The Sunflower Story
By Patty Kempf

Chapter One
“This day couldn’t get more beautiful” Sunflower thought. She was painting outside in her backyard. “The sky is all different colors, like a beautiful sunflower.”
Sunflower lives in a town called Rolling Hills. She lives down south, where it is always ho The air is sweet with flowers. Her yard has all kinds of sunflowers. Some of the colors are yellow, orange, and blue. Any color you could think of. The rolling hills where Sunflower lives is always hot.
Sunflower loves to paint. She paints outside in the sun. She sells her paintings online through a webpage with photos of her work. Sunflower has a friend who has a studio. He calls her whenever there is an art show allowing Sunflower to show and sell her paintings. This makes her feel good to think someone likes her paintings enough to buy them. The money is nice too.
This had been one of those beautiful days to paint. The sun was starting to go down, and it was time to start cleaning the brushes and putting things away. Sunflower smiled at her dog and said “it’s time to quit.”
Sunflower has a bright smile and joyful personality. She has long red hair that glows in the brightness of the sun. She has a heart-shaped face and grassy-green eyes. People say she lights up a room just by entering.

Sunflower has a dog named Mouse. He is a mutt of mixed breeds. He was named Mouse appropriately enough through his ability to shrink small enough to enter small spaces. He can also make a speedy getaway if the circumstances call for it. Mouse kind of looks like his name implies. He is brown and white with short gray ears. His blue eyes look steely gray in the dark.
Mouse loves Sunflower very much. He is devoted to her actually. He follows Sunflower wherever she goes. He sleeps with her under her covers. They keep each other warm. He would give his life to save her and she loves him with all her heart. If not for Mouse, Sunflower would be very lonely. He is the best part of her life. Mouse is Sunflower’s confidante. She tells him all her problems and shares with him her dreams. He always listens and never tries to talk her out of her ideas.

Chapter 2

Sunflower is in a wheelchair. She doesn’t remember how she got hurt. She was outside riding her bike when she apparently hit a rock. She fell off the bike striking her back on a rock. She doesn’t know how long she lay on the ground because she passed out. She was only 10-years-old when it happened. When she awoke she was in the hospital. She could move her arms but doctors told her mother that her spine had been injured. The x-rays showed no real breaks but her body was pretty much black and blue from bruising. They thought she might be ok. Her doctor said a brace would help but that Sunflower might not ever be able to walk.
A few years later after she came home from another doctor Sunflower was adamant. “They want to put another damn brace on me and I said no.”
“I know you both love me and only want what’s best for me” Sunflower told her parents. “But I’m going to try everything to be able to walk again. I just need a break!”
“I would like to try working out with weights and swimming. I’ll try anything that might excite me and help me move my legs” said Sunflower. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in hospitals or going to doctors. If that means living life in a wheelchair, then so be it!”
Sunflower shook her thoughts back to the present. She smiled. She remembered how her nurse gained her trust in those early days after her accident. She put her legs back on her foot rest and turned to Mouse. “Come on, Mouse. Let’s get something to eat” she said. “I’m hungry.” Mouse jumped on Sunflower’s lap and away they went. Sunflower ate yogurt while looking out her window to the beautiful hills. She thought how lovely the hills looked. She wondered what it might be like to get to the top.
“Guess it’s time to get back outside to my painting” Sunflower thought. She was painting an undersea portrait of the water she held so precious. She touched the fresh brush strokes. They were a series of waves, both smooth and rough not unlike the ocean itself. Sunflower wanted to see if her painting was set enough to begin again. She felt her most recent brush strokes but was taken aback by how her finger seemed to actually go through the canvas. This so startled Sunflower that she wheeled back in alarm. Out of curiosity, and perhaps a little fear, Sunflower moved closer to her canvas. She looked in disbelief and began to move on the canvas. First a red fish, then a gold fish danced in the sea of drying paint. She touched the blue paint that represented the water and it felt as warm as the sun on her face. She thought how both strange and wonderful it felt.
Almost as a dare to herself Sunflower placed her entire arm in the painting. When it went through so easily she was startled and pulled back. Sunflower looked at her hand for signs of paint but there was no paint on it. “This is wonderful!” she thought. “Why not go all the way now?” She pushed herself completely in the painting. “Whatever I paint becomes a transport to another place, another world. Cool!”
Sunflower was not alone on her journey. Mouse was still on her lap and had made the trip in the painting with her. A friendly dolphin swam by and offered Sunflower and Mouse a ride on his back. Sunflower laughed out loud. She had never known such joy. Her hair was blowing in the wind and she was all wet. Sunflower hadn’t any cares. Her wheelchair was not necessary.

