Somewhere! (Hunaak!) (8 page)

Oh my God! I remembered it! This was the Mona Lisa! It had subtle differences from the Mona
Lisa that I knew. It was much clearer and brighter; it was full of life and had considerably more details!

“
Da Vinci!” — I exclaimed.

Mr. Leo stopped painting and the musician too stopped playing. He slowly turned towards me as if I had committed a heinous crime.

“My name in Leonardo!” — He exclaimed

“
Yes Sir, I know you! Leonardo da Vinci!” — I said.

“
I prefer you call me Leonardo, da Vinci is not a name, but a title they placed on me when my father refused to associate me with his family! So they associated me with the Vinci village as they do foundlings” — Mr. Leonardo explained.

“
Excuse me Mr. Leonardo, I did not know. What is important is that I remembered! I remembered your painting! The Mona Lisa!” — I said with joy.

“
You still insist that! She is ‘La Gioconda Lisa’!” — Mr. Leornardo mumbled it to himself as he went back into the painting and added a few final touches to her eyes.

“
And what does it matter if it was La Gioconda Lisa Gherardini, Isabel De Aragon, Cecilia Gallerani or Costanza d'Avalos… or a portrait of me personally? Who cares about a bunch of miserable aristocrats? The painting is more important than me or them! We wither, vanish and are forgotten, but our work remains!” — Mr. Leonardo whispered while remaining extremely focused.

Mr. Leonardo put aside the brush and studied his painting for a moment before he stood up.

“Are you done?” — I asked him.

“
Done adding some details. Ingenuity is a voyage that starts but does not end!” — he added.

“
But, surely, you must finish the painting someday?” — I asked.

“
Ingenuity only stops with death itself! I have never finished any work I had ever started, I only keep improving and adding touches, it is idiocy to think that perfection is possible… at least not in life!” — he exclaimed.

“
Mr. Leonardo, I am truly happy to have this honor. The honor of learning art and drawing from the world’s greatest artist!” — I said.

I think I uttered complete foolishness that forced his eyes to widen:

“Art? Drawing? Did you come here to learn how to draw? Because you merely consider me an artist? You can go through art books and videos to become a talented artist if that is what you aspire to!” — he said.

His response made me squirm.

“uhhh… I came to learn everything!”
—
I added.

“
Everything? If you search for everything you will get nothing!” — he said.

I followed him as he passed one of the tower
’s doors going towards the garden.

“
You must know exactly what you are looking for!” — He went on explaining as he pointed towards a few pigeons that gathered underneath a shade of a tree.

“
Can you capture all of these pigeons?” — he asked.

“
No! I must focus, focus on the pigeon that I want to capture” — I said that as the trance of an aspiring student flushed through my veins. As I carefully approached the pigeons, I set my focus on the one that seemed to be the least active. I charged with speed and skill, but all of that did not help, all of the pigeons flew away as I slammed into the tree. I could almost hear the pigeons giggling gloat along with their clapping wings. I think Mr. Leonardo was in absolute regret! I turned towards him and found him absorbed drawing on a paper. Once he finished, he turned towards me

“
Look! This is what I want you to learn!” — he said.

“
Drawing? Did you not just say that I can learn this from simple tutorials?” — I asked.

“
Husam, focus! I have captured all the pigeons!” — he exclaimed.

I looked at the
drawing, it was an art piece even though he drew it in just a mere moment and with just a coal pen! He drew the entire situation with full detail, the pigeons as they flew away, every pigeons’ movement, every wing flap, every feather, it was like a photograph printed with black ink.

“
What I want you to learn is ingenuity and creativity! This is to utilize God’s greatest gift to you: your brain!” — he said.

He went on as he paced in his farm while I followed him. I took out my notebook and pen to write down the jewels he had given me. A black horse came towards us and stood next to Mr. Leonardo and leaned with respect as if welcoming our arrival. The horse was shining as if it had been cast from
metal, Mr. Leonardo petted the horses neck with the respect that is only given to an intimate old friend.

“
Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Cervello, my dearest friend!” — Mr. Leonardo told me.

I was intrigued by the horse
’s name that meant “brains” in Italian.

“
Mr. Cervello must be the luck horse that was honored to appear in a lot of your work!” — I said trying to showoff my knowledge of Mr. Leonardo’s work.

“
You consider him just a horse! No one understood that I was symbolizing my brain! Our brains, Husam, are like horses. You can set them free and allow them to race the wind or you can tie them to work a plow! Your choice!” — he added.

“
And most people unfortunately tie their horses to plows!” — I added while trying to build on his philosophy.

“
Most people slaughter their horses!” — he added.

“
How do I become creative then?” — I asked.

“
Set your imagination free!” — he said.

“
To fly as fast as the wind?” — I asked.

“
No!” — He said.

“
Huh?” — I asked.

“
Faster than the wind, faster than lightning, to fly in the sky!” — He yelled at me.

“
I understand! Your brain must fly outside the box!” — I said.

