Old Aunt Lisa!

"I'm not giving it back!" Amelie protested.

"You must!" her grandfather pleaded."It is a national treasure, It belongs to the whole nation."

It was just an old picture to her. But national treasure?

She suspected it had come from one of the many museums, long ago demolished after the floods. They had reduced the city center to ruins, and bankrupted the country. And they said global warming was a lie!

"Look child, I was there. The floods robbed us of so many treasures. We must do what we can to preserve what's left," he said, looking saddened.

She looked down at him, all she had left in this world gone bad. She felt pity for him then, and knelt down, stroking his hand.

"Well, I gave good firewood for it, so I'll only trade it for something better," she said, soothing him.

At the window, pulling back the thin drapes, she gazed out at the city, what was left of it. There seemed to be a constant dampness in the air, the earth never ridding itself of the water completely, even after all this time. Grandfather had told her of Its beauty. She so wished she could have seen it.

She turned back to look at him. He had dozed off. The layers of blankets made him look even thinner.

She returned to the fireplace, and unrolled the tube of old canvas.

As the light from the flames danced on the image, she wondered why would anyone think this was priceless?

It looked a little gloomy to her. She couldn't quite make out the expression on the woman's face, but it reminded her of her old aunt.

"Yes," she smiled,"That's who you reminded me of when I saw you, old aunt Lisa"

Yes, poor soul, old moaning Lisa.