As she rode the dolphin back to the beach Sunflower noticed the colors of the sky. Shades of purple, blue and pink were contrasted against the golden-yellow sand on the beach. The sun was still high and it radiated a color of yellow warmth. Out at sea the waves rushed upon big rocks jutting out from the sea. Salty spray rose from the gray-brown rocks making it look like a salty rainfall.
She likes the ocean the best because the color is sea green and so clear. Sunflower can see for miles from the beach, and when she looks down into the ocean she can watch the ocean life teem with fishes, dolphins and seahorses. She tastes the ocean water when it splashes against her face. It tastes salty like the minerals it is made of. “I hope whatever stuff this is made of will come out of my hair. I guess I wouldn’t mind having the color of this beautiful light-blue and pink sky represented in my hair if it comes to that” Sunflower said. “But my parents wouldn’t go for it and this is not the time to rock that boat” she punned.

Chapter 3

Back on the beach Sunflower sat in her wheelchair watching the waves rush on the rocks. The sun was so warm and the beach so peaceful when all of a sudden the sea opened up and a man came out, soaked with sea water. He appeared to be half man and the other half looked like a cat. He was wearing a blue shirt and tan vest. He had a black cape over his head that traveled the length of his entire body. Sunflower still couldn’t see the bottom half of his body because he was coming out of the ocean. When he finally stood upright she could see how tall he was.
He sat down in front of her and began to speak to her. He had a very kind voice. It was very deep and very low. He told her not to be afraid of him. “I didn’t come here to harm you” he said. Sunflower lifted the hood that covered his face. “That’s better” she said. “Now I can see your face. Now for the big questions. Who are you and how did I get in my painting? I am not afraid of you but what is going on?”
Vincent smiled then said in a low, soft and sexy voice “I’m your guide to take you to the different places that you paint and help you go inside. I keep you safe.” Sunflower asked “can I go through any painting?” Vincent shook his head “no” and told her “only you have this gift. When you paint you put all of your feelings and your spirit in your paintings. No one else has that talent. Sometimes you need to relax though.”
Sunflower asked Vincent if she could touch his face. It was smooth, no five o’clock shadow. He smiled. Sunflower was still touching his face when she turned her attention to his heart-stopping deep blue eyes. They resembled many of the shades she painted with. His lips were just right for kissing, not too hard; not too soft; just right for kissing. His teeth were white and his incisors were not as scary as on first glance.
Sunflower dropped her hand from Vincent’s face and said without thinking “you are very handsome.”
Vincent said “I have never been called handsome before.” He told Sunflower “but you are beautiful.” Sunflower said “I’m not beautiful maybe a little pretty but not beautiful.”
“When someone gives you a complement you’re supposed to say ‘thank you”, said Vincent. Sunflower smiled and said “Thank You”. Vincent told her “You shouldn’t disagree when someone gives you a compliment especially when someone is saying something good about you. Sunflower smiled at Vincent. Sunflower was embarrassed She was not accustomed to complements.
Vincent smiled back at Sunflower then he laughed very softly. Come on lets see this beach that you painted.
Vincent took the handles of her wheelchair and began to push her toward the beach. Sunflower is so excited to be on the beach that she painted and be here with Vincent. They walked on the sand. The sand was easy to push her wheelchair through. She rolled along as if on grass or even the sidewalk. Sunflower didn’t know what or why but she didn’t care. Her chair was moving in the sand and not getting stuck and that’s what mattered. Sunflower could see tall trees with large leaves. She soon realized it was a banana tree. The bananas were yellow and appeared ripe for the taking. Sunflower reached up and took two perfectly ripe bananas, one for her and the ends she gave to Mouse. Sunflower thought how nice the sun felt. She decided to relax for a while and not think about things.

