Day 15 - The Tale of Two

The photo you see to your left has a pretty entertaining story to it, although the actual tale took place a couple of months ago.

The photo is where I shot my second shoot for a client :)

So jump through the looking glass and straight into the Tale of Two.






Long, long ago, in a small hamlet called Nijmegen, there once was an innocent looking boy hanging around at the local painters store. A little bit snippy, the boy asked the salesperson if he could get him some protective caps for his brushes. The boy felt a little rushed, for you see, he had to start work in a couple of minutes, and the salespersons weren't really fast enough for his taste. So when the slow employees started to look up the specific part in their great big Michaengelo, the almanac of painter parts, the boy started to wander about the grounds of the store. He had never really been one for sitting or standing still for too long a time (nor for sleeping, but that is a story for another time).
After roaming around for a bit, in came two young, and some may call them strapping, lads in search as well for someone to come to their aid. The saleswoman jumped up as fast as she could, straightened her hair, and all but ran over to welcome these princes from a far away land. Although slightly annoyed by the reaction of the saleswoman, the young boy could help but find himself listening in on the conversation. He had always found the words and work of other to be a great distraction from the boring minutes of solitary waiting.
As it turned out, tomorrow it would be the Queen's birthday, and these 'princes' where in desperate need of a last minute, but still terribly personal, gift. For not merely it was her day of birth tomorrow, but it was even the 50th since she had for the first time seen the light of this world. They tried to speak in hushed voices, for not many a Queen is proud to admit that she has reached this pivotal age, but luckily the boy had keen ears. As you might remember, he used to be trained by the best musicians. I didn't tell you? Well, maybe I still will someday.
But to not digress any further than I already have, the conversation he overheard was that of a painting to be made, within the next 24 hours. And not just any painting, no, it had to be of these two princes, it had to be perfect, and well, as you know, 24 hours is not a really a lot of time. Especially if the boy still had to go to work in the armoury to clean the weapons and provide the warriors with food and drink after their practises of that day. The saleswoman said to the two princes in a trembling voice that she could not help them. The store had long ago forfeit doing paintings and could not help the princes today, nor any other day this coming week. As the anger grew within the two princes, and they were ready to cut off her head right there, the boy did something brave and courageous, something that most wouldn't have expected from him, let alone done themselves.
He stepped up to the princes and offered his sincere apologies for disturbing them, and with downcast eyes and a bowed head offered his services as a painter. The princes who were not really used to being interupted in the middle of their worst behaviour, for everyone always forgives a prince, where caught off-guard, and took a moment to decide what to do with the young boy who so blatently offered his services. They could of course cut off his head, or have it done by the saleswoman in the store, but on the other hand, then they still wouldn't have a gift for their mother tomorrow and time was running out. After a quick whisper to one another they agreed on to have the painter deliver his best work to them, because, after all, if they didn't like they could always cut off his head on the morning of the Queen's birthday.
The boy didn't dare breath and quickly, but respectfully, gave his card to the princes with the request to find him at the armoury in half an hour, so they could go over the details of the painting. He then quickly left the store (after even more quickly nodding to the salesman that he indeed wanted the protective caps) and once outside, he sighed a great sigh, and dashed of to the armoury, for he was already running late.

After a long and exhausting day at the armoury, the work wasn't even yet done, but he really had to leave,  the boy found the love of his life waiting in her carriage. She had been ever so kind to offer help him get to the princes's lands, for he himself did not own a horse, let alone a carriage. And you know, an easel and paint aren't the lightest things to carry around with you, particularly when you are to travel far.
And far they travelled, all the way to the land of Bemmel where they were to look out for the princes at the bridge of the old castle. Of course the princes were late, and the young boy had lost all his good light to paint. A well, luckily he had brought along some nice tubes of orange paints to simulate the setting sun, so that wouldn't be an issue. What could be a problem were the dark clouds that were showing on the edge of the horizon. Well, he would deal with that problem when it arose.
After positioning the princes in the appropiate poses he started painting, and he kept painting right up to the moment the clouds ruptured and the rain started pouring down on him. He quickly finished the last few strokes of his brush, picked up the painting for its easel and ran for the carriage. He jumped in, and together with the beautiful girl the drove back to the hamlet from where they came.
Although the painting was great, it still needed a lot of work, so throughout the night he repainted, retouched, added, removed and improved many parts of the painting and he made the princes look even beautiful (for as you may have guessed, they were not the prettiest in the litter).
He left the painting to dry in his tiny room, and went to bed, for tomorrow he had to get up early to deliver the painting at the secret meeting point the princes had set up the night before. The Queen of course was to know of absolutely nothing, and even to hint at the painting would mean losing a head, or worse.
In the morning, the boy woke up all refreshed, packed the painting in the dim light of early morning and a candle, and set off to the meeting point.
Just before getting there, the boy got nervous and decided to unpack the painting to have one last look at it, and ensure himself of his good work. But to his great fright he saw a large line from top to bottom on the utter most right side the painting. It was barely visible and nearly not on the frame, but he couldn't for the life of him (and that is as literal as it could get) deliver the painting like this. He took a better look and saw that the canvas was wrongly woven and he ran over the the painters store. He explained the situation, and in all his kindness the onwer of the store granted him his money back. Well that was nice of him, but didn't really help him out of this predicament. The owner had a solution for this too, and he drew his big knife to cut off the canvas, carefully remove the utter most right part of the painting (on which nothing but a but of stone was to be seen) and refastened it to the frame as fast as he could.
Now the boy once more had to run, but this time for his life, and run he did. He ran faster than he had ever ran before and just in time, on the last stroke of the clock, he got at the meeting point and delivered his painting.
The princes we delighted to see themselves as handsome as this and thanked the boy over and over again, and decided to spare his life, and even compesate him for his materials.
What became of the painting and the Queen's birthday we will never know, but the young boy lived out his life as a painter, together with his beautiful wife in there home far away from any princes or queens.