A Creative Renaissance

“Thanks again, Aunt Loraine,” Ben said as they moved the last of their meagre belongings into the tiny new house.

“Oh hush, don’t you worry about a thing. I’ll let you two get settled. Oh, and I wrote down some websites for you - places in town that are hiring. Take a look when you can.”

Ben thanked her again as she handed him the slip of paper and left them alone.

“I can’t believe we found a place in three days,” Ben said as he joined Olivia at their new dining table.

“Thank goodness. I love your Aunt Loraine, but her place is tiny—and those dogs!”

Ben chuckled, feeling a twinge of genuine amusement for the first time since the fires destroyed their apartment in the city. “She gave me this list of places looking for people. We should fire off some applications today.”

Olivia frowned, scanning the list of bland shops and grocery stores.

**

“Liv, I got it!” Ben called as he returned home from a final interview.

“That’s great, babe!” Olivia appeared with a smile to offer a congratulatory hug.

“It’s minimum wage at the grocery store, but it’s a start.”

Olivia nodded in agreement, “It’s a start, and it only took a couple of weeks. Maybe we’ll be okay after all.”

Ben tightened his grip and looked down, “We’ll be okay. Let’s go for a walk later, yeah? We still need to explore that trail out back.”

Olivia stepped into the yard as the sun dipped behind the trees. Adjusting the strap of her shoulder bag, she glanced at Ben, who nodded as they left for their first outing in their new state.

They spent several minutes in a peaceful silence before they heard a twig crack nearby. Olivia’s breath caught as she stiffened. “Do you think there’s any, like, bears around here or anything?”

Ben chuckled, “Oh, I don’t think so. It’s a small woods, and it’s real close to a bunch of houses.”

Olivia nodded as her shoulders relaxed. They continued down the path, hearing a few more cracks and rustles. It didn’t take long to reach the other side of the forest, the treeline opening to reveal a beautiful field.

“Oh my…” Ben breathed, eyes widening as he took in the scenery. Before them lay an open field with rolling hills in the distance and a tree-lined edge. In the middle of the expansive clearing, where the green grass browned in the glow of the setting sun, sat a handful of grazing deer.

One raised its head as the herd froze.

Olivia nudged him quietly, and he broke out of his trance to see her holding the DSLR he’d retired years ago. “I thought with the sunset you might catch a few good scenes. I think these deer agree, so they met us here,” she said with a chuckle.

Wordlessly, he took it, the familiar weight in his hands both comforting and sadly reminiscent of their old life. He felt something in his spirit lift as he snapped a few photos. Eventually, the deer got spooked and ran off, but not before he perfectly captured the serenity of the moment.

Over the following weeks, they settled into a rhythm—if one could call it that. Ben worked long hours at the grocery store, which led to frequent exhaustion. Olivia spent her days scouring job boards and drafting cover letters that seemed to disappear into the void of the internet. Their bank account shrank faster than it grew.

One stormy afternoon, Olivia sat at the kitchen table, laptop glowing faintly in the dim light. The sound of raindrops hitting the roof interrupted her thoughts. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard as she stared at a blank document. The daily journaling had helped process the grief and trauma of the wildfires that ravaged their old city, but today, she just couldn’t find the words.

She closed her laptop and wandered to the bookshelf, her eyes scanning the few books they had managed to save. Her hand hovered over a dog-eared copy of her favourite novel before landing on an old leather-bound journal. Her heart skipped a beat as the pages revealed notes for stories she had dreamed of writing, fragments of dialogue, and half-formed characters.

Sitting back down, the memories of how these early-stage creations excited her flooded back. Smiling, she turned to her keyboard and began typing.

Ben interrupted her keyboard's incessant but cathartic clicking as he slammed the door and huffed into the kitchen. Olivia looked up to see a scowl painted on his face. “Bad day?” she asked.

He looked at her, expression immediately softening. “Ah, you know. “Pete’s an ass—owner’s kid, untouchable. Damn small-town politics.”

He grabbed a cookie from the cupboard and sat down at the table. “Journaling again?”

“Actually,” Olivia started, her smile broadening, “I wrote a little bit of a story I remembered starting last year… it probably sucks, but it was kinda fun.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Ben said, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a sheet of muted pink paper. “Someone pinned these to the bulletin board at the store. Thought you might wanna check it out.”

Olivia took it and read: “Creative Writers Critique Club: Grow Your Writing in a Friendly Environment. Every Wednesday Afternoon at the Library.” Followed by some cute clip-art cartoons and an email address to inquire further.

“Huh, looks cool.”

As the days turned into weeks, Ben found himself drawn to the woods more often. His camera now permanently slung over his shoulder, it became a constant companion. It began with capturing the obvious - the vibrant fall hues of the forest, the soft light of a sunrise, and the occasional wildlife. But he soon zeroed in on the subtler beauty around him: the tiny drop of water on a protruding piece of bark or the spindly veins on a perfect, almost-crispy leaf.

