The highway leading back to town wasn't far, the afternoon was still looming as the sun was slowly descending and getting close to the evening….making my way to Charlotte's shop. The area wasn't far and was just around the corner, passing 'Ms. Joyce famous Two Whale Diner'. After leaving my vehicle behind a few buildings down near the bar where Amanda works, I stumble upon the shop itself called, 'The Silver Dragon'. As I observed the shop's logo of the image of a dragon, its art quality was unique, and inspiring in a way that grabs passerby's attention….not to mention the strong odor it retains as it passes into my nostrils; irritating my eyes. Ignoring the strong odor, I slightly pushed the door open and made my way inside. The shops interior was big, and filled with all materials that could potentially be used for smoking. The interesting part of it all was the art displays and sculptures that have their price tags written in a cursive writing.
"Oh look at this wooden carving of a bear holding a fish in its mouth…." I said while exploring the items that are on sale.
"Charlotte sure has an eye in art, this carving of the blue butterfly….looks so surreal, and for $60. Now that's a steal….I'll probably buy it once I have some extra money rolling by," looking at its well crafted design and the details that were placed on the butterfly itself; makes it look so real.
"Found what you were looking for….Max," said Charlotte who appeared out of nowhere.
"OMG, you scared the bejesus out of me…." I jumped seeing her right next to me and with that sweet smile of hers, as she notices me admiring her art pieces that she has on sale.
Charlotte laughed hysterically and patted me on the shoulder, trying to keep me calm…. "So sorry Max, but I am so glad you made it…."
I was able to keep the beating of my heart down, and took a deep breath...."No worries, Charlotte….I did promise to stop by and visit you,"
"Well what do you think about this place?" Charlotte said demonstrating her artwork designs, not to mention the different kinds of substances she has behind the glass dispensers.
"This place is unique, and it has that welcoming vibe to it…." I responded, while admiring her shop.
Charlotte was stoic of seeing me around for the first time, and knowing full well that I am going to be teaching photography in the fall near the campus where her son, Ethan is going to be attending. Looking all stoic of me complementing her shop, she immediately grabbed my hands and gestured me to the backroom of her studio where she works in creating her designs.
Her backroom was pretty big and with plenty of space for her to focus on creating and making her masterpieces. But, what caught my attention though was the blue moth Butterfly that was in every concept of her artwork, and one of them shows not one but 5 Blue moth butterflies flying over the horizon near the image of where the Old Lighthouse once stood. I couldn't get my eyes off of it, and I felt intrigued of wanting to know how she was able to pull this artwork off and allow such image to come to fruition. Not to mention the forest background that was added to give it a happy vibe.
"Charlotte, I hate to brag…." I said while glancing at the image and its surrounding background.
"Not at all Max, what do you have in mind?" She replied with a worried look
"How did you manage to pull this image off of the 5 blue Moth Butterflies, the old lighthouse, and not to mention the forest? The art piece is wonderful….did you draw this?" I asked while trying pick up the image itself, and seeing Charlotte giving me a nod of agreement.
I paused as I held the image in my hands and began to appreciate the quality of its uniqueness, until Charlotte finally gave me her response of how she made this image herself. In spite all that, what she told me really got me freaked out….
"To be honest I am not a painter, but an art designer, and this art piece came to me in a dream right after I moved here to Arcadia Bay…." Charlotte paused for a moment and continued on with a mellow tone as she proceeded to describe what her dream was all about,
"In this dream, I stumble upon 5 blue Moth Butterflies flying around the old Arcadia Bay lighthouse. I stood there and saw them all, feeling mesmerized by their natural beauty and of course the wonderful sunset that occurred over the horizon. However, I wasn't alone in this dream….Gabe was there and he waved at me with smile….letting me know that we will see each other soon…."