The Art Traveler Amani means dreamer, and that’s what she was. A dreamer. She was a girl who just wanted to get away from everything and everyone after her best friend died in a car crash. Laliah had been her best friend since second grade. The girls did everything together: shopping, laughing, partying, studying, and whatever else you could think of. Laliah was one of the few people that could bring Amani out of her shell. Amani struggled with living in the moment, and Laliah helped her do that. Without her, Amani felt lost, and she has seen no sign of her since the car crash, which made her feel as if she was missing a piece of herself. So she just needed a break before her new beginning in college because everything was getting too much. All she wanted to do was travel as she did with Laliah. And that’s what she did. She traveled. Amani went to their favorite cafe, The Perfect Cup, to grab breakfast on a sunny Sunday morning. Something about that place intrigued her. It’s probably all the pretty art that hangs on the walls. One day she sat down near the window, taking a picture of her bacon, egg, and cheese with her lavender chai tea, she wondered and the painting in front of her was one of their favorites, Water Lily Pond by Monet in Giverny, France. And within a blink of an eye, she was there. She was so happy she could cry. This picture brought her so much joy that it was her lock screen. It reminds her of serenity, and serotonin, and helps her breathe when she can’t. As she was standing on the bridge looking down at the lilies, a man came up to her, the one and only Claude Monet. “I thought you were dead,” cried Amani. “I am, but only in your world, not mine,” Monet replied. “This is probably one of the best days of my life. If only my best friend was here to see this. Can we take a selfie?” Amani asked. “Sweetheart, you need to live in the moment. That’s the problem you have. Let this be for yourself and just take it all in before you are whisked away. It wouldn’t make sense anyway, because I am dead,” said Monet. Amani nodded her head and stood back to observe this beautiful scene and took pictures of it. Later on, she and Monet had Cassoulet together at his cottage for dinner. If only Laliah were here. Before they parted ways, they hugged each other, and Monet gave her some good advice. “The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration. I think you should find richness in something, preferably nature because it never lets you down.” When Amani returned, she thought a lot about what Monet said. “How can someone be so powerful and inspiring even though they are no longer alive?” But she still listened to him. Now, ever since Amani started traveling into art, she started going to art museums and spending more time with nature. These paintings and calm nature scenes cleared her brain and helped her deal with the pain of losing Laliah. One day, she went to The Art Institute of Chicago. The AIC has one of the largest Monet collections in the world (the girls’ favorite artist). As she was walking around, she saw Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (Luncheon on the Grass). As she was about to take a picture, she got sucked in. She learned the people were on their annual family picnic. When Amani asked why the other family members weren’t featured in the picture, one lady said, “Because we are the outcasts of our family. They love us, yet they don’t understand us.” That resonated with Amani a lot because she feels like people don’t understand, except for Laliah and her family. Without her, everything seemed harder, and she had trouble living in the pres-
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