Juventude.life!Short Story : The Mysterious Painting"Your Life! Your Way!"

That day, Matthew decided to take only his private things to the new house because he wanted to open a brand new page in his life after that day. A few hours later, when the realtor came to pick him up, he was already prepared. As soon as they finished the paperwork, Matthew went to settle into his new house, but when he arrived, he was too tired to do so. While he was searching for a place to sleep, he saw that there was a staircase leading directly down to the basement from the room, and he went down the stairs.

He thought the previous hosts used the basement as a waste room since everywhere was awful. Just as he was going upstairs, he noticed a picture on the wall. In the picture, there was a house in the green forest, a house like the one he currently lives in. But he was about to faint because of sleeplessness, so he found a sofa and fell asleep.

The following day, he woke up early, even before the sun, and had breakfast. Then, he started to place his belongings in the rooms. After that, he went to take the painting from the basement, but something was strange. Last night, the house in the painting was in a green forest, but now there were only a few trees. He didn’t think about it because last night, he had been sleepy when he saw it. He took the painting and hung it on the wall in the hall. Finally, he was able to sit in front of the TV.

A few minutes later, while he was watching TV, his phone rang. It was his fiancée Candice. She wanted to see his new house, so Matthew started to make a cake for her to welcome her for the first time to his home.

When she arrived, Matthew realized that they wouldn’t be alone. Candice smiled and said, “This is my sister, Katie.” Matthew was pleased to welcome his first guests to his new house.

Candice’s sister Katie held a notebook and pencil; this situation was weird for Matthew, and he asked her why she was holding them. She answered happily, “You can be inspired by anything at any time, right? So, I don’t want to miss the opportun… Wait!…” Suddenly, she started to draw something, so Candice and Matthew left Katie there and went inside.

A few hours later, Katie came inside and showed the picture.

Mathew was surprised. Could it be a coincidence? It was the same as the one that he had seen last night. He hesitated at first, but then he told this to Katie and Candice. Candice was an expert in the history of art, so she wanted to take it to the laboratory for inspection.

Two days later, Candice called Matthew about the painting.

“Matthew, you won’t believe what I have found! Now, listen to me carefully and do not cut me off. Initially, the picture was painted in the 1800s by Jeff Buzowski. B-U-Z-O-W-S-K-I, yes just like your surname, dear. But there is more! Jeff died a few days after drawing this picture.”

Matthew was about to tell something, but Candice continued. “Listen, I found a note behind the painting, and guess what? The note is for you!”

Matthew was shocked. He could only say, “What note? Can you read it?”

Candice answered, “Sure thing”:

Dear Matthew,

I decided to send you to the orphanage because this painting, which I took from my dad as the mistake of my life, will be the end of me.

She said: “Sure, I know. Matthew, this painting was painted with poison, Polonium 210. It poisoned your father for years. I think finally he decided to send you to the orphanage when he realized he would die. I am so sorry.” She waited for a moment and continued, “And you know what? The house in the picture is the house you live in now, but the painting Katie drew is of the house in the 1800s. The strangest part of this situation is that we never noticed the fingerprint in the picture, but the fingerprint matches Jeff’s.”