We are artists, you know

Welcome to The Spot Writers. This month, the task is to use the five words: toilet paper, TV, midget, flamenco, dragon. This week’s contribution comes from Chiara De Giorgi.

Chiara is currently in Berlin, Germany, doing her best to catch up with semi-abandoned writing projects. Her YA novel “Mi chiamo Elisa” was published in Italy by “Le Mezzelane Casa Editrice” in September 2020.

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We are artists, you know

by Chiara De Giorgi

 

Photo by Donald Giannatti on Unsplash

We were out of toilet paper. Again. Not the best way to start the day, if I may say so.

I stepped into the shower, brooding. The midget, our newest roommate, spent the day in front of the TV and was always coming up with new excuses not to do his chores.

It was a tough time for artists, and I couldn’t argue with that, but each of us was trying to find a way to fight back, to still express our creativity in a world that was increasingly doing without art. Of course, it has to be said that his field of expertise was quite niche. He painted with his toes and specialised in portraying flamingo rock bands. In the previous years there had been a real boom and the music of famous bands such as “The Pink Feathers” or “Adorable Beaks” was played in all the clubs.

After the record company crisis, though, the flea mafia had taken over and, not too slowly, the cormorant bands had supplanted the flamingos. (I hope none of my friends are listening to this, but the “Cormorant Knocking” are f*ckin’ brilliant!) Anyway, finding a flamingo rockstar became impossible, they had all been intimidated or bought off. The fleas were terrible. It was said that their leaders were the most ruthless.

With the flamingos gone, the midget had also lost his job. My partner and I had agreed to let him have a room in our flat because we believed that a gesture of trust would help him get back on his feet. He was a nice guy after all. Unfortunately, however, he had become discouraged.

I sighed again and got out of the shower.

I was immediately aware of the noises coming from the living room. What was going on in there? I could hear thumps, loud laughter and Spanish music blaring.

I quickly wrapped myself in a towel and ran into the living room to see what was going on. I was so curious!

I froze in the doorway. The midget was standing on the armrest of the sofa, inciting my partner to dance a flamenco. The result, between us, was hilarious. Did I mention that my partner is a dragon?  No? Well, I’ll tell you now. He is a medium-sized dragon with blue scales and wisps of silver fur over his eyes. He’s charming. Normally.

Unfortunately, flamenco was not really his thing, and he even had to strap castanets to his front legs because his fingers are too thick.

Because of the confusion, even the family of mice to whom we sublet the baseboards (don’t judge, we all have to make a living), who are generally very tolerant (living with artists always involves some compromise, after all), had come to see what all the excitement was about.

And so, the day had started off unpleasantly, but soon turned into the most fun any of us had had in a long time. In the evening we were still in the living room dancing flamenco together, including the mice, laughing our heads off. Maybe all those energy drinks made from bat liver soaked in alcohol had something to do with it. But then again, we are artists, you know.

 

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The Spot Writers—Our Members:

Val Muller: http://www.valmuller.com/blog/

Catherine A. MacKenzie: https://writingwicket.wordpress.com/wicker-chitter/

Phil Yeats: https://alankemisterauthor.wordpress.com

Chiara De Giorgi: https://chiaradegiorgi.blogspot.com/