to catch a skylark || onc2022

three

Sadie swallowed. It seemed like a whole lifetime ago.

She cleared her throat and tried again. "I really liked your other piece," she said. Sadie knew she was dancing around the subject, but a part of her was too scared to approach it directly. She was still holding on to the vague notion she'd dreamed the whole thing up, and saying it out loud would just confirm she was crazy. "Where'd you get your inspiration from? Those flowers were all so unusual, I didn't recognise any of them."

Avel nodded. "That's not surprising."

"I guess they're pretty rare, right?" Sadie said. "Or did you make them up?"

Avel looked over his shoulder, brow furrowing. "Why do you ask?"

Sadie paused. His voice was even, mild, but she didn't miss the note of caution in it. Unsure what she'd said to get him on edge, she shrugged, trying to sound casual.

"No reason. I'd just quite like to see some in person, if they're real," she said. "Do you know where they grow?"

"No." He winced and added, "it's...a little complicated."

Sadie waited for him to elaborate, but that seemed to be all he had to offer. She pushed her hands deeper into her pockets with a sigh. He's really making this difficult, huh?

"Like, could you name a place where I could find them, for example?"

For a moment, there was only sound of paint hissing against the wall, suddenly uncomfortably loud against his silence.

"Uh, hello?"

Avel capped his can of spray paint. "Look, uh —" he ran a paint-stained hand through his hair with a sheepish smile. "I don't really know your name, but—"

"It's Sadie."

"What do you really want, Sadie?"

Sadie hesitated. "What, you think I have ulterior motives?"

"No...just, you're asking a lot of questions. And I don't really like being watched while I'm working," Avel said. "Why not come back when it's finished?"

Sadie raised her hands "You're reading too much into this. I was just curious about the plants, that's all. I'll be quiet from now on."

He held her eyes. Seconds ticked by — two, three — then Avel looked at the ground and sighed.

"Okay, that's fine. I'll go." He reached for the cans on the floor and started packing them into the duffel bag beside him.

Panic sprung up in her chest, followed almost immediately by petty, obstinate annoyance. The two sides warred in her mind, hurling arguments over each other.

Fine, if he wants to be difficult. It's not as if we were going to get anything useful out of him anyway—

He can't go, not when we were so close­—

Panic won out. "Wait," Sadie blurted. "Let me explain."

Avel shouldered the bag and brushed past her. "It was nice to meet you, Sadie."

"Just listen," Sadie said. She grabbed his sleeve with one hand and thrust the other into her pocket. Avel spun, mouth already open to object, but Sadie pushed a handful of dried flowers towards him before he could speak.

"You've seen these before," she said. The breathless, slightly desperate edge to her voice that made her wince, but she kept going. "They were in your painting. That's why I was asking. You know what they are, right?"

"I—what?" The irritation on his face faded to blank confusion; then his gaze fell on the sprigs in her palm and his eyes widened. Haltingly, he reached out and picked one up, holding it delicately between his nails as if he was afraid to touch it.

"You're right," he said, finally. His voice was faraway, quiet and slightly stunned.

"So you've seen them?"

Avel looked up at her, head shaking slowly. "I...can't help you. I'm sorry."

Sadie's shoulders sagged. That was it? All this time spent chasing him, and he didn't know anything?

But why would he lie about it? If he wanted to keep it a secret, why put it in a painting?

"Look," Sadie said, "I admit I was acting weird earlier. But I've been getting this stuff for years now. And I'm not sure if they're even real, or some weird made-up shit. I've been trying to figure it out for years, and then out of nowhere I see your painting." She ran a hand through her hair. "I just...need to know what's going on. Or if I'm just losing it." She swallowed, clenched her fists, and added through gritted teeth — "please."

Avel swallowed. His mouth twitched, as if he was debating whether or not to say anything, then pursed into a flat line. His gaze dropped to the ground.

"Sorry," he said again.

Sadie closed her eyes. It was probably a sign. She shouldn't have been wasting her time on this, anyway.

"Okay," she said. "Forget I asked anything."

She shoved her hands into her pockets and turned away. She'd nearly made it to the end of the alley when she heard Avel call out, "Casper Franklin."

Sadie turned back to look at him. "What?"

"You asked about my inspiration earlier." His eyes focused on the half-painted figure on the wall, that distant look in his expression again. "Check him out. You might find something that'll help."

And before she could respond, he'd shrugged his duffel back over his shoulder and walked away, leaving Sadie alone in the alley.