Gift
written by: Samuel John Keir
“That’s real talent. You’re a good artist.”
“You don’t know me-” Leo gritted his teeth “-and don’t ever touch my stuff.”
Leo’s teenage brain responded rationally to the compliment. Hormones crashing outwards and inwards; clawing at the walls of his inner psyche and popping out in anguished bursts.
“You handed it in.” Jess replied, stepping backwards, and out of harm’s way behind her desk.
“But you showed everyone. I nearly died.”
***
Leo, thirty-four now, sat searching through Facebook. Scanning every image of a Jess in the South West region, hoping his teacher was still out there. Another notification from Saatchi Art indicating a sale is clicked closed, as he seeks to return a gift to Miss Jess.
Sam is a novice writer from the UK living in China. He likes to write on LGBTQ themes, romance & modern educational issues. Recently, he has helped launch a Fiction Writing workshop in Xiamen.
