The Mysterious Art Museum

Chapter 115 (1) - The Mysterious Art Museum

Gabriel is not well-versed in art.

He was born in this village, grew up here, and except for his honeymoon, he has barely traveled, a typical countryside man. So, he's someone who has never really visited a proper art gallery.

His attention is caught by the long mural drawn along the walls of the alley in front of his house.

He sees the face of his son standing still in front of the painting with his backpack.

What expression is his son making?

As far as he can remember, he has never shown his son such a large painting.

"Wow."

Pure admiration.

The elongated painting filled with the child's eyes quivers finely.

The boy with a bright face steps back a few steps, looks at the whole painting, then realizing something, runs to the leftmost picture and points at it while smiling broadly.

"Dad! Our family's morning!"

"What?"

Gabriel is jolted back to reality by his son's shout and looks at the whole painting.

Although the painting is divided into sections, it's created as one long painting using smooth connecting lines.

There are four houses in this painting.

But all four are the same house. Or are they?

They look the same, but something is different. What is it?

"Dad! Here, here!"

His son hops and gestures.

Gabriel walks towards his son without taking his eyes off the painting.

The son takes his father's hand and points at the first picture.

"Here! Dad, me, Lea, mom."

".................."

The picture is painted in slightly dark colors.

He sees himself forcibly pushing his car into the narrow alley in front of the house and smoking. Inside, his son and daughter are coming out holding Sophia's hand, and his son has a backpack on his back.

"Morning... That's right."

The son jumps to the side and then shouts at the next picture.

"Lea!"

Gabriel's eyes tremble as he turns his gaze to the next picture upon his son's shout.

The house in the first picture is painted in a distinctly brighter color.

Unlike the first picture where the whole family is shown, only Lea is in the second picture.

In front of the house, the daughter is squatting on the ground doodling. Although he can't often see her due to his busy factory work, it's a scene he always sees on weekends.

"Our house in the morning."

The son looks closely at the picture, then cheers with a raised arm.

"Mom's in the window too!"

Gabriel approaches the painting.

Though it's a roughly drawn picture with omitted details, it's clear that Sophia is watching Lea doodle from inside, with a cup of coffee emitting white steam on the table as she rests her chin in her hand.

'What? It's not a detailed painting. How do I know everything in the painting?'

It's not a Renaissance-era picture-like image from his childhood textbooks. It's an impressive and warm picture with small details omitted. But it's also a fun picture where tiny somethings are continuously discovered.

The son runs to the third picture and stands in front of it.

"Dad, we are in it again!"

The third picture is similar to the first but with different colors. It's probably brighter because of the light seeping out from inside the house.

In the picture, the son is getting out of the car and walking towards the house, and the daughter inside the house is running out with a happy face. The wife, opening the kitchen window, is waving her hand, and a warm scene of cooking smoke coming out of the kitchen.

Looking at the same scene he sees every day, Gabriel unwittingly smiles.

"Our family."

The son stands in front of the last picture looking up at the mural and smiles.

This time, the son is silent.

Gabriel places his hand on his small head from behind and smiles.

"There's no one in this picture. It must be very late at night."

The picture they are looking at.

The house at night is drawn. Although there's light coming from the windows, everything around is dark.

A quiet landscape with no people in the windows or surroundings.

The son shakes his head at his father's words.

"No, here, and here. Our family is here."

"Hmm?"

"I don't see it?"

"Uh, dad can't see it?"

The son points at the windows represented with subtly spreading light.

"I should be in the room doing homework at this time, so I'll be here."

The son points to the living room window, where the light is spreading, and says.

"Dad is always watching the AS Roma game results on the sports news, so you'll be sitting on the sofa behind this window."

The son points to the bedroom window and says.

"Mom is reading a fairy tale to Lea and putting her to sleep."

".................."

There are no people in this picture.

However, the light spilling from the windows suggests that the family has not yet gone to sleep. Gabriel and Vittorio know very well what each family member is doing at this time.

Gabriel smiles broadly and hugs his son.

"Yes, our family is definitely in this painting."

Then, the bright voice of his daughter comes from inside the house.

"Daddy!"

His daughter runs towards him, her hair flying and a bright smile on her face, her arms wide open as if asking for a hug. Her figure overlaps with that of the daughter in the mural.

Gabriel, feeling an inexplicable surge of tears, kneels down and hugs his daughter.

"Lea, did you have a good day today?"

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