“
No! Out of every box is another larger box! You must learn to move amongst boxes when you need them, and get rid of them all together when they are in the way! That is the first step… and the most important!” — He said.

I was so trying my best to write everything he
was saying as fast as I could.

“
What is the second step?” — I quickly asked.

He picked up my notebook and pointed to it.

“This! Ideas in your head are like the pigeons that flew when you tried catching them, the only way to capture your ideas is to document them before the flee from you and someone else captures them!” — he said.

He handed me back my notebook and I quickly wrote down what he said along with a simple sketch of the pigeons so that I would never forget that moment. He showed me his drawings, writings and thoughts, this man truly never stops thinking and writing down his thoughts, his ideas were ahead of his time by ages
… simply because he had not haltered his wild brain’s movement! I was so dazzled by his work.

“
Mr. Leonardo the inventions that you had drawn have seen the light centuries after your time!” — I added.

“
I know! How unfortunate! People had taken so long to make them because they were too busy accusing me of being crazy instead of improving on my ideas!” — He said.

“
I think these people have made you suffer a lot!” — I added.

“
On the contrary, you must feel excited and honored when the foolish say you are crazy! They will never stop unless you become a fool yourself” — he quickly responded.

“
Mr. Leonardo, are there other important steps for the growth of creativity?” — I asked.

“
Thank you!” — he responded.

“
Huh?” — I said.

“
Thank you for respecting creativity and choosing the word -growth- sure creativity is a creature that lives in the depths of your soul, it is born out of passion and grows with continuous work!” — he said and continued.

“
I read everything about you Husam, you think you have passion for a lot of disciplines, don’t you?!” — he continued.

I nodded as I wished he would not embarrass me by going through the details of my lazy washout life, but he did.

“Yet, you have only mastered playing cards and computer games! There is a huge difference between those who love art and collect expensive paintings and those who live to draw them even if they died of starvation. There is no comparison between those who love music, sports or movies and those who compose, win championships or the Oscars!” — he added.

“
Mr. Leonardo, to you, Creativity is to win championships and collect prizes?” — I asked.

“
Would you dare consider yourself Creative in any given field without out-achieving everyone else?” — he asked.

“
Then, I must raise the bar of my ambition. I remember the saying
'Persist to get to the Moon. Even if you fail, you shall not miss out on the stars!’
” — I said.

“
Who said that ambition needs a bar? Only laggards echo such words as preemptive excuses for their upcoming failures!” — he added.

Mr. Leonardo was moving towards one of the
towers on the far edges of the castle while I was following him around like a lost kid. As we climbed the stairs to the top of the tower, I felt as if he wanted to get rid of me or maybe even throw me off of the top of that tower because of all of my smart ass interruptions. With every word he said, he shock many of my previous convictions.

“
Passion alone is delusion, work alone is a waste of time, creativity without any of them is a cripple, can you climb these stairs on one foot?” — He asked.

He was jumping up those stairs with such energy that it did not
—at all
—
correlate with his gray hair. I was barely able to keep up with his speed, I would almost faint and so would my brain as I tried writing down everything he said. I had to interrupt him many times just to keep up.

“
Surely I must walk with passion and hard work to make it to the top!” — I said.

“
I told you there are neither bars nor summits! You must walk as fast as you can without rest before
he
catches you!” — he said.

“
Before my competition catches me?” — I tried to clarify.

“
Before
death
catches you!” — he exclaimed.

I now declare my despair of ever-guessing the correct answer to any of his statements! He continued as we reached the top of the tower.

“Creativity, Husam, is an endless race. If you start, you must never stop until you master it! Or
death
beats you to it!” — Mr. Leonardo said.

“
I guess this is why you are the Master of Art, Creativity and Invention of
all times
!” — I said.

“
All times
? Times have not yet ended!” — he said.

“
Your hint lays a huge burden on
our
shoulders!” — I added.

“
On
your
shoulders alone! Do not avoid your responsibility! Had I had a camera, I would have captured those pigeons in a blink; had I had a voice recorder, I would not have wasted my time writing; had I had the Internet, I would have shaved-off years of study and research; had I had a computer, my manuscripts would not have been lost and my paintings would have never faded! How I envy
your
times! And how I am angered by your excuses! You have no excuse for thousands of Leonardos appearing and being ahead of their times!” — he added.

As he finished that sentence, we had arrived to the A
ntiques Room atop of the tower. He extended his hand inviting me to the fancy table filled with delicious delights

“
You must be getting hungry by now Mr. Husam” — he added.

“
An invite to the last supper!” — I replied.

“
The first and last supper!” —he responded as he  smiled to my witty hint.

“
What an honor this is…” — I said only to pause as I launched my attack on the platters. I was truly hungry and continued my statement “…that I am invited into the master piece that forced the world into modern art!
”

“
Stop your flattery Husam, I believe that the mental and physical exhaustion you have gone through deserves this feast.” — he added.

“
The exhaustion will vanish when I achieve my dreams Mr. Leonardo!” — I added.

He shook his head denying what I said as he picked up a soft piece of hot bread and split it in half.