This poem came out of the Tuesday, September 3, 2019 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from DW user Satsuma. It also fills the "charcoal" square in my 9-1-19 card for the Arts and Crafts Festival, and the square in my 9-2-19 card for the Ladiesbingo fest. This poem belongs to the Path of the Paladins series. This microfunded poem is being posted one verse at a time, as donations come in to cover them. The rate is $0.50/line , so $5 will reveal 10 new lines, and so forth. There is a permanent donation button on my profile page , or you can contact me for other arrangements. You can also ask me about the number of lines per verse, if you want to fund a certain number of verses. So far sponsors include: DW user Satsuma, DW user Lilliane FULLY FUNDED 291 lines, Buy It Now = $58 Amount donated = $50 Verses posted = 32 of 38 Amount remaining to fund fully = $8 Amount needed to fund next verse = $0.50 Amount needed to fund the verse after that = $2 "As Natural as Walking" Klariffa had never expected to become an artist. She didn't think that there was anything special about her. So what if she drew things whenever a burnt twig or lump of charcoal came to hand? To Klariffa, drawing was as natural as walking. She walked up and down the hills every day, following her parents and the sheep. She drew what she saw, hills and sheep and wild herbs. When a paladin came through the village where they sold sheep and wool, mutton and milk, Klariffa went with the rest of her family. They listened to sermons about beauty and creativity, and nodded, because without that, wool was just animal hair. Then the paladin invited all the youngsters to come and draw on her slate. She told them how to draw things by making simple shapes, and how to use drawings to show someone else what they had seen. When Klariffa's turn came, she took the charcoal, only for it to glow red! Startled, she dropped it, thinking it wasn't out yet -- but it had felt cold. "Well now," said Beshar the paladin, "it seems that Alazar admires your work. Would you like to come with me and spend your days drawing things?" "But -- but I'm to be a shepherdess," Klariffa sputtered. "I'm not a paladin. I just help my parents tend the sheep." "Draw me your sheep," Beshar said. So Klariffa drew the sheep, calling to mind their funny faces and floppy ears, the things that made each one unique. Once she finished, Beshar turned the slate to Klariffa's parents and said, "Name the sheep you recognize." They named every one -- it wasn't that big a herd, after all -- Clover with her spotted face, Honey of the yellow wool, and all the rest of them. But Beshar looked impressed . "Come with me and I'll teach you everything I know," Beshar said. "The Temple of Alazar will send money to your family, and help them find someone to take over your work if they wish it." "Yes, please," Klariffa said. "It's only me and my brother, who married a goosegirl last year and moved in with her -- he has a limp, and geese are easier to keep up with than sheep." Her parents were agreeable, and promised to keep in touch, but urged her to take the opportunity. So when Beshar left the village, Klariffa went along with her. It was very interesting to travel through places that Klariffa had never seen before and have drawing lessons every day . Soon Beshar showed her a pile of pages bound with a string. "Someday, these will become school books," the older woman said, brushing back her black hair deckled with white so it wouldn't hang in her face. "We are helping the paladins of Gailah to create a traveling school." "They're half blank," Klariffa said. "They're waiting for you," Beshar said. "Read the words and draw pictures to illustrate the text on each page." Klariffa could read now -- Beshar was teaching her that too -- and she only needed help with the big words. So Klariffa made drawings to show whatever the words described, in this case edible plants and animals that could be hunted, then Beshar painted them with fixative to keep the charcoal from smearing. "Why didn't you do these?" Klariffa said. "You must be much more skilled than I am." "Because they're yours," Beshar said. "Would you like to see some of mine?" "Yes, please!" Klariffa said with a nod. Beshar opened another bundle of pages and showed her drawings done in charcoal that somehow had colors, parts glittering with silver leaf. "Ohhh," Klariffa breathed, her soul suddenly yearning for those colors. "Teach me! I want to do that!" "Of course, my novice," Beshar promised. "As soon as you have finished your book, I will teach you to draw in color." Klariffa looked at the stack of pages still waiting for her, and then grabbed the charcoal. She'd show them what she could do. * * * Notes: "Drawing is as natural as walking. A piece of charcoal or chalk is like an extension of my forefinger." -- Percy Kelly Charcoal is a popular art medium . A basic set should include several types of charcoal. Tinted charcoals introduce earthy colors before getting into brightly colored pencils . Explore some materials and techniues to draw with charcoal . Once you know a few basic geometric shapes , you can draw anything . Some approaches reduce this to only circles and ovals .