Painted Perfect

• Camille Gavino, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2020

There she sat, surrounded with people who had the most joyful smiles and odd personalities. As the conversation continued, her face had mimicked the expression of those individuals. Within her outer image, she was painted as perfect. As some people would assume, she would have been perfect on the inside.

With expectation being high, she put up that perfect facade and behind that, was a dull curtain containing a presumingly blank canvas just waiting for it to be painted. Since that blank canvas has not been found, it cannot be widely accepted and be as equal value as the painting in front.

Has anyone noticed that canvas at the back? Will it be brought out? She hasn’t decided the right approach to bring up that painting. Her long term actions of presenting that perfect painting will eventually break down, and that worn canvas at the back will be her last option to rely on.

She strolled through the school and came across some of her bullies. She didn’t have the courage to stand up against them, this made her unable to defend herself. This cause the first scar to appear on her perfect canvas.

Her parents were fighting again. She had no idea of what she should be doing. Was it her fault that her parents were conflicting with one another? Her outer painting was ripped a second time. What was happening?

Lack of motivation. This caused her to procrastinate on her studies, this meant her grades were being dragged down. The thought of disappointment from her fellow students and teachers cause her to go into the void of emptiness. Her third scar was now visibly seen on her picture.

These major slashes left holes in the painting. This made it clear to her friends that there was a dull curtain behind the outer canvas. Was she ready to reveal her unfinished work? It seems she has no other choice left.

She pulled back the curtain to reveal a dusty old blank canvas. She didn’t have time to react. Her friends had picked up a clean paintbrush and gave it to her. The people surrounding her shouldn’t be the one to paint her canvas, she should be the one to hold her brush and make a path for herself.

Painting a canvas is hard. It isn’t supposed to be perfect. It was supposed seen as perfect in your eyes. The ideas in your head may be blocked sometimes, but there are so many people out there who can help inspire you during your hardest time.

With the power of creation now in her hands, her old canvas has now been transformed into a beautiful painting with their true colours. It may not look like how the way she wanted it to be, but it represents who she truly is on the inside. She loves this picture more then what she had previously.

Don’t let anyone paint you perfectly. Let yourself be the one to draw out who you truly are.