Dana was in a regular routine now with his painting. Everyday after breakfast at Franks Cafe he would return home and spend at least a couple of hours painting, usually with Champy lying at his feet. The weather had not been agreeable lately so Dana had been painting scenery he could see from his studio window. Of course, his paintings were also peppered with images from his imagination.
Dana had decided to keep the Rhiannon painting after a strange sequence of events, events he would never admit to anyone for fear someone might think he had oldtimers disease. Not only did the image of the woman in the painting appear to change poses but occasionally she was absent from the painting all together. Dana was in the habit of talking to himself as well as his dog but he had also started to converse with "Rhiannon" in the painting.
"Where'd you go now?" he'd say when she disappeared.
Champy also seemed to be in tune with the changes in the old painting. The dog would often bark at the canvas and look at Dana as if to say "Did you see that?!?" or "What is going on??" when Rhiannon left the painting or decided to brush her long hair instead of reading a book. Not only did Rhiannon appear to move but the scene outside her window went from dusk to dawn as the night and days went by. It was easy to see why Dana kept this to himself. He questioned his own sanity and wasn't going to have he friends and neighbors draw a similar conclusion.
Since the old man had carried the dusty painting out of the basement, life had improved in other subtle ways. At the very least, Dana's luck had changed as well as his health. Dana was much more limber and the chronic pain in his joints had all but disappeared. When the weather cooperated, he could take Champy on long walks without as much as a pinch of pain. Champy also appeared to be years younger than he had been even a few months ago. Dana always assumed that the lumps in Champy's skin where fatty tumors brought on by old age. They had disappeared completely. As far as luck, Dana had been finding long misplaced items as of late, paperwork, keys, lists and souvenirs were miraculously showing up long after Dana had given up ever finding them. The most amazing event was the regular appearance of cash money. Dana struggled to make ends meet like most retired folks he knew. Lately, Dana had been finding money in the most unexpected places, places he never remembered hiding money. Old books, cupboards, jars and drawers all had monetary gifts to offer. Dana had found at least $1200 hidden away over the last few months.
Ever since Rhiannon had entered Dana's life things had been wonderful and he hoped the miracles would continue. This was a secret Dana would definitely have to keep to himself. His life could depend on it.
