided to dedicate herself to making masks for a living, which was a highly competitive, unpredictable field.

What was one more set of obstacles in her way? The sixteen-year-old had every intention of wrangling her future with her own two hands. Hoping and planning would do her no good if she didn't keep practicing.

"This looks suitable." Fortunately, it didn't take her too long to find a replacement log. The outer bark was flimsy, some of it was already slipping off. Thankfully the board concealed from it wasn't too thick or thin, a little less than three feet long reaching up to her elbow when measured. Counting mistakes that could be manipulated and fixed, it could fit a typical six-year-old's face.

With that thought in mind, Zenobia immediately rushed back to her book. Struck with inspiration, the pages flew in her hands, flickering atop one another until she reached a blank sheet. Reaching for her pencil pouch, she unearthed the first erasable pencil she could detect that was also decently sharpened.

For a few moments she simply scribbled down notes. She listed her sister's face proportions on the far left. Then she wrote her personality traits on the right side. Finally she put down her sister's hopes and desires for the future at the top, leaving the center of the page blank.

Zenobia rubbed the tickle in her nose away. Taking a breath, she set about sketching Zora's face. No matter what, she probably wouldn't feel remotely content until she made two or three drafts with different mask designs, however she wasn't thinking. All that mattered was what she knew of Zora.

For her little sister she would make what could best represent her on top of also ensuring it was aesthetically pleasing when looked alongside her yellow eyes. But she was stumped as to what her animal would be.

Zenobia was aware the little girl wanted a mask like hers, her childhood story only encouraging that mindset. As sweet as the thought was, for once, she agreed with her mother. She couldn't make a fox mask for her. 

Foxes were tricksters, morally gray and adaptable. They survived using their cunning nature; however it was up in the air if they were a good thing or not. Like red eyes, foxes had different meanings depending on the culture. No matter what it just…didn't fit the optimistic, hardworking sweetheart.

"Mom is the white lioness symbolizing power from the heavens, strong and protective. Dad had the silver wolf to show his lonely status as well as being a pure, loyal protector. I have the fox…" All of their masks were (her being a lesser extent) predators, creatures that were beautiful, yet dangerous.

Something Zora definitely was not, but she wanted a mask like Zenobia's. It would be her first real challenge. Pulling out her phone again, disregarding Ms. Mude's message (wow she responded fast,) she typed in how people typically described her sister into the search bar. She hoped that with the descriptions she would get various animals that would fit.

From there, all it would take is finding the one that felt right and she'd get to work. A few minutes went by, with the teen scanning over the provided information. Her fingers made multiple different tabs with anticipation blooming in her chest.

"Are you kidding me?" Suffice to say, she was not happy with the conclusions offered to her. They kept insisting on birds. Doves, hummingbirds, blue jays, swans, even cardinals, birds, birds and birds! She sighed in disappointment.

All of them were lovely animals, but it didn't match at all with what the elementary schooler wanted. It did not match with what the rest of the family had. So she tried again, specifying mammals and non-flying creatures. The results...worked.

 At the very least she got what she wanted. No birds. Like before though, her hopes were dashed. With some off choices like camels, deer and buffalo, none of it fit.

"There has to be something." There had to be an animal that wasn't prey status but could still be seen as kind, loyal and hardworking. Her mind was drawing a serious blank and it bothered her to no end.

"Battery's low. Great." Pouting, Zenobia sent her phone into sleep mode before closing her book with an irritated sigh. Back to the drawing board, literally, as she tapped the book repeatedly with her right pointer finger. Her fingers itched to do something productive with the free time given to her, yet she couldn't think of what to do.

Drawing something for Zora's mask was she wanted, only she was stuck. This wasn't the time to get the dreaded artist block, but it was here to stay so that option was out. Her peacock mask in the making was an absolute disaster, so she had no desire to mess with it. And the new bit of wood was what started this whole thing with Zora in the first place so again, no.

Zenobia couldn't help but wish (just a bit) that she took her school books with her instead of just tossing them into her locker this morning. Boring it may've been, it still would've been a far more productive use of her time since she could've gotten ahead of her assignments.

"Coulda, shoulda, woulda." She remembered her old math teacher saying that. He said it whenever any of his students didn't think things. Whether by not doing homework or studying for a quiz, he said that while giving the grades out.

Rolling over, she laid on her back staring at the trees hiding the sky. The birds were still chirping away, having their private conversations. A dog was faintly barking in the distance. It was peaceful.

Nature's children danced with the wind; the trees were specifically doing a little jig with their leaves while she stayed there. In spite of being annoyed at herself, she sagged into the pavement, removing the stress from her body by melting into a lump of sunbathing flesh. Without meaning to, she fell quickly into a relaxing slumber.