Chapter 4

The Sun was getting warm and the ocean looked so good. Vincent and Sunflower decided to go in the water and see how it felt. Vincent picked Sunflower up by her arms and placed her in his. He walked her to the water’s edge. Vincent placed Sunflower in the water and they began swimming together. The water was so warm that Sunflower’s body began to relax. She was floating on her back. Sunflower said “I did a great job of painting the ocean. This is just what I needed. I had to get away from everyone for a while so I could relax and think about what I wanted to do.” Vincent asked her why she had to get away.
Sunflower let out a large sigh and began to tell Vincent what was going on at home. Vincent said, “I felt you were upset about something.” Just then the Dolphin appeared and announced to Sunflower that it was time for to go back. Sunflower and mouse got onto the dolphin’s back and Vincent touched her arm then asked, “could you do something for me?” Sunflower said “anything.” Vincent then said to Sunflower “when you get back home sell this painting. Maybe someone else needs to get away too.”
“I thought that I was the only one who could go into my painting,” said Sunflower. Vincent said that she can go through her painting only while she is painting the picture. Once it is finished someone else can go through it. Vincent explained that he would find someone who needs to “get away.”

Sunflower asked Vincent in a soft voice, “Will you be the person who guides whoever buys this painting like you were for me?” Vincent shook his head. “I’m only your guide and I will always be near by you to keep you safe. I will always be your friend”. Sunflower hoped that they were going to be more than friends.
Sunflower turned her head when she heard her mom calling. With any luck her mom wouldn’t think she ran away. Sunflower was certain the cops would be looking for her by now if that weren’t the case. She couldn’t explain that she was in the painting because they would think she was a nut job. Instead she called to her mom “I’m over here mom!” Sunflower’s mother walked over and gave her daughter a hug and a kiss on her head. “Where were you? I’ve been calling and I’ve been looking all over for you I’ve been so worried.”
Sunflower said, “I’m so sorry I worried you but I got lost in my painting. I just wanted to finish this painting. I forgot that it was getting so late and you would be worried.”
Her mother looked at her painting. “This is really good. It doesn’t look like it needs any more work. It is really good. The colors you chose made the ocean and the beach look real.”
“Thanks! I’m glad you like it,” said Sunflower. “Mom, would you drop me off at the mall? I want to see if my friend can hang my new painting in his Art Shop. I would like to see if he can sell it. I also need a few things from the mall.”
Mom smoothed Sunflower’s hair away from her face in a loving way. “You are right. It is your life and you know what you body can do. When your body is ready I know you will do what is right. Dad and I had no right to force you to do something you aren’t ready to do. We weren’t listening to you.”
Sunflower cut off her mother’s questions. Her mother opened the car door and helped her in her wheelchair. Her mother kissed her head and told Sunflower she loved her. “When you are finished call me and I will pick you up and bring you home.”
After her mom dropped her off at the mall Sunflower headed for her friend’s art gallery. This was where artists could place their art work to be sold to the public. Sunflower always feels at home anywhere that has art work. Jim’s Gallery was where she sold her very first painting. Jim’s Gallery is where you can buy paints and paper everything artists or anyone else would need. Jim saw Sunflower and started down the hall to her. He yelled to Sunflower in an excited voice. “What did you paint for me to sell?” Jim asked. Sunflower hugged him then she took the beach painting out of her art bag and handed it to Jim. While he was looking at the painting Sunflower was looking at him. Jim has brown eyes with black hair, a farmer’s tan where he is brown from the shirt-sleeves down, because he does clay figuring outside. He was just in a pair of jeans and no shirt. Wow! “Stop it!” Sunflower thought. “I have sex on the brain. And anyway, he has a girlfriend,” She thought. It is good that they’re just friends. Jim couldn’t take his eyes off the painting.
Jim‘s eyes lit up when he saw the painting. Sunflower couldn’t stand it any longer. She asked Jim “do you like it?” Jim laughed and said “no I don’t like it. I love I it!” Jim asked Sunflower what had come over her because this painting “looks like you could just walk right threw it and feel the beach.” Sunflower said under her breath “you don’t know how true that is.” Jim said, “I had a really great time seeing you again.” Sunflower smiled at Jim. “Same deal as before. I get 80percent of the sell. Your commission is 20 percent of the sell” said Sunflower.
Jim told Sunflower to wait a minute while he made up a contract so she could sign it. “I will gave you a call when the painting sells.” When he returned Sunflower signed the contract. They shook hands and she left the store.
Sunflower decided it was too soon to call her mom. Anyway, she needed something at the Mall. She was so happy and felt so good. She hadn’t felt this way in a long time. She looked at all the store windows .She stopped at a store that had a mirror in the window. Sunflower was so surprise she had a sun tan. “This is far out! I have a sun tan and didn’t have to worry about the U.V rays.” She stopped at a book store and bought a journal. She looked in the store window and told herself she needed her hair shaped up. It is way too long and has dead ends she thought. She went in the beauty shop. They weren’t busy so they took her right away and shaped her hair.

