5話:絵の具探し*4
しばらく、鳥が飛んで行った方を眺めていた。鳥が見えなくなってからもぼーっとしていた、と思う。
......けれど、はっとしてテントの外に出て、泉の様子を見てみる。
そこには、抜け落ちたんだろう羽が1枚、落ちていた。泉の中にザブザブ入って、拾う。
灰色の羽は、僕の上腕ぐらいある。でかい。なんだこれ。なんだこれ。
未知との遭遇は恐怖でもあったけれど、それ以上にわくわくした。もしかしたら恐怖のどきどきをわくわくに勘違いしたんだろうか。こういうのなんて言うんだっけ。吊り橋効果?
でもいい。吊り橋でも懸け橋でもなんでもいい。僕はあの鳥が気に入った。あれ描きたい。描く。決めた。絶対に描く。
実体化させたいんじゃなくて、只、絵を描きたいんだ。
......あ、ちょっと久しぶりだな、この感覚。ここ最近ずっと、実体化させるために絵を描いていたから。
うん。なら、丁度いいだろう。ここらで一度、自分へのご褒美って奴に、生命維持なんて何も考えずに絵を描こう。決めた。
目標が決まったら話は早い。僕はなんとしても、もう一回あの鳥を見つけて描く。決めた。
決めたから、最初にやることは......。
......水浴び。
うん、思った。すっかり忘れてた。でも思い出した。
僕、風呂に入らないまま1週間ぐらい過ごしてたんだなって......。
石鹸とか桶とか色々描いて出して、水浴びした。
こんな屋外で服を脱ぐのは抵抗があったけれど......うん、まあ、どうせ誰も居ないだろう。うん、誰も居ない、よね......?
思い切って浴びた水は冷たかったけれど、久しぶりに綺麗になったらさっぱりした。これからも定期的に水浴びしよう。或いはお風呂、作ろう。温泉とかいいかもしれない。というか、生活用水と飲み水は分けよう。ということは、先に泉をもう1つ作らなきゃいけない......?
......水の問題は後にすることにした。今は鳥。そのために服。
いや、だって、水浴びして綺麗になった後に、1週間くらい着た後の服を着るのって......なんか嫌だった。というか、自分が綺麗になったら服の汚さが気になった。あとちょっと、くさい。
......なので、水浴びしてから着る服を描くっていう間抜けなことをする羽目になった。次からはちゃんと準備してからやろう。
それから僕は、鞄の中に荷物を詰め込んで出発することにした。
向かうのは鳥が飛んで行った方向。方向以外にアテは無いけれど......耳を澄ますと、微かに鳥の声みたいなものが聞こえてくるから、きっと何とかなる、と、思う。多分。
僕は、耳は良い方だと思う。小さい音でもちゃんと拾える。
だから、今回みたいに鳥を探すような時には役に立つ。遠くから聞こえる『キュキュキョ』みたいな鳴き声を探して、僕はひたすら進んでいった。
歩く途中で綺麗な色のものを見つけたら拾って集めておく。後で絵の具にしよう。
今回一番の収穫は、紫色の花。色で言うならばモーブ。そういう鮮やかな紫色で、絵の具にしたらさぞかし良い色になるだろう。
他にも、鮮やかな緑の昆虫の殻とか、多分トカゲの卵の殻だったんだろう白い欠片とか、透き通った茶色の宝石みたいな欠片とか。案外色々手に入ったから、歩いた甲斐は十分にあった。
「......こっちの方には生き物がいるのかな」
多分、僕が最初に居たところよりも、こっちの方が生き物が多い。虫の殻とか、卵の殻とか、今まで見なかった。思えばここまで、まともに動物に出会ってない。精々、蝶の死骸を拾って絵の具にさせてもらったくらいだ。結局、あれも一度きりで、それ以降、死骸でも生き物は見てなかったな。
......うん、動物に関しては、本当に見てない。あの鳥が初めてだ。だからこそあんなに感動したんだろうけれど。
動物が多いってことは、危険があるかもしれない、っていうことだ。熊とか、出てきたらどうしよう。逃げるしかないけれど、案外熊って走るのが速いんだよな、確か。
熊が出なくても、狼とか、野犬とか、そういうのが出てきても僕は多分死ぬ。逃げよう。そういう時は頑張って逃げよう。それで駄目なら諦めて死ぬ。でも死ぬ前にその熊とか犬とか狼とか描きたい。いや、そんな暇ないだろうけど。
......まあ、気を付けていこう。できるだけ。
森の中を進んでいったら、段々と鳥の声が近づいてきた。
そのあたりから気を付けて周囲を探すようにしていたんだけれど......。
......そこで、僕は見つけてしまった。
「でかい」
大きな木を。
ついでに、その木の上に架かる、巨大な鳥の巣を。
......絶対にあれだ。
木に登るのは得意じゃない。なんというか、昔、挑戦しようとしたことがあったのだけれど、落ちて、泥だらけで帰ったら怒られた。それ以来、木登りはしていない。
けれど、登らないと見えないから、登るしかない。
......ただし、当然だけれど、僕があのでっかい木に登れるわけはないから......仕方ない、そこら辺の木にかかる梯子を描く。その梯子を上って、隣の木から、鳥の巣の様子を見させてもらおう。
梯子を描いて、木の上に登った。
木の枝は案外太くて丈夫で、木登り初心者の僕でもなんとか、木の上で安定していられた。
木の上から見た風景は、中々悪くなかった。森の木が広がっているのが見える。その先は見えない。......もっと高くまで登ったら、森の終わりがどこなのかも見えるんだろうけれど。
でもいいや。今見たいのはこの辺りの地形でもなんでもなくて、ただ、鳥の巣の中なんだから。
僕は隣の木の真ん中らへんにかかっている鳥の巣を、覗いた。
......そこに鳥は居なかった。
けれど代わりに......卵があった。
卵の殻は、見事なロビンズエッグ・ブルー......青、だった。
Volume 1 - Ch 5
For a while, I watched the bird fly away. After the bird was out of sight, I was still in a daze, I think.
