Blue paint was on Emily’s nose.
Yellow paint was on her elbow.
She hadn’t even started painting yet.
Daniel looked at her and nodded.
“You’re off to a colorful start.”
A Blank Canvas
The morning after their imaginary trip through time, Emily hurried to the kitchen table with her sketchbook.
Grandpa’s old clock sat beside her.
It reminded her of grassy fields, old oak trees, and dreams about tomorrow.
“I’m going to paint everything we imagined,” she said.
Mom smiled as she poured a cup of tea.
“That sounds like a wonderful project.”
Emily opened her new paint set.
She smiled as she lined up every color.
Blue.
Green.
Brown.
Yellow.
“Can I paint too?” Daniel asked.
“You can use this paper,” Emily said, handing him a few extra sheets.
“Deal!”
The Perfect Beginning
Emily carefully dipped her brush into green paint.
She painted the big oak tree first.
Then the grass.
Then a bright blue sky.
She stepped back.
“I like it.”
Daniel looked over.
“It needs a dinosaur.”
“No dinosaurs.”
“One tiny dinosaur?”
“Still no.”
Daniel shrugged and painted one on his own paper instead.
It had purple spots and orange shoes.
“Dinosaurs didn’t wear shoes,” Emily laughed.
“Mine does.”
Oops…
Emily reached for the yellow paint.
Her sleeve caught the cup of water.
Tip.
Splash!
The water rolled across the table.
Blue paint floated right into the middle of her picture.
“Oh no!” Emily cried.
She grabbed a paper towel.
The more she wiped…
The bigger the blue smudge became.
“Now it looks worse.”
Daniel looked closely.
“It kind of looks like a lake.”
“It’s not supposed to be a lake.”
“Maybe it wants to be.”
Emily sighed.
She had worked so carefully.
Now her picture felt ruined.
Dad’s Story
Dad walked into the kitchen.
“Everything okay?”
Emily pointed at the painting.
“I messed it up.”
Dad looked for a moment.
“I don’t know…”
“That blue looks interesting.”
“Interesting isn’t what I wanted.”
Dad sat beside her.
“Can I tell you something?”
Emily nodded.
“When I was your age, I built a birdhouse.”
“Was it nice?”
“Not exactly.”
“The roof was crooked.”
“One wall was backwards.”
“And I accidentally painted the door shut.”
Emily giggled.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Grandpa told me to stop trying to fix my mistakes.”
“Instead, he told me to see what I could make from them.”
Emily looked back at the blue paint.
“What did you do?”
“I turned the birdhouse into a decoration instead.”
“Birds never lived in it.”
“But Mom still has it in the garage.”
A New Idea
Emily stared at the blue smudge.
Daniel was right.
It did look a little like water.
She picked up another brush.
Instead of covering the paint…
She added more.
Dark blue.
Light blue.
A little white.
Soon the smudge became a sparkling lake.
She painted ducks swimming across it.
A wooden bridge.
Tall grass waving beside the water.
“Wow,” Daniel whispered.
“Now I wish I spilled my paint.”
Emily laughed.
“Maybe don’t.”
The Art Show
When Mom came back into the kitchen, Emily held up the finished picture.
“What do you think?”
Mom smiled.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Wasn’t there supposed to be a field there?”
“There was.”
“But now there’s a lake.”
Daniel grinned.
“It was an accident.”
“The best kind,” Dad said.
Emily looked at her painting again.
She couldn’t even imagine it without the lake anymore.
Sometimes mistakes didn’t ruin a picture.
Sometimes they made it more interesting.
An Invitation
That evening, Dad checked the mailbox.
“Emily!” he called.
“There’s something for you.”
Emily hurried outside.
Dad held up a colorful postcard.
Across the front was a picture of tall pine trees, a quiet lake, and children sitting around a campfire.
On the back, Grandma had written:
Who wants to spend next weekend camping with us?
Emily smiled.
She looked at the painted lake on the kitchen table.
Then at the postcard.
“I’ve never been camping before,” she said.
Daniel’s eyes grew wide.
“Do you think there will be marshmallows?”
Emily laughed.
“I hope so.”
i can paint to.