Moses brought his playing to a most mellifluous end, and then allowed his arms to lie motionless by his side. The sounds of the vibrations of the strings were still reverberating in Noah’s ears, and he found that it had aided his work stupendously. Suddenly Noah found that Moses had silently and swiftly managed to appear behind him. “May I?” He asked, holding out his hand to receive the pieces of paper that Noah had drawn on.
“Oh, yes – of course.” Noah handed them to him, and watched as Moses looked through them. He had drawn as many different types of fish as he could think of, and underwater plants. He had drawn sharks and mermaids and whales and jellyfish and seahorses, and he had even drawn different settings; for example he had a Caribbean scene with a view in the distance of people on the beach, but he had also drawn an Arctic scene, with a polar bear at the top, pawing through an ice hole, beneath which there was a whole world of creatures. Moses seemed quite impressed by the drawings.
“Hmmmm,” he mused, “I think many of these would look good on our wall.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You are a most exceptional artist, Noah.”
“Well, thank you.” Such a compliment seemed to Noah to be very kind – it was clear to him that Moses did not give out compliments willy-nilly.
As it was decided that it was nigh on impossible to select a scene that would look best on the wall, Mrs Bishop was called in to offer her doubtlessly expert advice. She entered the room and looked at the drawings as though she were judging a very important competition, and she stated many times that she was ‘simply honoured’ to be called on to settle such a matter. However, she also found it very difficult to pick a scene out of the ones set before her, so she came up with the ingenious idea of mixing and matching them – taking a few features from some of the scenes and putting them together to make one big mural. It was instantly decided that this was a most acceptable plan. Noah picked up his pencil again and circled the different features that Moses and Mrs Bishop said that they liked. He tried in his mind to construe some sort of reasonable order in which they could appear on the wall. This was the sort of thing that Noah enjoyed doing. He moved over to the wall. “May I?”
“Oh, of course.”
Noah held out his pencil and started to mark the wall with outlines of his sketches. Moses even permitted him to stand on the Chesterfield sofa to draw on the wall. This was an extraordinary transformation for Moses. Usually he was confined to living the life of a hermit, feeling troubled and agitated when someone even entered his flat, but now he was letting this man, whom he had known for a grand total of two days, tidy his room and draw on his wall. He had even accompanied him with a rare harp solo. Truly exceptional. What was so remarkable and different about Noah? Why was he allowing him to just walk in and start adjusting Moses’ life to his own specifications? Perhaps it was because Moses got the feeling that there was no arguing with Noah. Perhaps it was because he was getting weaker with age and no longer had the energy to protest as strongly as he should. Or perhaps it was because he really wanted a friend.
“Oh, yes – of course.” Noah handed them to him, and watched as Moses looked through them. He had drawn as many different types of fish as he could think of, and underwater plants. He had drawn sharks and mermaids and whales and jellyfish and seahorses, and he had even drawn different settings; for example he had a Caribbean scene with a view in the distance of people on the beach, but he had also drawn an Arctic scene, with a polar bear at the top, pawing through an ice hole, beneath which there was a whole world of creatures. Moses seemed quite impressed by the drawings.
“Hmmmm,” he mused, “I think many of these would look good on our wall.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You are a most exceptional artist, Noah.”
“Well, thank you.” Such a compliment seemed to Noah to be very kind – it was clear to him that Moses did not give out compliments willy-nilly.
As it was decided that it was nigh on impossible to select a scene that would look best on the wall, Mrs Bishop was called in to offer her doubtlessly expert advice. She entered the room and looked at the drawings as though she were judging a very important competition, and she stated many times that she was ‘simply honoured’ to be called on to settle such a matter. However, she also found it very difficult to pick a scene out of the ones set before her, so she came up with the ingenious idea of mixing and matching them – taking a few features from some of the scenes and putting them together to make one big mural. It was instantly decided that this was a most acceptable plan. Noah picked up his pencil again and circled the different features that Moses and Mrs Bishop said that they liked. He tried in his mind to construe some sort of reasonable order in which they could appear on the wall. This was the sort of thing that Noah enjoyed doing. He moved over to the wall. “May I?”
“Oh, of course.”
Noah held out his pencil and started to mark the wall with outlines of his sketches. Moses even permitted him to stand on the Chesterfield sofa to draw on the wall. This was an extraordinary transformation for Moses. Usually he was confined to living the life of a hermit, feeling troubled and agitated when someone even entered his flat, but now he was letting this man, whom he had known for a grand total of two days, tidy his room and draw on his wall. He had even accompanied him with a rare harp solo. Truly exceptional. What was so remarkable and different about Noah? Why was he allowing him to just walk in and start adjusting Moses’ life to his own specifications? Perhaps it was because Moses got the feeling that there was no arguing with Noah. Perhaps it was because he was getting weaker with age and no longer had the energy to protest as strongly as he should. Or perhaps it was because he really wanted a friend.