Dear Readers,

Welcome back to Short Story Wednesday and Part 3 of Premediated Cat. Part 1 and Part 2 set out Nikki’s situation—She has an abusive stepfather, and her only escape during summer is the art class. But this year a Mr. Cigam is teaching and he’s not the kindest of teachers. Yet, he intrigues Nikki by the way he presents his lessons. So now she’s about to draw something using Mr. Cigam’s strategy. Do you have any ideas about where this story is going? Want to guess?

Premeditated Cat, Part 3

On Tuesday, Mr. Cigam set a green sprouted plant in a plastic pot on the teacher’s desk. Wednesday, he brought a budding daisy, and Thursday, a pungent one with petals just starting to open.

The three remaining students drew and drew and drew.

He criticized and criticized and criticized.

Clarise fled in tears when he picked up her sketch between his thumb and first finger, carried it at arm's length to the wastebasket, and dropped it inside.

On the last day, when Nikki entered the classroom, she was alone. She sat at her desk, hoping that at least one student would show up. But when the door popped open, only Mr. Cigam entered, carrying a round pot with a bright yellow daisy in full bloom.

He set the plant on the desk and smiled. “Capture this plant’s beauty with your gift for seeing the true nature of things, dear Nikki, and you will have graduated at the top of your class.”

That won’t be hard, Nikki thought as she bent to her task. I am the class.

When she was almost done she looked up. Mr. Cigam hovered over her, his eyes darker than before, his forehead drawn into creases of worry. Oh, no. He was going to tell her how rotten this drawing was. He was going to send her out the door in tears or mad enough to flip him off.

“Your talent will be of great help to you. It will also be your greatest burden.” He set his hand on her shoulder, as if he felt something very deeply and wished he didn’t. “Remember, leave a bit unfinished until the right moment. Trust me.”

“The right moment?”

His smile didn’t brighten his face, and a deep sadness filled his eyes. Nikki saw him very differently at this moment--not rude, but focused on a plan only he understood. She wanted to know about this plan and she needed more of his lessons.

“Will you teach this class next summer?” she asked.

“I’ve taught you what you need to know, Dear Nikki.”

She laid her pen aside and when she turned to ask him to explain what he meant, she was alone in the room. Mr. Cigam and the plant were gone. She stared at her picture, almost complete, just needing a few strokes to finish a petal.

Trust me. His caution repeated in her mind.

She grasped her pencil.

Leave a bit unfinished.

“Ridiculous.” Ignoring, his warning, she brought her pencil down and connected the last lines to complete the picture. As she hovered over it, she imagined the sharp scent of daisies, and when she stroked a petal, it felt as real as if she were touching a live plant. She held what she’d drawn at arm's length, her hand shaking.

Dropping the pencil into her bag, she walked toward the door but stopped when she found a certificate on the teacher’s desk. The sheet of legal-sized paper was edged with stars and rainbows and lightning bolts that sparkled when she picked it up. Across the top was written True Artist, and beneath that was her name in graceful loops. Mr. Cigam’s signature flowed across the bottom.

On the lines for the date and place, he’d written: Summer. Sometime. Somewhere.
This had been the strangest and best art class she’d ever taken, one she’d remember forever.

She missed Mr. Cigam already. She wished that he’d return next year, but he wouldn’t. I’ve taught you what you need to know, Dear Nikki. And what was that, she wondered?

Rolling her diploma into a tight scroll and sliding it inside her bag, she was about to tuck her picture of the daisy next to it when she noticed that the flower she’d drawn already looked a bit wilted, that if she touched it, a petal might fall onto the floor. It was so close to being real, and so close to being dead.

If you like what I write, I hope you’ll take a look at my books. The latest is called Because No One Noticed, and it has great reviews so far. It’s available for purchase at AMAZON