The Painter and His Wife

Once there was a painter. He solely relied on reality to fuel his inspiration, and with that came only landscape paintings, and portraits of people dressed fancily in silk suits and dresses topped with ruffs. He was always able to sell his portraits of others, and his landscape paintings brought in a little profit, but no matter the amount of money he accumulated through his works, he never felt like he had fulfilled what his heart so desired. He loved to meet with Elizabeth, he loved to gaze out into the fountains in the middle of town, and he especially loved the way that strawberries and mint leaves tasted despite the clashing flavors. He picked up playing the lute, and on occasion went swimming on hot days in the summer. No matter the amount of time these activities accumulated, he couldn’t help but feel something was missing from his life.

On the other side of town lived another painter, Elizabeth. Unlike the painter, Elizabeth focused on transferring her emotions onto canvas, her art wasn’t appreciated because of it’s nonconformity to “authentic” art. To compensate for that, Elizabeth started baking and selling her pastries. Elizabeth loved baking, the smell of fresh rain, and the time she spent with the painter. In her hobbies, she focused more on mathematics and astronomy, she could solve the most complex equations quicker than most men, and was able to tell with complete accuracy the constellations that could be seen every night.

These two people would meet on occasion at the market, they would both purchase a cup of strawberries and talk about their hobbies and funny situations they had gotten themselves into. They would sit at the fountain to eat their strawberries, the painter would offer mint leaves, and Elizabeth would accept.

Elizabeth had thought the painter was funny, charming, and altogether, a good person. The painter thought Elizabeth was beautiful, innovative, and inspiring. The thing that eventually drew the painters together was the loneliness they felt when they were apart. It was a summer’s day when the both painters found their thoughts had been consumed by one another until one day, when they were enjoying their fresh strawberries with mint leaves, the painter proposed to Elizabeth. He told her, “No matter what happens I know we'll be together because we are meant to exist only together, like strawberries and mint leaves.”

The marriage took place on a sunny day with no sight of clouds and only a light breeze. Right in front of the fountain in which both the painter and his wife loved dearly. The sunlight turned the water gold and shone perfectly off of the painter’s suit and Elizabeth’s finest dress both topped with big fluffy ruffs. After the wedding, they made different pieces of artwork together. The painter played his lute for her, and Elizabeth baked for him. The painter and his wife lived together till the end of their days, and frequently visited the fountain to enjoy their occasional strawberries and mint leaves.