Unfinished Canvas

Emily stared at the old, dust-covered easel in the corner of the attic.

It had been years since anyone had touched it, yet it still held the remnants of

her father’s last work—a painting that was never completed. The canvas bore the faint outlines

of a landscape, but the colors were muted, as if the life had been drained out

of it. Much like the life that had been drained out of Emily the day her father left.

She was only 12 when he walked out, leaving behind nothing but unanswered questions and a half-finished

painting. Her father was an artist, passionate and talented, but also troubled.

He would spend hours lost in his work, and as a child, Emily admired the way he could bring