Dear Diary,

First day in Newcrest. There’s not a lot to see, but that was my goal. I’m not looking to make friends or settle down, or even date just yet. I have too much to do first. I want to paint, to write, to be inspired without losing my voice and vision. I want to be an original. Not the next Picasso or Shakespeare, but something new. Something people will remember generations after I’m gone. I don’t need the distractions of neighbours and night clubs.

That said, it’d be nice if I could afford walls. Or some way of cooking. Cereal is going to get old fast. I’m used to being poor, having grown up without parents, but I may have underestimated how much building would cost when I threw my government grant into buying this lot. I thought it’d be a good investment, a place I could make my own over time—and it still might be, eventually. That didn’t make it any easier when I had to go into Willow Creek to pawn my easel to pay for canvases and paints.

It was a painful decision, but a necessary one. Willow Creek’s Muncipal Muses Museum is known for encouraging free use of their easels, but you have to take your own supplies. If I can make a few good sales, I’ll be able to buy a new easel, and maybe even a stove. One day, with enough hard work, I’ll have walls.

Fingers crossed, anyway. I’ve a long way to go before I get there.

– Avi Abrams