Chapter 5
(Need part about pet shop here!)

“You really look good.”
Sunflower looked up to see who was talking. It sounded like Vincent but a cute guy was standing at the check-out line. He has short-brown wavy hair and light green eyes. His face was oval and his nose turned up a little like Vincent’s. “But that is not possible,” Sunflower thought as if in shock. For a second she struggled to get her bearings. Finally, Sunflower smiled. She shook the stranger’s hand and said “hi, my name is Sunflower.” She was in line holding a ball and a bag of bones. “They’re for my dog Mouse” Sunflower said, nodding down toward the bundle in her hands. The young man laughed and said “what a different name for a dog. My name is Vince” he said. “Hello.” “I haven’t seen you here before Sunflower said.” The man said “I just started working today.” He was smiling at her. “Sunflower huh? I like your name and the flower.” “Thank you” she said and handed the money to him. “I left my painting over at my friend’s art store to sell it.” Vince said in an excited voice “you are artist! I like to take photographs outside or whatever else catches my eye” he said. “I will take a picture of it. I’ve sold some you know.” Sunflower smiled and said to Vince “welcome to the art world. You are a photographer.”
After Sunflower left the pet shop she called her mom on her cell phone to take her home. When she got back home she ate dinner. After she ate her dinner she gave Mouse a bone and his new ball. Sunflower has a bath-tub that she can just roll into with her wheelchair and can take a shower. She can stay under the water as long as she wants. After that she wheels herself out of the shower and puts on her nightgown. When she finishes brushing her hair she takes the journal she bought out of the shopping bag. She grabs a pen and puts her wheelchair next to her bed. She locks the brakes on the chair. Sunflower lays the journal and the pen on her nightstand. She turns on the light and slide over to the bed to get comfortable. She picks up the journal. The journal has a furry cover. It is black and white and looks like a skunk, she thinks. But it smells better and it fells like Vincent’s hands and his hair. Sunflower begins to write in the journal. Sunflower began to write in her journal,

Dear Vincent,
I still can't believe it that I was inside of my painting with you and Mouse at the beach today. I still can't believe that somehow I have this wonderful gift that I can go threw my paintings and feel what I painted. Mostly what I enjoyed just being with you on the sandy beach in the sea. I will start a new painting. Until then Vincent my love, sleep well. Sunflower

Sunflower put the journal in her nightstand drawer. The journal has a lock on it with a key. She put the key on a charm bracelet. She always wears it because her friend gave it to her. Her name is Andréa and she lives in New York. She should be coming down in the summer. Both Andrea and Sunflower have matching bracelets. Sunflower smiles when she thinks of her friend. Sunflower slid down in the bed, pulled the covers over her, and Mouse jumped on to the bed. Sunflower forgot to turnoff the light. She asked Mouse to hit the light button. “Please, Mouse. I am too tired and too comfortable to get up and turn them off.” Mouse hit the light button and the light went out.

