Doodling (standard:non fiction, 1088 words)
Author: meg malpas	Added: Jan 29 2009	Views/Reads: 3331/2134	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
This story is just observations of doodlings I have seen in different places I have worked.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

was drawn a garden fence and the ivy made its way up the fence to catch 
the sun.  This was shown to be coming in rays through the branches of a 
tree which came up from the other side of the box. 

The more I looked at the doodling the more details I saw. A bird box of
particularly good shading on the fence and a, not so well drawn, slug.  
He was eating one of the ivy leaves. 

This was the work of more than one pair of idle hands. How long I
wondered had this box sat here.  It reminded me of a phrase  my late 
Father told me was used in the R.A.F.  “If it moves salute it and if it 
doesn't move paint it.” The busy clinic got going and it was much later 
that morning that I found myself sat on that chair beside the box.  As 
the cardiologist discussed treatments with his patient  it became too 
tempting.  I added a little ivy, trying to keep to the same style of 
leaf.  Though I am no artist it did seem to blend in as all nurses use 
black ball-point pens.  The reason for this is in case any records may 
need to be photocopied. 

A week later I found myself working in that same consulting room and by
then the ivy had made its way down the side of the box and over some 
well-drawn discarded plant pots. The shading acheived by a ball point 
pen was amazing and gave an almost 3D effect to this growing doodle. 

While setting up the clinic I put out leaflets on various tests for
heart conditions displaying them on top of the box with a sort of 
guilty feeling as if to hide the non-nursing activities.  Later a small 
contribution of leaves was all I dared add to what was becoming a real 
piece of art.  It made me wonder how many budding artists are out there 
undiscovered. 

The following week the box was gone. The new chest of drawers was
housing forms and equipment in the next consulting room. 

Surely the porters who clear away the cardboard boxes must have
appreciated the beauty. Even recycling, though an admirable principle 
did not seem good enough for what appeared to show more talent than a 
lot of the items we are asked to call art today. 

Word count  1021 Short Story : DOODLING by Meg Malpas 


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