Another Episode in the Life of Boris Belarus (444 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.92 on 19 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by QuinnTheEskimo (View user info) at 2009-04-25 18:27:46 EDT
Boris stood, his brow furrowed and his arm tense. His face was smeared with red and yellow and blue and green, making a bizzare mask on his skin. He reached up and pushed a bit of hair away from his face and smiled. This was his place.
The room was half-lit but a small yellow lamp on a tiny wooden stand next to the paint-covered easel. Boris lifted a hand holding a dixie cup filled with paint, his thin brush dropping and rising slowly, adding a thin line of color to his work. This was his place. No one, not even his friend Veet bothered him here.
Besides Boris, the wooden stand, the easel, and the lamp, the room was empty. Even the window which looked out at the mall was without blinds. Boris had tried to paint the mall before, his only attempt at a realistic painting. He had grown so frustrated with the perspective that he broke his last lamp by throwing it against the wall.
Remembering the lamp brought a new mood on Boris. He cursed himself for his impulsive ways. If only he could think before he acted, if only he would understand the consequences of his actions perhaps his life wouldn't be so miserable. He slowly set down his cup of paint onto the wooden stand, and reached for another. Red paint. He took a new brush from a cup filled with water, and dipped it gingerly in the red. He held the brush towards the canvas for a moment before dropping his arm without leaving a mark. He sighed heavily and slowly sat down in a way that made him look like a deflating balloon. This painting wasn't right.
But Boris knew that wasn't true. There was no such thing as a wrong paining. There was something wrong with Boris. He rubbed his forehead with the back of his wrist and set down the paint. He thought about Lily.
* * *
Veet had encouraged Boris to take an art appriciation class with him. Boris had been apprehensive.
"I already appreciate art, Veet." Boris explained. "I paint."
"It's just an elective class I'm taking, and you need electives anyway. It will be fun if we take it together."
Boris shrugged his shoulders. "I want to take a communication class."
Veet wrinkled his face. "Why? You communicate fine."
Boris blushed. "Like for talking to women. Communication with women." Boris could feel himself shrinking under Veet's eyes.
But Veet's face was gentle. He understood Boris, it was why they had been friend's since boyhood.
"Look, Boris, the class fits your schedule, we can take it together, hang out, maybe have a beer or something after class. I was looking forward to school with you."
Boris nodded. "Okay, Veet. I'll take an art class with you."
* * *
The two had been in art class together for all of two minutes when Lily walked in. She sat down next to Boris and Veet and held out her hand.
"Hi, I'm Lily. Who are you?"
Veet held out his hand. "Veet Vanuata."
Boris stared at the girl for a moment. Who was this strange girl approaching him? He had never met her before, why would she speak to him, or Veet? Perhaps she was a friend of Veet's. Without holding out his hand to introduce himself, Boris asked, "Are you a friend of Veet's?"
The girl shook her head. "Never met him before in my life." She announced, smiling.
Boris nodded. "So why are you here?" And he knew he had made a mistake. He tried to back-pedal. "I mean, it's just, you know, a little strange, I mean, since, you know, I mean you're so pretty and we're kind of not. I just, why are you here?"
Lily took a moment to respond. "I don't think you guy's aren't pretty." She said. Boris was silent. "Also, there isn't anywhere else to sit."
Boris glanced around the class and she was right, there was no where else to sit. His leaned back in his seat and tried to spend the rest of the hour avoiding Lily's glance, and trying to hide his trembling hands.
* * *
In his paint room Boris reached for the cup of blue paint. Lily's eyes had been blue. He took a brush and began to sweep blue onto the canvas. He remembered that the next day in class Lily had been absent and that had been just fine with Boris. Women terrified him, and the thought of having to sit next to one day after day for a whole semester had actually made him vomit once.
Boris stopped painting for a moment and admired the blue paint. Lily's eyes really seemed to pop when she smiled, like they were shining with their own light.
"Sentimental faggot." Boris muttered to himself, putting down the blue paint. He remembered Lily had been absent the next day because all through Art class Veet and him had talked about her.