Chapter 6

In the morning Mouse brought his new ball and dropped the ball onto Sunflower’s stomach. Mouse is licking her face to make her wake up. He wanted her to throw the ball. Sunflower said in a sleepy voice, “Okay Mouse. I am awake.” She threw the ball. She said to herself “some women get a rose, but not me. I get a ball to wake me up.”
Sunflower looked out the window to see what the weather was like. The day is going to be cloudy. Sunflower swung her legs over the bed then gripped the wheelchair arms. She slid herself into her chair. She tells Mouse that was a lot easier today.
Sunflower put on her cut off jeans. The jeans came to her knees with her old Reds T-shirt and gym shoes. She brushed her teeth. She then fixed breakfast; coffee, cereal and toast. Her mom left Sunflower a note. The note said, “Dad is at work. I wentout for a while. But you have my cell phone number and the button to call for help. Love, Mom.”
Sunflower thought, “So this is how they’re going to play it. I won’t do what they want so they gave me my freedom. But they’re going to leave me alone to feel bad for disagreeing with them.” She thought, “Okay, that is fine with me. Maybe I am wrong. I will see.”
Just then the phone rang. Sunflower answered the phone “Hello! Who is it?”
“It’s Jim from the gallery. Sunflower was so excited.

Chapter 7

Sunflower said “Hi Jim what’s up? You don’t roll out of bed until 10:45. I know this because your girlfriend always opens the gallery at 8 for you? ”
Jim said in a stony voice “Yah! Well she’s my ex-girlfriend because I caught her in bed. Not with a guy. But with my sister.” Sunflower was drinking her coffee and choked! Then spit came out of her mouth.
Sunflower asked him in a shocked voice “Did you find them together?” Jim said, “Yes! I came home from work and I just found them in my bed.”
Sunflower was cleaning up the coffee that she spat out in shock. She’s listening to Jim telling her about his ex-girlfriend and his sister.
Jim said, “I should have known at Christmas when I took her home to meet my family. She wanted to sleep with my sister. I thought that she was being shy. That she was embarrassed to sleep with me in my family’s house.”
Sunflower broke in and asked Jim “What did you call me for?”Jim stopped talking then said “Oh, Yah! Your painting sold. Could you come to the gallery to get your check and I want to ask you something.”
Sunflower thought the gallery was not too far away, just two blocks from here. I can plug my wheelchair in at the gallery.
Sunflower said “okay Jim, I can drive my power chair over to the gallery because it isn’t far. It wouldn’t be fair to ask my Mon to drive me there. Could you keep an eye out for Mouse and me?”
Jim said “Okay. Are you sure that you can make it?’’
Sunflower said “Sure. It is about time that I start doing more for myself.”
Jim told her he would watch for her out of the gallery window. Then Sunflower decided to put something nice on. She took off her cut off jeans. It wouldn’t do to go to the gallery not looking so good when she picked up her check. Who knows, maybe Vince will be working, she thought. “I could just wheel by and look in the window and see if he looks up from the check-outline. Maybe we could talk.”
Sunflower changed her clothes to her green knee knockers and a yellow top. She got in her power chair. She put Mouse’s chain on him then said “Come on Mouse Let’s go.” But she stopped at the icebox and got a bottle of water and a bowl for Mouse, in case he got thirsty while they walked to the gallery.

