Chapter 395 A Surprise (1/2)
”No! I don't want to!” Red-eyed, Beryl refused.
Tina said kindly, ”Okay, you don't have to do it, if you don't want to. I am not a forceful person. But you won't be able to save those rabbits by refusing.”
”No, you can't...” Beryl bit her lip tightly, but after a few seconds, she finally consented, ”Okay, I will draw it...”
”You must draw it exactly as you see it.” Tina quickly ordered the maid to find the paints, brushes and paper. She then turned the easel and the drawing board to face towards the rabbit which had been deprived of its eyes. ”Come here, Beryl.”
She handed Beryl the brush and said, ”Come on, I am right here at your side, watching.”
Beryl took the brush with her small, trembling hand. It was as if the brush was no longer an artist's tool, but had become a time bomb.
The rabbit was flopping about on the lawn, uttering whimpers of pain and grief. Blood splashed on the blades of grass, mixing red with green in a bizarre complementary color scheme.
”Draw now, quickly,” urged Tina who hovered behind Beryl, ”You should know I am never very patient.”
Beryl shut her eyes tightly, then reluctantly opened them again. With painstaking effort, she drew a stroke of red on the piece of paper. A simple rabbit without eyes leaped onto the paper. Although it was only a childish sketch, it was full of the creature's pain.
Beryl shared the hapless rabbit's pain and suffering. In a way, she was painting herself onto the page.
Why should this woman treat a life, even one as small as a rabbit, so ruthlessly?
Half an hour later, the rabbit could not bear the pain any longer, it weakened, fell to the ground unable to move, and finally died of excessive blood loss.
Beryl's last stroke also fell onto the paper as the creature's suffering ended. Her suffering was only beginning though.
”A good job!” Tina clapped her hands and praised her delightedly. Every word she spoke was like a cold stone weighing down Beryl's heart, ravaging her young mind.
She had drawn the most painful expression on the sketch rabbit.