While he found solace in the silence and beauty of nature, he grew increasingly frustrated with the state of his job. He felt endlessly bored, under-stimulated, and annoyed with Pete.

He arrived home one day to see Olivia at her computer, again, typing away with a smile on her face. “More short stories today?” He asked, voice flat, not looking up from the fridge as he reached for a beer.

“Well, actually-”

“You know, we’re never gonna stay on top of these bills if you can’t contribute.” He snapped, retreating to the living room before she could respond. “I can’t keep working all this overtime!” He shouted behind him.

Olivia scowled and got up to follow him. “Actually,” she began again, “I had an interview today for a part-time virtual assistant job at a content agency out in Virginia. They’re hiring remotely and offered me the position on the spot.”

Ben’s face fell as he paused mid-sip. He put the drink down and sighed. “I’m sorry, hun. That’s great news. I’m just so irritated and exhausted all the time. But that’s good. We should be able to start treading water at least, and stop drowning.” He said with a small smile as he resumed sipping.

Olivia nodded and returned to her laptop, no longer inspired by the blank page and blinking cursor.

Though the new job allowed her to stay home, Olivia found the tasks awfully mind-numbing. Grateful for the part-time hours, she breathed a sigh of relief as she closed the laptop just in time to make her weekly writing group. The quirky but enthusiastic members had kept her writing afloat recently, offering enough encouragement to keep the proverbial pen to paper for at least a few paragraphs a day.

She’d enjoyed her stint of short stories, the challenge of crafting deep characters within short narratives sharpening her skills with each new title. But, the novelty had worn off, and she craved something more.

“Olivia! I was hoping to see you today!” Amelia, the group’s leader, excitedly skipped over to her.

“Hey, yeah, sorry I missed last week, I was just so exhausted-”

“Oh, don’t sweat it! I wanted to tell you this, though.” She said, reaching into her bag to pull out her phone and open an email. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve loved all your stories these past few weeks. You’re growing into such a strong writer and developing such a unique voice. I showed some of your drafts to my friend Saul - he’s an editor at Burk & Lakeside, the boutique publishing house a few towns over -”

“You what?” Olivia spluttered, unable to stop her interruption.

Amelia’s expression faltered, “Well, I wanted to surprise you. Look, he said he likes your stuff. They don’t publish short stories or collections or anything, but he said you have potential.” She scrambled through the rest of her speech and took a deep breath. “So I just wanted you to know that you’re doing really well, and I think you should write a novel.”

Olivia raised her eyebrows. She’d always wanted to write a novel, but the feat scared her. “A novel…” she mumbled, “It could be fun!” She smiled at Amelia, trying to curb the excitement she truly felt; they were in a library, after all. “Thanks, Amelia. That was a bold move, but we could all use more encouragement, right?”

Olivia arrived home, butterflies still fluttering around her stomach at the thought of not only writing a novel but being good at it. Her phone buzzed with a message from Ben: “Grabbed some more OT tonight, won’t be home for dinner.”

Sighing, she put the phone down, plagued by the thought of Ben slaving away at such a joyless job while she enjoyed her spark of creativity and the camaraderie of her group.

While deciding what to eat, she pulled out their shared laptop and went to resume her latest story. She found Ben had his editing software open. He’d half-edited some shots of the deer. She scrolled through and found some more recent ones: A close-up of the nearby waterfall, the sunset peeking through an almost perfectly spaced row of trees, and more.

The beauty of these scenes from around their new home never failed to take her breath away. Inspired by Amelia’s admiration of her work, this time, they also gave her an idea.

She set up a new Instagram account and uploaded a few photos, adding descriptions and relevant hashtags. By the next day, a few comments trickled in—insignificant but promising.

‘Ben, can I show you something?” Olivia asked as he sauntered into the living room, finally stirring from a well-deserved sleep-in.

“Mmhmm,” He mumbled as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes. “What is it?”

“Well, I saw you were editing some photos yesterday. They’re so beautiful, Ben. You’re so talented.”

Fully awake now, his face flushed red as he looked at the floor, “I’m just relieving from stress from work, that’s all.”

“No, Ben, they’re good. Look. I posted a few, just to see. People love them.” She handed him her phone, the profile already loaded up. His eyebrows shot up as he scrolled, too amazed at the attention to be even the slightest bit irritated she posted them in secret.

Olivia revelled in the light that returned to Ben’s eyes as he dove into his photography. He ventured out even more often and enrolled in an online class. The instructor was so impressed he recommended him to a gallery that published a yearly collection.

“They asked me to submit, Liv,” He said one day as he breathlessly read the email.

Olivia smiled, not at all surprised. “Do you know what photo you want to showcase?”

“The one with the family of deer. Remember, when we went for that walk?” He answered without hesitation.

Olivia nodded. “Of course. What will you call it?”

“The moment that changed everything.”