Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Chapter 16

She fixed her gaze on the spot where Ines was standing.

At that moment, Timothy stepped forward, bringing Sheila and Henry with him.

He wanted to see for himself what exactly this "talent and spark" Ines claimed to see in someone's eyes looked like.

Sheila had been into animation since grade school. All these years at Aetherion, she'd even worked on a major project with the renowned director Mr. Smith-so how could she possibly lack talent or spark?

Ines cast a long, searching look at the covered frame, then turned to face the crowd.

She spoke slowly, her voice calm and clear. "I hadn't originally planned to exhibit

this piece. But honestly, I couldn't find a single flaw in it. Today marks the first stop on my national tour, and this is one of the country's landmark animation conventions. After a lot of thought, I decided to bring it out for everyone to appreciate and learn from."

With that, Ines stepped aside and pulled the deep red cloth away from the large frame.

For a moment, it was as if someone had pressed mute on the entire gallery.

The silence was so profound, you could have heard a pin drop.

It was a painting of The Grand Canal, Venice.

palette, the scene

forms, yet everything had

leap from the

was perfectly still, it felt astonishingly alive-each

an animation frozen

thirty long seconds, nobody moved or

Ines

at motion, motion that

something about the piece felt

Of course-paper cutwork.

intricate relief technique made the picture pulse

shattered. Applause exploded

began to fade, Ines raised both hands,

began to explain the piece's

own impression-dynamic yet tranquil, still yet full of

and how the relief-cut technique had been ingeniously

her own design. Instead, it had been a

Will we get

smiled and replied, "Probably not. She found her own happiness-got married and moved on. Talents like hers don't come around often, but all of you who love animation should keep

a deep note

felt a lump in her throat, her eyes shining