[ WP ] `` I knew I could lure you out . All it took was a blank canvas . ''

His eyes opened; without seeing, he reached for the brush, exactly where he'd left it hours ago. He dipped it in the paint - black at first glance, but at a closer look, a shade far deeper. His practiced hands flew over the canvas. Gradually shapes began to form: rugged mountains, foaming river rapids. Skyscrapers. 
 
 He forced himself to focus, to continue his work. He'd failed before out of haste, latching onto the first recognizable image but lacking the clarity for his purpose. What seemed like hours later, as he felt the gentle force guiding his hand wear off, he allowed himself a glimpse of the whole picture. 
 
 His patience had paid off. His finest work, an observer might say. But he had no interest in the pretty cityscape before his eyes. He searched for clues that would give him not just the place, but the time. A park at the meeting of two rivers, in the heart of a city framed by snow-capped mountains, the setting sun slipping behind them - Denver. Children splashing in the water - clearly the peak of summer, possibly just a matter of weeks ahead. Once he was there, he would watch the buildings under construction; soon, he was sure, they would reach the heights at which he had drawn them. 
 
 And then, he knew where to keep watch. He smiled at the familiar form, just off center on the canvas. The figure looked furtive, as if he knew he was being watched - or would be. He was almost too obvious, out of place among the happy crowds. Just as he'd been among the earlier American townspeople, the Dutch burghers, the Florentine revelers, and the Athenian citizens in the trail he'd left through the centuries of pursuit. 
 
 He rolled up the canvas and cleared away the detritus of the ceremony, gathering in the splattered dropcloth the ashes of incense and ancient papers. They were the last items he had that his old friend had handled, wrote on, committed his innermost thoughts to. If he failed again... Best not to think of it. He'd see his friend soon - not just through canvas, but in the flesh. Then it would finally be over.
