They hadn't assigned any roles for this journey. Yet Lu Cia was often first to spot a way through, Colombine something to draw, and Mea a reason to linger. Sometimes all three possibilities occupied the same spot. Then the hardest part was agreeing on which way to look.
An imagined story with the trio, inspired by original Travel2City photographs. Córdoba, Toledo, Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela form a montage of separate stops, not a one-day itinerary. The characters, their actions and the lighting are artistic interpretations.
In Córdoba, Mea looked up and briefly forgot she was walking. Lu Cia stopped beside her, following a row of columns into the distance. Colombine held her sketchbook against her chest. There was too much for a single page. “Which arch?” she whispered. “The next one,” said Mea. Lu Cia smiled. “You say that about every arch.” All three of them were right. So they simply stood for a while, letting the red and pale bands carry on as far as their eyes could follow.
At the viewpoint over Toledo, Mea unfolded a map. Lu Cia found the tower in the city before locating it on the paper. Meanwhile, Colombine was choosing the colour of the rooftops, as though she carried a whole afternoon in her pencil case. “So, which way?” Mea asked. One pointed ahead; the other leaned towards the panorama. A breeze lifted a corner of the map, and all three tried to catch it. They laughed. At least they had agreed on one direction: hands towards the paper, eyes back to the city.
In Barcelona, Colombine opened her sketchbook beside the mosaic. She meant to start simply, with one straight line. Then she looked around. Lu Cia held a pencil upright, as if offering the last available specimen. Mea leaned against the rippling edge and raised an amused eyebrow. “I don't think that belongs here.” Colombine drew a curve. Then another. A small breeze caught her skirt, and Mea smoothed her scarf. For a moment, all three seemed to be part of the same flowing line.
In front of the cathedral in Santiago, they finally sat down together. Mea opened her notebook and tried to sum up what each of them remembered. Lu Cia: arches and the ways between them. Colombine: colours that refused to fit into her sketchbook. Mea: the moments when they had to stop because they were laughing too much to walk. She made three short strokes on the page. “Is that our plan?” Colombine asked, resting a hand on her shoulder. “The cast, for now,” said Mea. Lu Cia leaned closer. There was room enough.
“The cast, for now.”
From notebook to book
The Map with No Last Page
The world of Travel2City continues between the covers of a book. Discover The Map with No Last Page and more illustrated journeys.
