2 The Sketch

At an orphanage in Victoria, a girl was on her knees facing her bedroom window which showed the night view of the main river. She clasped her hands together and brought it to her chest. To most people, the girl seemed to be praying. Especially to the nurses that did their evening patrol, checking if all the children had gone to their own bedroom.

In her praying position, the girl absentmindedly stared at the night sky, wondering if the moon would appear. But tonight the sky did not look promising. Thick clouds cover the whole sky and rain was threatening to pour onto the land of Victoria. It would be just like what sister Anne said to the children in the dining room earlier — tonight the rain would fall.

Heaving a sigh, the girl got up from the floor and turned around, walking towards the door that was yet to be closed. Before she closed it, she loudly said, "Good night everyone! Sweet dream!" And the door was shut. She then switched the light off and went to her bed. When the girl was laying on her small bed, a faint whisper from outside was heard.

"Good night, Willow."

Knowing whose the voice belonged to, Willow responded aloud, "Good night, sister Bella!" She grinned as she heard a quick footsteps in the corridor, moving far away from her room. The sound of the footsteps faded away as the lights along the corridor was turned off.

When Willow heard no sounds from the corridor, she got up from her bed and slowly tiptoed herself towards an antic wooden desk next to the window. She quietly pulled the chair from underneath the desk, half lifting it so it did not make a screeching noise. Then sat down and opened her sketch book. Her green eyes darted to the sky, hoping the moon would appear and illuminated the room. But her hope was gone when it started to drizzle and the rain begun to pick up its speed, pouring harshly.

It looked like Willow had to work in the dark tonight. Even though it was not her first time finishing her job amidst the night, it still annoyed her as her work was due for the next day. She needed a little amount of light to finish the sketch. Putting her bedroom lights on was not an option. There were rules in this orphanage, ones that would lead to punishment when they were broken. One of them was to respect the bed time: no one shall do anything after 9 o'clock. Willow had broken no rule except that one.

For the past six months she had been breaking that one rule. Her new job as a freelance designer had made her stay awake until three o'clock in the morning. None of the sisters had caught her doing things passed nine o'clock. She had been very careful to finish her job, handing her design to the clients on time. So far, she had been lucky.

Hours had passed. Willow put her concentration on her work that nearly finished. The pencil on her hand moved skilfully on the page that was now filled with the sketch of a town. Finishing on the last line, Willow held out her sketch book and looked at her work. Although she was good at drawing, she had never been asked to design a town before. Her client usually asked her to design a model of common object like chairs, desks, and the last one was jewellery.

A big smile was formed on her face, feeling content with how her work had turned out. She put down her book and pencil on her desk before she tiptoed back to her bed, crawling underneath her blanket and closing her eyes.

The next day, Willow went to town centre to meet the client to give her sketch and received her payment. It was gonna be her fifth payment in six months and she felt nothing but proud of herself to be able to earn money herself after she finished her high school. The money had been saved for her future study and living cost after she was able to leave the orphanage.

The thought of leaving got her excited. It had been her dream to move away from this town. Even though Willow grew up in this town since her brain could remember, she had come to know that she was not from this very town. It was sister Bella who told her that she was brought by a nurse who came from different town.

"Miss Dean." Said someone from behind, startling Willow from her deep thoughts.

She turned around and noticed the person to be none other than her own client, "Morning, Mr. Ridgeway. How are you doing?" Greeted Willow, giving her client a polite smile.

However, Mr. Ridgeway did not return the smile. His eyes fixed on the roll of paper that the girl was holding. "Has the sketch finished, Miss dean?"

"Yes, absolutely!" Replied Willow quickly. She showed the roll to the man in front of her and it was quickly grabbed by him. At the same time, the man handed an envelope to Willow before hastily left her without uttering another word.

Stunned with her client odd behaviour, Willow could not help but whisper to no one, "You're welcome, Mr. Ridgeway." She then peeked at the envelop on her hand and was delighted with the amount of money she got.

The rest of the day, Willow devoted herself to help the young children at the orphanage. Being the oldest, she was often asked to help her younger friends with their homework from school. She enjoyed sharing her knowledge with them. It made her feeling useful and satisfied with her skills.

When nine o'clock hit the town of Victoria, Willow was already in her bed, tucked in her warm blanket. She did not have to work tonight. There was no job for her as she decided to not take any job. So she was able to enjoy her long peaceful sleep.

Meanwhile in one of the apartment in town, police came for inspection after receiving a phone call from someone who reported hearing a gunshot from one of the rooms in the apartment. It was found that a middle age woman was shot on her head in her own apartment.

"What have you found?" Asked the chief of police to his subordinate officer.

The officer held out a folded paper to his superior and informed, "This paper was found in the woman's hand when we came."

When the paper was unfolded, a sketch of a town was showcased.