Underland Arcana 7 by A. P. Howell

Author:A. P. Howell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Underland Press
Published: 2022-05-30T18:22:51+00:00

That she came from a small city—or large town, as it were—Oliver considered a hopeful sign. She was easy to find. There was only one Joanne Bell in Twilight Falls, California.

It had been a week since he'd set foot in his studio, the days a sludgy tide of Netflix and YouTube binging, solo hikes and smoking (about which Angela said nothing, as if long resigned to the habit's return), all blurred at the edges by a buildup of harried thoughts, willed distractions to outrun deeper thoughts, and the growing itch to paint.

Across social media, Angela made the announcement that Youngscapes would be going on hiatus. It was Oliver's idea to make a video of himself saying the same thing, to assuage any concerns he might be sick.

Though he did feel ill.

Less than ten minutes into Google and he had Bell's phone number, the one listed, anyway. He spent several more whiskey-smeared minutes following her name into Facebook, where, again, the Twilight Falls signifier made for an easy trail.

As expected, she was an older woman, maybe early sixties, with gray curls and a melancholic smile. Oliver recognized her banner image as a version of a tropical waterfall grotto he'd presented on Youngscsapes maybe eight months ago. By the looks of it, she was pretty good. A little heavy-handed, but lightness came with practice.

She hadn't updated in over a month, and the top posts all appeared to be from other people.

. . . praying for you . . .

. . . in my thoughts every night . . .

. . . so wrong and so weird . . .

. . . ♥♥♥ . . .

He made his way down and found a post from a Diana Bell, blonde and visibly younger: Thank you for all the support re: Mom. She's still in stable condition. I visit every other day and read to her as the docs think that helps (have heard that too). I think it does but may just be convincing myself. Doug and the kids come w/ me as much as they can. Trevor plays his flute for her.

Scrolling further, Oliver came across a link to a GoFundMe campaign for "Joanne Bell's Medical Expenses." A foreboding gathered around his mind which he tried to ignore. Diana Bell, presumably her daughter, had also posted a batch of Joanne's paintings—all landscapes, some direct copies or deviations of Youngscapes canvases, others more original. Multiple people had "liked" and "loved" and commented on the pictures.

. . . She loved her art. Was getting so good, too! . . .

. . . I remember during a picnic how she had to stop eating and sketch . . .

. . . Hopefully she'll be able to paint again . . .

One comment asked: She has more recent stuff, right?

To which Diana had replied: She does. But I've decided not to post them. She became weirdly obsessed with doing cottages. Kept polluting her pictures with them and I wouldn't be able to say why.

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