My Dear Sunniva (Inkwell Fiction Prompt 144)

Source

Dexter Hubert was an art collector. He had the best art collection in the country. He was a happy soul and loved his job. He liked to analyze different paintings or drawings. He carefully placed all his art pieces in a separate room in his house. And whenever he felt he needed to be around art, he went into this room and spent hours admiring his pieces.

Well, they weren't exactly his pieces. He bought them, and now they were his. He sometimes felt that the art pieces weren't his, no matter how much money he spent on them. They contained the heart and soul of the painter. He knew that, and it sometimes bothered him. He tried his best in the past to be not just an artist but a great one. But he just didn't have the talent and dedication for it.

Dexter's collection contained art made with different kinds of materials, and he regularly attended exhibitions to collect more pieces.

One day, he got a call from his assistant, Ella. She was also his long-time friend. They were close, but they weren't romantic.

"Victor Chroma has died, and his heir has decided to sell his paintings. An auction is held at his estate on Thursday. Do you want to go?" Ella asked, knowing the answer and Dexter's reaction.

"Yes! Are you kidding me? Of course, I want to go!" Dexter said with excitement.

Dexter knew this was a good opportunity for him to buy some of Victor's pieces. His paintings were famous for their strange and yet beautiful portrayals of emotions. He used leaves and flowers to decorate his pieces. Each had a unique feel to it. One of his most famous paintings was done with crayons and was called "My Dear Sunniva". Dexter knew that Victor lost his sister Sunniva in a car accident. He was hopeful that he could buy that piece and own Victor's most precious possession.

Dexter went to the auction and was successful in acquiring "My dear Sunniva". He bet a large sum of money on that painting, and it was finally his to keep. With the help of Ella, Dexter found a place for Victor's painting in his collection. Before leaving the collection room, they both admired the details of the painting.

"Do you smell that?" Dexter asked and came closer to smell the painting. "It is scented! And it smells wonderful!"

"Yes! Maybe Victor infused the painting with scented oils? It adds to the whole experience of enjoying the painting," Ella said.

Happy with his accomplishment, Dexter slept that night like a baby. The next morning, he had breakfast, and before attending to his daily tasks, he decided to take a look at Victor's painting once more. He went to the room where he kept his most valuable pieces, but what he saw surprised him. The girl in the painting has vanished. The flowers and leaves were there, but the girl wasn't there. Dexter wished Ella was there to make sure he wasn't dreaming. There was no one around to attest that what he saw was real. Dexter felt like he had to call someone. So, he called Ella.

"Ella, I need you at the house. The girl, sunniva in the Victor painting is not in the painting. She has vanished." Dexter said, but before he finished what he was saying to Ella, someone from the back tapped on his shoulder. Dexter looked back, and he saw the girl from the painting. His phone fell to the ground. He was speechless. The girl had a transparent flower on her lips. Dexter didn't know what to do. The girl jumped in the air and went into the painting.

"Dexter! Dexter! Can you hear me?" Ella said on the other side of the line.

Dexter gathered himself and picked up his phone.

"Yes, Ella. You can't believe it. The most extraordinary thing happened to me, " Dexter said, smiling. He was surprised to have seen such a thing. In his wildest imagination, he didn't expect this.

Suddenly, Sunniva's hand came out of the painting, took Dexter's hands, and dragged him inside the painting.

"I am part of Sunniva's spirit and guardian of the painting. I am timeless, but I can experience suffering in this form. I protect the painting from darkness and oblivion. Victor has assigned me to work in a way to send energy to that moment when Sunniva died in that car crash. Victor infused this painting with a part of his sister's spirit because he loved her so much and was crushed when she died. What this painting does is alleviate the suffering of Sunniva in the past and give her a sense of happiness," Sunniva's spirit explained with a rational tone of voice. She was calm and collected but lack of energy was felt in her voice.

"This is the strangest thing I have ever heard or experienced. I can't believe that I'm in one of Victor's paintings talking to you! How did you come out of the painting, and how am I inside the painting??" Dexter asked, amazed.

