Landscape: Free Flash Fiction. Coffee Break Read

 Landscape: Flash Fiction

Landscape

Erica picked up a fine brush and signed her painting with a flourish. That was the closest she would come to any man-made objects or people within her landscapes. Fernando, a fellow art student had once asked her for her opinion on whether landscapes should include people. She'd vehemently shook her head as she gestured to one of her canvasses. "People spoil a landscape. Period. I've tried and it doesn't work. As soon as you add a figure into the scene, it's as though all the peacefulness vanishes."

Fernando listened quietly as she warmed to her theme. "People can even bring their baggage into a painting."

"True." Fernando smiled.

The following day, they each began a new landscape. Both painted in their own characteristic style. Halfway through the double session, Erica looked over at Fernando's painting. A person? He'd obviously decided to try something different. The figure in the painting was walking through a dry, dusty landscape, and he was carrying something. Erica looked again, and suddenly, the painting took on new meaning. Fernando added some highlights to the wooden cross which the bent figure was carrying.

"He's carrying our baggage, Erica. See?"

She did. She saw. Fernando's painting would have been a meaningless patch of land without Jesus.

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I hope you enjoyed this little story.

Jesus carried your baggage and mine, (sin) when He died on the cross. Will you let Him in to your landscape (life and heart) ?

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Love and prayers,

Alison