The Artist's Disappearance : A Freewrite

The enchantment had bestowed a vibrant air of delight and mystery to Verdant Hollow, but as the weeks went on, the preliminary amazement started to give way to worry. Malcolm - the unpretentious creator who had provided this unbelievable transformation to the township - was missing in action.

People assembled in the town square of Anchor City, their expressions of anxiety evident and their tones muted with apprehension. It was as if the vivid colours and extraordinary beings that had flowed from Malcolm's artworks were now sad souvenirs of his lack of presence. This enchantment had been transformed into a bittersweet offering.

Mulberry stared intensely and applied her thrifty intellect in the situation. She pretended to be apprehensive, giving compassionate glances and allotting consolation to the people laboring with Malcolm's circumstance. Yet shrouded under her empathy was a twisted contentment. For her, Malcolm's vanishing was a way for her to slip out of his shadow and into the recognition she felt warranted.