The girl who paints time

The House That Breathes Color

At the very end of the village, where the wind sang in the leaves of the old ashwattha tree and the birds whispered stories from another world, there was a crooked old house. The house stood slightly tilted, as if tired of remembering so many things.

In that house lived a girl — named Noor.

Noor didn’t say much. She didn’t smile much. But when her hand touched the canvas, even the sky seemed to stop to watch.

Her paintings were strange — like dreams, which remain in the mind even after waking up. She would draw a clock without hands, a door that opened inside a cloud, and an old man whose shadow was like a small child.

People from the neighboring village would come to see. Some would say, “What does this mean?” A drawing of a teacup floating in water.

Noor would laugh. She would say, “This is something you forgot, but your mind remembers.”

The picture that changed every day

One day Noor took out a new picture — the most mysterious picture of her life.

A huge canvas, very high — where a faceless girl sits on a bench. All around were only clocks, all showing different times.

But the strange thing was, every day that picture would change a little. Sometimes an extra leaf, sometimes a crack in the sky.

There was a boy, named Ryan. He would come regularly, with his sketchbook. He wanted to copy Noor's picture, but he couldn't.

One day he said, "Noor, this picture is alive."

Noor said, "It's remembering it."

When she stopped painting

One day, suddenly, Noor stopped painting.

The painting was still there, but she didn't even touch the brush anymore. Ryan asked, "Why aren't you painting?"

Noor said, "It's finished."

"But it changes every day."

Noor replied, "So does memory."

A stain on the wall of memory

Years passed. The light seemed to have disappeared somewhere. The house was still there, but silent.

One day Ryan — now a painter — returned to the house. Where that huge canvas had been, on the wall was written:

"Time cannot be painted. But it can be remembered."

Ryan smiled. Then for the first time, he painted.

And that picture began to change. Every day.