"Listen Boris girls just don't talk to strange guys. She thinks you're cute, man."
"No, Veet," Boris shook his head. "She thinks you're cute and she only sat next to me because that was the only open seat left in class."
"No, Boris," Veet mocked the tone that Boris had taken. "She talked to you all through class and walked out to your car with you."
"Veet she walked with us, you and me, to my car. She's not into me." Boris shook his head and rubbed his hands anxiously.
"You'll see, Boris." Veet said, smiling. "Just wait."
Boris had waited, he remembered. He took and empty cup and mixed a little red together with his yellow in the empty cup. He took the pale orange color and applied it slowly to his painting. He scratched his ear and accidentally got a bit of paint in his hair, though he didn't notice. The piece needed more color to cover the white canvas.
* * *
Over the course of a few weeks Boris did seem to noticed Lily seemed attracted to him. It grew to the point where Lily was the only thing Boris could think about, her face, her hair, her eyes. He tried painting her face a few times, but he never got past trying to sketch her and even the sketches seemed wrong somehow. The features were lopsided and they seemed to give Lily a unibrow on a ridiculously tall forehead.
They had been in class together for nearly a month, Boris Veet and Lily. With a little encouragement from Veet, Boris made a move after class on a Monday afternoon.
"Lily!" He called after the girl as she hurried away from class. She turned and smiled at him. He felt his usual fear of women drop away, if only a little bit. Perhaps Veet had been right.
"What are you doing Friday? After class? Maybe we could do something together."
"Like what?" Lily asked.
Boris froze. He hadn't though of this. "A picnic? Down at White Clover Park?" He suggested.
"Sure. That sounds great, I love parks." Lily said and turned to walk away.
"Hey, but I need your number, though." Boris called after her retreating form.
* * *
Veet and Boris were sitting on Veet's porch drinking beer out of a twelve pack that rested between their chairs. Several empty cans already littered the ground around them.
"Veet, I swear this girl is gonna change her mind. They always do." Boris took a long swig from his beer, blinking hard as he did.
"C'mon, Boris, you're always so gloomy. How are you so sure this girl is going to reject you?"
"It's sort of a sixth sense I have. I can tell when women hate me, except it's not a sense I just know all women hate me." Boris slammed the rest of his beer and grabbed another.
"You're being crazy, Boris. This girl likes you."
"No." Boris said. "But I'd rather not argue. Let's just see what happens."
But Boris wasn't going to wait and see what was going to happen. Although his outlook was gloomy, he refused to be unprepared. Friday morning Boris prepared a picnic, sandwiches, diced fruit, a few sodas for good measure. Boris had finally found a girl that not only spoke to him, but a girl that he wasn't afraid to speak to. He had a little hope.
* * *
Preparing the picnic on Friday made Boris late to class. He was speed walking through the hall when, there, coming towards him, was Lily! Why wasn't she in art class right now? Boris tried to duck into a doorway but Lily spotted him, and began to walk towards him.
"Hey, Boris!"
"Hey, Lily." Boris said. "Why aren't you in class? Was it cancelled?"
"No, I'm ditching today." She said, puckering her lips and nodding exaggeratedly.
"That's cool. Are we still on for the park?"
Lily winced, and Boris felt a stone grow in his stomach. "Well, actually, I have work."
"Oh yeah? That's okay. It happens." Boris nodded, then turned and walked away without saying another word. "See you around." Boris called to her without looking over his shoulder.
He didn't go to art class. Instead he sat in the center of campus, sipping at a diet cola. When art class was over, Boris called Veet.
"Hey Boris." Veet answered.
"Hey Veet, What are you doing today after art class?"
"Don't you have a date?" Veet asked.
"Yeah, no, that's not going to happen. Wanna eat picnic food and drink at your place?"
* * *
Boris tried to absorb the last of the blue paint into his brush. It was four in the morning and there were no art stores open, but he needed more blue. The bristles of his brush stuck out at odd angles from the pressure he was applying as he painted. He didn't care. He needed more blue.
