Kaleidoscope of Winding Strokes

“What shall I paint for you?” asked Brazen with a nasty glint in his eyes. He was feeling deliriously happy.

“Use this brush wisely, Brazen,” warned Gran Adalie. She was an artist too, but never shared her work. After she died, no one knew what happened to her canvasses. They only found her cat, a tank full of fish and her parrot.
“Silly old paintbrush,” he thought and threw it into the back of his drawer.

This morning his favourite brush broke. He dropped it and Mom accidentally stepped on it. “Mom! Look what you’ve done!” he yelled. Gran’s brush caught his eye. He reached out and took it. “What did Gran mean when she said I must use it wisely?” he pondered.

The little girl in the tattered clothes in front of him gave a meek smile. “Please Sir, may I have a butterfly? One with large, colourful wings.” She cheered up at the thought. As with the clients before her, Brazen was set on tricking her too. The last guy, who was too posh for his liking, got the dog he asked for, but with a kitten tail. Mr. Fancy-Pants before him asked for a horse; he gave him one, but with Dalmatian spots. Not to mention the sloth with the raccoon eyes given to Princess Pompous! Brazen laughed at the thought of their disdain. Much to everyone’s amazement, the animals came alive as soon as the paintings were done. “This paintbrush is simply brilliant!” Brazen giggled.

He reached out to dip the brush in the gingerbread brown paint. “A moth it will be…” he said under his breath. The tip of the brush touched the canvas. Something was different. Brazen felt his heart racing. His arm moved involuntary as the brush took over. With angry strokes it shaped a magnificent butterfly in a kaleidoscope of colours.

“It is beautiful!” whispered the girl.
“This brush is possessed!” Brazen called out. Worry was etched on his face.

With a last splash of colour, the butterfly finally spread its wings and landed gently on the arm of the ecstatic girl.