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Shira: Sorry for the ugh. It’s just that so much rides on this one show
Leo: You’re an amazing artist. Even if this one doesn’t go perfectly, you’ll have more in the future
Shira:…
Shira:…
Shira: Sure.
From the May issue of Artlight Magazine:
Painter Shira Levinson makes an ambitious leap in her debut solo show that sometimes sparkles and sometimes falls flat…. While the works shimmer with whimsy and color, they don’t always hold the gravity invited by the subject matter, and the inspiration comes off as a bit trite…
From the June issue of Artlight Magazine:
A must-see! Painter Danica Chaika’s first solo show is an absolute triumph…. The story threaded through her paintings is heartfelt and beautifully told through spectacular brushwork and use of color, and the subtle inclusion of magic will leave visitors poring over each canvas, desperate to catch every deliberate detail…
From Leo David’s email inbox:
Dear Mr. David,
After reviewing more than 700 applications, we are very pleased to award you the Emerging Game Creator grant for $50,000 to help you continue production of the game you submitted to us, Washing Dishes at the End of the World. We were so impressed by the inventiveness and skill you demonstrated in your application, and we cannot wait to see more from you…
Dear Mr. David,
I’m a recruiter from SpiralCraft Studios. We recently learned that you obtained the extremely competitive Emerging Game Creator grant from Tiny Elephant Studios, and we wanted to reach out to make sure we’re on your radar when you start looking for a job…
Texts between Shira Levinson and Leo David, September:
Shira: Happy birthday! Hope you have a great day!
Shira: You doing anything fun?
Leo: Thanks! Not sure yet, but probably not. Maybe someone will bring cupcakes to the break room haha
Leo: Work has been pretty crazy lately
Leo: How about you? Are you working on your next show? I’m already excited
Shira:…
Shira:…
Shira: I hope they bring chocolate!
10
Year Three
This year, the latkes would be brown and lacy and perfectly crispy around the edges and made to order. Why had Shira ever tolerated latkes made in advance and heated up in the oven? That wouldn’t do now. And the music? Why had she ever thought that a random playlist of classical music was enough?
This year, she would create her very own playlist, full of not only kitschy Hanukkah tunes but wintry non-Christmas songs and Jewish artists with Hanukkah-adjacent music, like the Maccabeats or Matisyahu. She would feed it through speakers via her phone so that every time someone asked how her career as an artist was going, she could press a button and turn the volume up, up, up until she could no longer hear them. No, better yet, nobody would bother asking about her art, because they’d be so busy having a fantastic time at this awesome party.
She was going to hurt her cheeks smiling this hard.
“Shira, food’s ready,” her mom called from the kitchen. Shira groaned from where she’d flopped on her bed. She still had airplane on her, and now airplane germs were on her pillow. Usually that would make her freak out, but today—tonight? was it night already?—she couldn’t be bothered.
Her phone buzzed once, twice, three times. She couldn’t be bothered about that, either.