When the last of the white was covered, Boris took a step back to look at the painting. It still wasn't right, but it was finished, and there wasn't anything Boris could do to correct it. He dropped the brush into his cup of water and covered his paint cups with paper coasters that he stole from greasy spoon diners.
Boris crawled into bed, still covered in paint. He did this pretty often, and his sheets were a multi-colored mess that sometimes would stick to him in big patches that were painful to peel off when he woke up in the morning.
Wheen he awoke, Boris went into his art room and took another look at his painting. It still wasn't good enough. Boris lifted it from the easel, and opened his window. Without looking at who might be walking below, Boris dropped the painting out the window and into the street.
User Reviews
Submitted by cheerios (user info) at 2009-04-28 00:16:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2009-04-27 17:40:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
On the other hand;
How other users have rated Fey:
sir_cowman (user info) 5 on 3 = 1.67
:(
And am not a groupie, am a goober. Almost same same different name.
Submitted by haikumikoo (user info) at 2009-04-27 17:30:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Groupies > Fans
Adjust accordingly.
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2009-04-27 17:28:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
How Fey has rater other users
sir_cowman (user info) 41 on 23 = 1.78
How Ballare has rated other users
sir_cowman (user info) 90 on 47 = 1.91
Ballare be best one first fan.
o_o
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2009-04-27 13:33:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
hmmm.
all who share the same species because, you know, maybe dogs or roaches wouldn't be embarassed. though i'm not sure roaches have any real sense of self awareness that would allow them to feel embarassment. and some dogs eat their own shit joyfully, so i guess they don't embarass easily...
I'M JUST TRYING TO SAY HE SUCKS AT BEING A HUMAN
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2009-04-27 13:21:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
good lord... bubba should be considered an embarassment to all who share the same species with him.
good read. not much worth looking at around here anymore.
Submitted by haikumikoo (user info) at 2009-04-27 12:51:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I see you were going for abstract grammar with this piece, interesting...
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2009-04-27 12:45:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by sir_cowman (user info) at 2009-04-27 12:15:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
dang apparently bubba loves me. look at him leaping to my defense over my crappy use of all those apotrophe''''''s.
Submitted by Ballare (user info) at 2009-04-27 02:13:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I offer for the board's review:
"... been friend's since..."
"... you guy's aren't..."
But Cowman didn't seem too bothered by my comment, Bubba, so just sit the fuck back down.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2009-04-27 00:58:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Ballare (user info) at 2009-04-25 21:08:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
brush up on your apostrophe use, chuck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veet
==============
If you're going to ream someone for making mistakes, be fucking specific. I saw no apostrophe mistakes, nor did the author of the post. Stop being a fucking asshole. Stupid shithead.
Submitted by sir_cowman (user info) at 2009-04-26 16:32:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
FEY, DO YOU SE WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?
Submitted by Ballare (user info) at 2009-04-26 13:19:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Ballare was the FIRST FAN
Ballare is the BEST FAN
BALLARE SMASH
>=(
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2009-04-26 11:39:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh, I was just assuming that you knew that I'm a fan. I'm fairly certain I've told you so.
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2009-04-26 11:26:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Still a fan. Just don't read much anymore.
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2009-04-26 07:39:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Uniter styles.
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2009-04-26 07:38:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
guy's, friend's, etc.
Um. I don't know about this. Characters not as well-developed as is usual for you, do you paint yourself? because it doesn't feel like it, and also Boris' thoughts don't read as him being as insecure as his behaviour suggests.
Submitted by sir_cowman (user info) at 2009-04-26 05:57:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
apostrophe? where is a bad apostrophe? i saw that "wheen" in the last paragraph had two e's.
also, i already knew veet was a hair removal product. that's why i named that character that.
also,
thanks for dropping some review on my post. seems like you're the only fan i've got these days.
Submitted by Ballare (user info) at 2009-04-25 21:08:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
brush up on your apostrophe use, chuck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veet