It was as if there was some kind of magnetic pull, pulling him closer. Choco didn't think he could have resisted even if he had wanted to. He knew the danger of being up by the road and out in the open, but Choco had to find out what the man had dropped. He looked cautiously down the road to make sure the man had continued down the road before venturing any further. He was already out of sight.

Looking around, Choco spotted the object. There, by that clump of clover! He scrambled over to the other side of the road to get a closer look . . . . 

*The image above is what I call the Elvis stage! Choco's jacket is rather loud and obnoxious, but it turns out all right in the end. The sleeve on the left side of the image has some shading on it, and already the pattern is calming down. Before I put any shading on it, it looked like the rest of the jacket. His shirt is shaded and that's as far as I've gotten. Should be another post this after, but I'm not sure of the timing as Blogger is scheduled for an outage this afternoon. Please check back by!

"I haven't been avoiding you. I've had other things to do. Other art pieces to work on" I said to the drawing on the table.

"So you're still blaming me for missing the competition deadline? That was your mistake! You knew the date was coming up. Besides, that doesn't make it right for you to shove me and Van and Henni in a flat file!"

(Sigh.) "No, Choco, I don't blame you for missing the deadline. I do think you might have played a small, insignificant role in the matter though" I say as I roll my eyes. "The reason I put you in the drawer was because I needed a break."

"You quit trying!" he declares accusingly.

"Choco, I have over a dozen painted bunny heads laying on the table, and I don't know how many more drawn. How can you say I'm not trying?!

"I didn't say you didn't try. I said, "you quit trying". As in you gave up."

"And that gives you the right to haunt my dreams?! Look, Choco, this goes deeper than a drawing and we both know that."

"Yes." (Sigh.) "I suppose so. And you still don't understand."

"You know I don't! You could have gone to any other studio in the world! Perhaps one that had an artist in it that knew something about illustrating and/or writing a book, but you didn't. You came to mine and you haven't explained why."

"Do you believe in yourself? In your artistic skills?"

"What does that have to do with me understanding what you're doing in my studio?!"

"Just bear with me and answer my question. Please."

"Some days. Most days I believe in my talents."

"What about yourself? Do you believe in yourself most days?"

"Ah, Choco, there is no easy answer to that question. Especially when you're an artist."

"That's why we chose you. You can do this. You can illustrate us, write the story and get it published. We believe in you."

"I'm glad that you do, but, Choco, I know nothing about publishing, and I hardly think a few creative writing classes in college qualify me to write your story."

"Oh, Laure, you're a renaissance soul. This is a challenge you couldn't turn down - even if you wanted to. And you don't want to. Not really. You'll learn what you need to know about publishing. And don't worry about writing the story. We're going to tell you the story. You just have to listen. Now, will you trust us? Will you pull us back out of the drawer and get going again?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Well, no, not really."  

And so, ladies and gentlemen, Choco is back. The painting above is probably going to the finally Choco. He and I have come to an understanding that I do have other art projects and I won't be working on the story all the time. However, there should be at least one update every week on Choco and the gang. I will continue to post updates today as I progress with this painting and a bit more of the story. So, please, stop back by!