I went out of the tent and looked at the spring.
There was a feather that must have fallen out. I waded into the spring and picked it up.
The gray feather was as big as my upper arm. It was huge. What is this?
Encountering the unknown was terrifying, but more than that, it was exciting. Perhaps I had mistaken fear for the thrill of excitement. What do you call this kind of thing? Suspension bridge effect?
But that's okay. Suspension bridge, hanging bridge, whatever effect. I like that bird. I want to draw it. I'll draw it. I've decided. I will definitely draw it.
I don't want to materialize it, I just want to draw it.
... Ah, it's been a while since I've had this feeling. I've been painting to materialize things for a while now.
Yeah. Then, it's just right. I'm going to reward myself once and for all by painting without thinking about things for living. I firmly decided.
Once the goal was set, the planning was quick. I would find and paint that bird one more time, no matter what it takes. I decided.
Now that I've decided, the first thing to do is...
...take a bath.
Yeah, I thought. I forgot all about it. But then I remembered.
I had gone about a week without taking a bath...
I drew out soap, a tub, and other things, and took a bath.
I didn't feel comfortable taking off my clothes outdoors like this, but I thought... well, no one will be around anyway. No one, right ......?
The water was cold when I took the plunge and bathed, but I felt refreshed after being clean for the first time in a long time. I will bathe regularly from now on. Or let's make a bath. A hot spring might be nice. Or rather, let's separate water for daily use and drinking water. That means we have to build another spring first, right...?
I decided to leave the water problem for later... Now the bird. I need clothes for that.
Well, because I didn't want to wear my old clothes after bathing and getting clean after I had been wearing them for a week or so... I mean, once I was clean, I was worried about how dirty my clothes were. And also, a little bit, stinky.
... I had to do something stupid like drawing clothes to wear after taking a bath... Next time, I'll do it after preparing properly.
Then I packed my bag and set out.
I headed in the direction the bird had flown. I don't have any other direction, but if I listen carefully... I can faintly hear something like a bird's call, so I'm sure I'll be able to find it, I think. I'm sure I'll figure it out.
I think I have good hearing. I can pick up even the smallest of sounds.
That's why it's useful when I'm looking for birds, like in this case. I kept on walking, looking for a distant "cooing" like a bird's call.
If I found something beautifully colored on the way, I would pick it up and collect it. I would use them as paints later.
The most interesting thing I picked up this time was a purple flower. If I had to describe it by color, I would say mauve. It is such a vivid purple color that it would be a great color for paint.
I also found bright green insect shells, white pieces that were probably lizard eggshells, and clear brown jewel-like pieces. I got a lot more than I expected, so it was well worth the walk.
"I wonder if there are living things around here." (Tougo)
There are probably more creatures here than where I was at the beginning. I had never seen insect shells or eggshells before. Thinking back, I haven't seen any animals up to this point. At best, I picked up a dead butterfly and used it as paint. After all, that was only once, and I haven't seen any living creatures, even carcasses, since then.
...Yeah, as far as animals go, I haven't really seen any. That bird was the first time I'd seen one. I guess that's why I was so impressed, though.
If there are a lot of animals, it means that there might be danger. What if a bear or something comes out? The only thing to do is to run away, but bears run faster than people think, right?
Even if there is no bear, I will probably die if a wolf or wild dog or something like that comes out. I will run away. If that doesn't work, I'll give up and die. But before I die, I want to draw the bear or the dog, or the wolf. No, I don't think I'll have time for that. [T/N: We have an art-baka, he's beyond otaku. LOL]
...Well, I'll be careful. As much as possible.
As I was going through the forest, I heard the sound of birds getting clearer.
I tried to be careful and look for at surroundings from that point on...
...that's where I found it.
"Huge." (Tougo)
A huge tree.
And also, a huge bird's nest perched on top of the tree.
...I'm pretty sure that's it.
I'm not good at climbing trees. I mean, I tried to climb a tree once, but I fell off and went home covered in mud, and they got mad at me. Since then, I have not climbed a tree.
But I have to climb trees because I can't see them if I don't climb.
...However, of course, I can't climb a big tree, so... I can't help but draw a ladder that hangs over a tree. Climbing up the ladder to let me watch the bird's nest from the tree next to it.
I drew the ladder and climbed up the tree.
The branches of the tree were surprisingly thick and sturdy, and even a novice tree climber like me managed to stay steady on top of the tree.
The view from the top of the tree was not so bad. I could see the forest trees spreading out. I can't see beyond that. If I climbed higher, I would probably be able to see where the forest ends.
But that's okay. What I want to see now is not the topography of this area, but it is the inside of a bird's nest.
I looked at the bird's nest hanging in the middle of the tree next to me.
...there were no birds.
But instead... there was an egg.
The shell of the egg was a beautiful Robin's Egg Blue... Blue.
The Picture Perfect Mochi I Drew Tastes Good
今日も絵に描いた餅が美味い
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-picture-perfect-mochi-i-drew-tastes-good/
Adventure Fantasy Shounen Slice of Life Supernatural
Adapted to Manga Artists Caring Protagonist Fantasy World Friendship Loner Protagonist Male Protagonist Mythical Beasts Naive Protagonist R-15 Selfless Protagonist Spirits Stubborn Protagonist Transmigration Transported to Another World Weak Protagonist
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7921gj/
もちもち物質