SOLD.
I pressed my hand to my mouth and did not try to stop the tears.
I stared at it until the blur cleared from my eyes.
“Tomorrow.”
“How soon can we open?” I asked Vanessa.
She blinked.
“Open?”
“To everyone.”
The thought terrified me. For once, it didn’t make me want to hide.
Fear no longer felt like a reason to disappear.
“Tomorrow.”
Later, when everyone had gone, I walked to the easel in the back corner and looked at the painting I would once have hidden under my bed.
For the first time, I signed my name where anyone could see it.
Nora.
Tomorrow, strangers would walk through those doors and judge my work. The thought still scared me — but fear no longer felt like a reason to disappear.
I set the painting in the front window and turned on the light.
