Butterflies and Broken Hearts

Rideteb, Two Years Before

The studio was quiet, and almost empty, just the way that Aislen liked it. Other than Jordan Daniels, the comic book artist who worked part time at the Rideten School of Art teaching, who was working on his course material in the little teacher’s office between the studios, she was alone.

Sun streamed in through the generous windows catching on airborne dust, before spilling over the floorboards and the sharp scent of the ink of her pen merged with that of paints, oils and turpentine from the supply cupboard against the far wall. The table where Aislen worked caught the light perfectly. It was a little slice of heaven, she thought, or, at least, her version of it.

She was inking in the final comic page for her end of year final submission, a work of meticulous care, requiring no interruption and a lot of patience. She preferred to work on tablet, but the Rideten School of Art was only just beginning to formally recognize comic book art as a subject rather t