The Modest Painting

By : Gusti Allia Nabila Putri

Once upon a time, in a small village, there lived a charming girl. She lived with her little sister and her grandmother in a small house near the river. The beautiful girl was named Maharani, meaning a smart girl. Honestly, she was astute and talented. She was also very friendly and always helped people. Maharani didn’t go to school due to the condition of her family. However, she was smart because she liked reading books and painting. She sold her paintings for helping her grandmother. 

One day, Kudungga, the rich man in the village, organized a painting competition. The winners would receive a prize from him and would see their painting put at the Town Fair. Maharani, who had heard the news, was very interested in joining that competition. She hurriedly went home to prepare her painting tools and told her grandmother and little sister about the competition. She hoped she would be the winner. 

In the morning, she brought everything that she had already prepared the night before. She went to the competition full of hopes. She also imagined what she would draw later. Suddenly she slipped, and her painting tools fell to the river. She was not careful when crossing the bridge. Fortunately, she could grab several of the tolls fast, but she lost the painting brush. It made her sad.

“Oh no, my painting brush… I can’t paint without my brush,” said Maharani sadly. 

“What should I do now? I don’t have much time to buy that brush again.” She was confused and felt a bit depressed.

“But, I got to go now, or I will be late.” She hurriedly woke up and ran to the competition.

When Maharani arrived, she found none of the villagers joining the competition. Slowly, she sat down on her chair, thinking about the way for drawing, while listening to Kudungga’s speech.

“… Okay, and then there are no rules here. You can paint about nature, and you can also use any tools. Remember! The winner will receive a reward, and the painting will be exhibited at the Town Fair next week. So, you have to make the best painting,” said Kudungga.

After hearing that, Maharani finally got the idea. She would paint using her fingers. 

The competition started. Maharani took off all the paints and mixed the colours. She was very nervous, but she believed that she could do that. One by one, the paint on the canvas showed breathtaking mountain scenery. All the villagers were amazed to see every scratch painted by her. It was a simple painting but looked so perfect. Maharani was also astonished by all of the paintings from the other contestants.

Finally, Kudungga announced that the winner was Maharani. Maharani was very happy. Her painting was effortless, but it deserved her to be the winner and get the prize. The most interesting one was people would see her artwork at the Town Fair.  After the competition, Maharani became a very famous painter. Many people offered to make a painting by her. 

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