Chapter 8

Sunflower thought again for the two hundredth time why the power chairs companies didn’t make roofs on the power chair. They say don’t get the chairs wet. Hello! What about rain? They don’t understand, or they think that disabled people don’t go out on days that it rains. When she left the house it was cloudy with a slight breeze. But it was muggy and hot. But there was no sign of rain. She though it is just going to be cloudy why should she stay home.
Sunflower took in the morning air while she was walking to the gallery. The trees are green. There was a light breeze moving e leaves on the trees.
Mouse was happy to be taking a walk with Sunflower. They stopped for a break. They both drank some water. Sunflower’s painter’s eyes took everything in so she could remember for her next paintings. She felt so good to just be going out on her own without her mom.
Sunflower walked to Jim’s gallery. He was watching for her when he saw her he yelled hey! Sunflower you made it! Then he asked her “Where is Mouse?”

Chapter 9
Sunflower is listening to Jim and she starts to smile. Then she thinks about Vincent. He had told her the painting would pick somebody who needs it. Jim told her he didn’t sell it for very much.
Jim handed the check to her. She looked at the amount of money on the check. Then she put it into her blue wallet from her purse. Then she told Jim “it’s not so bad really, anyway if one of my paintings brings enjoyment that’s enough.”
Mouse was starting to feel uncomfortable in the big bag and hot and Sunflower battery is ready to go. Sunflower told Mouse okay we’re going. But we have to stop off at the bank to cash this check. It will only take a minute.
After Sunflower cashed the check she started to walk home. She told Mouse I’m hungry. Let’s go through the Burger King drive-thru window. Sunflower got some dumb looks when she went through the drive-thru. The girl in the drive-thru window smiled at her and then said “this is the first time a wheelchair came through the Burger King drive-thru. Good for you!” Just then Mouse barked. The woman looked down and said “what a cute dog!” Sunflower said “thank you, Mouse thanks you also.”
A car drove up behind her and Yelled at her to get out of the way. The woman at the drive-thru window leaned over to Sunflower’s ear then said “Like he needs it.” Sunflower laughed and paid her then left the window.
Sunflower’s mom was really angry at Sunflower for taking her power wheelchair. Sunflower and Mouse had come home to find Sunflower’s mother raging. Sunflower was unhooking Mouse’s chain from his neck. She didn’t see her mom standing there at first. But when her mom asked Sunflower if she had had a nice walk to the gallery Sunflower could tell by her mother’s tone she was angry. “I think that it is too far for you to take your chair” she said. Sunflower told her mom in a happy voice “Mom, today was a good day to take a walk. Not too hot, it is cloudy, a little windy and I brought two bottles of water for Mouse and me to drink on the way. You always tell me that I need to be more independent.” Her mom said in a mad voice “Yes, but I didn’t mean for you to walk that far. Just two blocks! What if your chair broke down or someone tried to hurt you?”
Sunflower started to get angry because her mom was making it sound like the day had been disastrous when in fact it was not.
Sunflower reminded her mom that she was past 21 and that she knew her mother was looking out for her. But Sunflower was starting to do things on her own and it was about time. Sunflower went outside to eat and paint.

After Sunflower and Mouse walked home . Her mom was home waiting for her. Boy ! she was mad at Sunflower because Sunflower took her power wheelchair. Sunflower was unhooking Mouse chain from his neck . She didn’t see her mom standing there. But when her mom ask her did you have a nice walk to the gallery . I think that is to far for you to take your chair. Sunflower told her mom in a happy voice “ Mom today was a good day to take a walk . Not too hot , it is cloudy , little windy and I brought two bottles of water for Mouse and I to drink on the way. You always told me that I need to be more independent ’’. Her mom said in a mad voice “Yes but I didn’t mean for you to walk that far . Just two blocks! What if your chair broke down or someone tried to hurt you? ’’. Sunflower started to get angry because her mom was making her day out by herself into something wrong and it was not.
Sunflower told her mom that I am pass 21 and I know that you are taking care of me . But I am starting to do that on my own and it is about time. Then she went outside to eat and paint.