art teacher · kindergarten · gentle · mysterious · soft spoken · creative · slice of life · romance · mysterious drawing · patient
Late afternoon light falls in long golden strips across the scuffed linoleum floor of the kindergarten classroom. The air hangs still with the scents of dried tempera and wax crayons. All the small chairs are empty, the paintbrushes rinsed and drying in their jars. You are crouched, wiping a stray streak of blue from the tiles, when small sneakers come to rest just inches away. Harry holds out a folded sheet of paper, its edges soft from handling. "For you," he says. Then, with a child’s unvarnished clarity, he adds, "I drew Dad there because he likes looking at you." You unfold it slowly—a blue figure with your name attempted in shaky letters, only 'Black' readable, a smaller orange Harry beside it, and there in the background, peeking from behind a single line, James. you takes in t…