Page 2 of The Edge of Always

‘Art is a protest against death.’

AUBREY FLACK

Chapter One

NOW

The Edge of Always: Oil on canvas. The most impressionist of Spencer’s work, The Edge of Always incorporates loose, visible brushstrokes to create a dreamlike quality and sense of movement. The figure appears to be in motion, caught in a fleeting moment as opposed to frozen in time. Date unknown.

‘Hello, Deathers, and welcome back to The Art of Dying, the blog where we connect you, the living yet slightly morbid public, with art inspired by death. Today, we’re going to be diving head-first into the paintings of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner who was a nice guy, if a bit weird. Kirchner was one of the founders of the Expressionist movement. Expressionists were great with decay, and Kirchner himself loved a bit of death art. He painted a self-portrait as an amputee despite having two excellent hands. He’d had a bad war though, poor thing…’

My phone is on the coffee table (read dumping ground) in front of my laptop, vibrating constantly. I’m not meant to turn it off, just in case, but it’s an annoying distraction. I’ve spent all week planning this script on Kirchner and now I can’t get through it without being distracted.

It’s bound to be Mum with another round of reels about the benefits of bovine collagen. The woman never rests.

It vibrates again.

I hit pause, annoyed. I’m always annoyed these days. Mae thinks that it’s a result of my being depressed, which I refuse to accept. Still, I reach to snatch my phone from where it’s balanced on top of a pile that’s mostly art history books and magazines. Mum would (and has) described the cottage as ‘squalid’. I’d describe it as homely.

Nine messages, all of them from Mae.

Mae: Look what I found! (There’s a link to an article.)

Mae: Did you read it yet?

Mae: Actually, I only sent it ten seconds ago.

Mae: How about now?

Mae: Are you there?

Mae: You’re not cutting your fringe again, are you?

Mae: STEP AWAY FROM THE SCISSORS.

Mae: Seriously, can you reply now?

Mae: HELLLOOOOOO

Mae’s my younger sister. She’s the most brilliant yet annoying person that I know. Ironically, she’s probably the only thing in the world that doesn’t annoy me. Or not really.

Me: I’m here, I was recording.

Mae: Shhhiiittt. Didn’t even think of that. The Kollwitz one?

Me: He’s next week. I was doing Kirchner

Mae: Cool. Cool. Dude with the hand. Well have you opened the link yet?

Me: I’ve literally been messaging you the whole time. Give me a second.

The last link Mae sent me and insisted that I read was a spicy Adam Brody fanfic. She thought I’d like it since he and Emmett look a bit alike, with dark curly hair and green eyes. The main character transformed into a dragon, and much was made of his dragon-sized penis and how, and I quote directly here, ‘it hurt so good’ – which is irrelevant, but it means that my expectations aren’t exactly high.

Still, my phone is vibrating with messages from her, so I scroll back up and hit the link that she’s sent, sinking back down between the couch cushions as I do. Kirchner will have to wait.

Mae: I’ll be home in five.

It’s the middle of the day. I’ve no idea why Mae is coming home.