
I love painting near where the soldiers train. Their movements are like a dance. I’ve learned so much about the human figure by observing and sketching . And I must admit, I do blush when one of them waves to me.
So, I was surprised this morning when King Phillip personally woke all of us and led us to the combat grounds. We were greeted by First Sgt. Remus, who told us today was our first day of “combat training.”
Zara was giddy, Penelope was aghast, and Artelia didn’t seem to care. King Phillip told us we needed to learn hand- to-hand combat in case we are kidnapped. Penelope spoke up that our songs we’re used for defense until Remus shouted, “what if you’re gagged?” then began calling us “maggots” and “yardbirds” and forced us to run laps. Such a cruel, corpulent, buzzard.
Zara asked when we were going to use the swords and he made her do 100 push-ups. After 20, I noticed Zara was humming a little tune toward the ground. When Remus attempted to scold he started twitching.
We giggled while he started trying to scratch through his armor. Then I saw an ant come out of one of the knee joints. He lost his wits and started removing his leg armor piece by piece. That’s when we saw a swarm of ants crawling all over his legs and up to his pelvis. He rushed to the lake while we laughed.
I know Zara did it, but I’m not going to say anything. I will say though, this experience has taught me much about form and muscle will surely help my drawing.”