At the playground, on a couple of blankets placed close together, were a couple of children who were lying on their stomach and drawing on the big piece of white cardboard in the middle.
There was a bright sun in the middle of the cardboard, all of them had taken turns using the yellow pencil to color it. But Lisa had made the smile and the dimples, Bobby had drawn the eyes, for he drew eyes the best, and every child had each drawn a ray.
There, below the sun, were a couple of clouds. A teddy bear shaped one and one that looked like a car, and even one that looked like a dog and a cat sitting side by side. Unconventional shapes for clouds, true, but to the toddlers little Richard had to have nice things. And that meant unconventionally shaped clouds.
They were making their combined present for the little boy. To be hung above his crib on the ceiling so that he would have something nice to stare up at.
The twenty little gremlins had saved up their allowances to buy glowing in the dark stars. So, that they could glue them around the cardboard. That was a job for the adults, however, and something that was going to be done after the cardboard was filled up with things.
Edward was in the process of making a rock, next to it Albert was coloring a bunny that was drawn by Lisa. It was a joined effort, one filled with all the love only children are capable of, pure and kind, as they themselves were.
When the children were done, it was time for the important task of gluing the stars. And sprinkling the glitter on the clouds. One must never forget the glitter, as the girls of the drawing circle insisted, to the annoyance of the boys.
Honestly, the male members of the drawing circle were all under the impression that clouds didn't need pink glitter. And Richard was a boy, besides, pink was not something he should see every morning as he woke.
But, the boys were vetoed and threatened with being called mean in front of grandma Patricia. So, in the face of the loss of the cookies that were waiting for them on a platter next to the old lady, they kept quiet. And vowed they would give Richard manly toys, to make it up to him for betraying him.
The clouds soon became a mess of colors. The boys winced as they saw orange side by side with pink. But the girls had told them they were making a sunrise, or a sunset, depending on how one looked at it. And the cookies called and kept the boys in line.
Then, finally, the children all made way for Lisa and Bobby to color the background with paint mixed in with glitter. White glitter, this time. Because, apparently, the sunset or sunrise had to be accompanied by snow. Despite the bottom of the painting being covered in grass. Girls, and Bobby, for he hadn't argued, were weird. The male population of the circle decided.
The children watched as the two masters, for they were the only ones that could paint without getting their clothes dirty, colored the background expertly. Not smudging over any of the drawings even once.
Truly, to all the minds ranging between four-five years, or even three in little Philip's case, those two were like Leonardo da Vinci. Not that they knew who he was, apart from the fact that he was significant and lived long ago.
The cardboard canvas was left to dry and the children staid by its side. Making sure no bugs landed on it. The last thing they wanted was for a bug to spread the blue paint mixed in with white glitter over a rock or a bunny or, worse, the drawing of dog Frank, Alex, Julia and the rest of their pets. Who were in a circle, each with a toy next to them.
Once the canvas dried, the sky was as red, orange and purple as the clouds on the cardboard, and the boys had to admit that the girls might have been onto something.
Lisa, as the oldest and so the one in charge, went to the adults and came back with Dereck, who had come here with his dog, Julia, and seems to be nominated to help them with the stars by the other adults.
Sure, Dereck worked slowly, but he stuck all the stars where little fingers pointed at and didn't try to tell the children of the drawing circle where each star should be. That got him into the cool adult category that the children of the playground reserved for family friends and people who let them play with their dogs.
The complete product was placed in a long case, so it didn't get wrinkled, and given to granny Patricia in exchange for a cookie for each of the drawing team. And one for Dereck, at the insistence of his new friends.
Patricia collected Alex, who had been napping with Julia and his father, and went home. She took out a nice, bright red ribbon with stars printed on it and glued it to the edges of the cardboard.
You may make the granny sit on the sidelines, but you couldn't make her not add her touch to the gift. Finally, she fed Alex, made sure that Shadow, Tom and Jerry had eaten their food. Checked the toilets, cleaned Jerry's, washed her hands and made her way to Frank's house with the piece of art the children had made back in its case.
When she was invited in, she saw some things that she knew were Emily's arranged around the house. There were new pillows on the couch. A new cloth on the coffee table. And, most importantly, the design didn't look store bought.
"Patricia, do you want to stay for dinner?" Frank offered, already pulling back the chair and looking at Patricia, hopefully.
"Let us first hang this," Patricia hoisted the canvas so that the two could see it better. "A lot of effort went into it. And better-behaved artists you won't find anywhere."
As Emily and Frank pointed out the various details and bombarded granny Patricia with questions about which child drew which, Patricia couldn't help but think that this was right, somehow. A family, of sorts. Not one by blood, but one made with love, all the same.
