Bright Blue Skies

“That just sounds like the milk that you forget in the sink if you ask me. How did we all agree though? That this was okay to drink and that it was completely fine to milk a cow?”

“I don’t know? We let babies drink breast milk and apparently that’s fine too.”

“Attention – In this economy? Can’t fault them for trying to make a little bank. People have bills to pay, mouths to feed,” she said, mixing some more paint only to pause at the blonde’s words. “Alright Picasso, let’s see what your base looks like.”

“Come on, I’m talking little wee teenage virgins who ain’t got any game or buff jocks who want for women to gawk at them no matter what it takes.” June replied back with a hint of laughter in her tone before raising a brow and showing Robbie what she’d already started. “It’s no Picasso piece that’s for sure but I’m working on a tropical sunset.” She shrugged.

“But when I do get out of the hospital I at lest know how to get out and have fun.” Bridget rolled her eyes. “You’re just complaining about it! That’s all I’m saying. But let’s just drink a lot more and finish this and we can get food and a drink and we never have to do this again.” 

“Mmmmhmmm.. Sure you do.” June smirked as she nudged Bridget with her elbow, not completely convinced. “Woah, hold on. I love my painting. Just... not when we’re painting... fruit.” She shrugged.

“What were you thinking – us sketching some naked college kid? Hard pass,” she said, pausing in her painting as she studied the image. “It’s the base for the fucking sky – like the different layers,” her finger pointing towards the gradual changes in the blue as it went higher up her canvas.

“Okay no-- screw that idea. If it’s a college kid they’re probably either desperate some money or attention and I don’t know which one is worse.” June couldn’t help but cringe as she shrugged and went back to her canvas. “Alright, well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I guess we’re still just starting up anyways.”

“Oh- come on? It’s suppose to be a meadow with flowers!” Laurel pulled up her canvas to show her better. “At least they had wine.”

“Oh that’s... that’s what it’s meant to be.” June nodded her head slowly pretending as if she could see it. “Are you sure the wine’s not just an excuse for the way that turned out?”

“I don’t… I’m not… Where the hell are these lines that you are reading between?” Robbie looked around as if they were a tangible thing.

“The invisible lines clearly. You may not have been that kid sucking on a bottle of glue but that doesn’t meant you weren’t the one eating sand in the sandbox either.” She smirked, clearly just teasing him.

“I know. It’s called not taking anything seriously and just having fun.” Bridget rolled her eyes. “Yeah but there is wine involved! If you want to get out of here we can.”

“Weird of you to be the one talking about getting out and having fun Miss ‘I don’t get out of the hospital much’“ June fired back with a chuckle. “And leave this masterpiece unfinished? You’re kidding right. Might as well finish what I’ve started. Like you said, there’s wine to keep you happy.”

Noel laughed and tipped his head to the side. “Well, shit, maybe I’ll just make it into a mountain range then,” he shrugged off. “What’re you getting into,” he motioned to her canvas.

“A mountain range with one giant tree plastered in the middle of it, right?” June egged him off with a soft chuckle. “Eh, well I was trying to go for beachy vibes but that lady over there accidentally knocked my elbow when I was going for sea-foam so now I’m turning this into an ice-berg in the Arctic. Least I think I am.” She depicted. 

“That just sounds like it’ll be chunkier than milk right? Like thicker if you’re just blending it all together. Like who is the first guy that thought to milk a cow and we all just accepted it”

“So like the consistency of oats and porridge? Sounds like a nightmare to chug down. Look, I don’t want to go into it. Nobody needs to know, nor wants to know what that dude was actually doing with the cow in the first place.”

“I thought, it would just make itself with the spinning wheel and all the extra clay but it didn’t work out that way. Exactly, they’ll just be happy with it.”

“Yeah, The Try Guys made the spinning wheel and pottery look way easier than what it actually is. DIY pottery isn’t really my thing so I’m starting to think your bird feeder is going to be better than whatever I can come up with myself.”

“Trust me, so am I. I guess I wanted to meet a goal for once. It’s not even a serious goal.” Nat turned her project to the side to see if it made a difference looking at it from an angle, but it still was kind of hideous. “If it turns out to be a good frame and I do it justice then yes, otherwise I’d throw it away and just go buy a nicer frame.”

“Well maybe if you slap on some paint it might cover up some of the imperfections on it?” June suggested after taking a brief moment to think about it. “Like you know, a boring white frame except you could do so much more to make it look not so boring. You know, jazz it up a bit or something?”

“I wasn’t the kid that sucked on the Elmer’s glue bottle even if I have the face of one.”

“Look, you said it not me but reading between the lines here? It seems like you’re trying to tell me that you’re a giant man baby.”

“You think? So should I go grab a paint brush and some blue paint? You think it will look good?”

“Well, I’m not saying great. Maybe just... better?”

“I can fit a folded punch card for my free 10th coffee of the week.” Nat eyed her “artwork” at an angle and she really should’ve picked something else. “I have some nice photos I could frame that I haven’t and they’re just sitting somewhere in a drawer. I don’t think this can be turned into a paper weight, it’ll go flying.”

“I’m amazed that you’ve even managed to keep your coffee card for that long. I always loose them before I can make it past the third stamp.” June admitted though her DIY artwork didn’t look much better. She was useless when it didn’t come to a paint brush or sketching material. “You can frame photos in that thing, sure, but I think the question you should be asking yourself is ‘do I really want to put this ole frame on display?’” 

“okay i think it was supposed to be a mug but I forgot it needed a bottom so now it’s just a bird feeder?”

“But how do you end up forgetting the bottom like that if you’re making a mug? I’m sure the birds will appreciate it as long as you load it up with plenty of food. It’s not like they’ll know any better, right?”

“Is it like one oat at a time because that seems like it’ll take forever. I couldn’t get behind goat milk, that was way too far.”

“Actually, I suddenly don’t know. What happens if you just like... blend it all together? Does that work out? Look, cows milk is strange enough when you think about it but I love my milk too much to even think about it. Goats might end up being a last resort when all the cows eventually go extinct.”