"I come to the real world to breathe, and when I do that, it takes energy from the painting. And if I don't get back to the painting, it will fade away. Victor owned a magical crayon, and with it, he made the painting. I need that magical crayon to survive here! You must get it for me. It is inside Victor's estate, now owned by his cousin Preston. He doesn't know anything about art! He is a snob!" Sunniva's spirit explained.

"What? Do you want me to bring you a magical crayon from Victor's house? I can't do that! That house has an excellent security system!" Dexter said.

"You must bring that crayon, so I can paint all these flowers and leaves. If you don't, the painting will fade away, and my soul and body will suffer in the past," Sunniva's spirit said gently.

"The past has passed. You can't change it. Why did Victor think that he could influence the past?" Dexter said, confused.

"You are wrong! The past is alive, and it repeats over and over again. So, I need to make sure Sunniva doesn't suffer too much when she goes through that accident! Now that you know my story, and you see the condition of the flowers and this little forest, you need to help me. You are my new owner, after all. Bring me that crayon!" Sunniva's spirit said, unapologetically.

"Tell me more about this “magical crayon,” and where do I find it?" Dexter asked.

"The crayon is in Victor's safe. I know the password. Victor created that crayon with the three main colors: yellow, red, and blue. This crayon ensures Sunniva's happiness in the past. It doesn't let any harm come to her soul when she has the accident. You have to bring me that crayon, so I can paint these flowers and leaves and prevent the painting from completely fading away! I know you want to be an artist; you can help me paint the world inside the painting and make it alive again, "Sunniva's spirit said that and told Dexter the password.

"I'm amazed but convinced. I will help you only because I want to be a part of the process. I want to help you paint the painting because I long to be an artist myself, and using a magical crayon can give me the motivation to start creating art again." Dexter said, but deep down he knew that helping Sunniva's spirit was not going to be easy, but for the sake of art, he was willing to do it.

"You can get out of the painting now and get me what I need," Sunniva's spirit continued, and then showed Dexter the portal through which he could get out and go back to the real world.

Dexter came out of the painting, and he immediately called Ella and told her to come to his house because he had an urgent task that needed to be done. Dexter didn't want to tell her what he wanted to do on the phone because of security reasons.

Ella quickly brought herself to Dexter's house.

"We need to sneak into Victor's house, now owned by Pearson, his snob cousin," Dexter said, showing Ella a map with red lines drawn on it.

"Why do you want to sneak into his house? As far as I know, there are security measures in place, as Pearson hasn't sold all of Victor's paintings yet." Ella said. "You have money; why steal something you can easily buy?"

"I don't want to steal his paintings; I want something else! I want a magical crayon he made specifically to be used to make the "My dear Sunniva" painting!"

"What?! That painting was created by a magical crayon," Ella asked, surprised.

Dexter told her everything, from the jumping Sunniva to how that magical crayon worked. Ella didn't believe it, but when Dexter showed the fading painting to her, she believed and agreed to help Dexter.

"Can you find someone who can help us bypass the security and bring out that magical crayon?" Dexter asked.

"Yes! My brother Alex can help us!" Ella said it with assurance.

"Call him and tell him to come here! We don't have much time. We have to bring Sunniva's spirit that magical crayon!"

After a few hours of planning, they sneaked into Pearson's house. It wasn't easy, but they did it. At some point, they were about to hit the alarm, but Alex was a lifesaver. They were finally in. They got their hands on the safe and found the magical crayon by using the password Sunniva's spirit gave Dexter. The crayon smelled amazing and shimmered in the dark with vibrant colors.

With the magical crayon in his hands, Dexter called Sunniva. A hand came out of the painting, took Dexter's hands, and brought him into the world of the painting again. Dexter and Sunniva worked hand in hand, and in no time, colors were back to the painting.

Dexter got back to the real world through the portal and was happy to have helped Sunniva's spirit. Sunniva was happy again, and her little smile beneath the transparent flower was a joy for Dexter, Ella, and Alex to watch. The three people who knew the truth about "My Dear Sunniva".