150 Strange
Yin Tao looked at the black and white drawings in her hands as her brows knitted tightly together.
The first few pages were still alright. They were all drawings of common daily necessities, such as a pair of scissors, wine bottles, drinking glasses, and so on. However, as she turned the pages, the drawings became more and more disturbing.
In fact, these could not be considered drawings at all. They were just random graffiti. It was difficult for Yin Tao to associate these messy and even terrifying lines with this innocent and adorable little girl in front of her.
These drawings were completely different from those she saw in the classroom. The drawings in this sketchbook seemed random and messy. The strokes were especially forceful, such that the ink went through to the pages behind. Yin Tao felt that Shanshan must have been in a terrible mood when she drew these, it was as if she was venting her emotions through these drawings.
Yin Tao’s gaze paused on a rather complicated drawing. It was another black and white drawing, but she could see that there were a total of four people in it. There were two small black figures in the middle of the picture and their faces were completely blacked out with a black pen.
The remaining two figures were clearer. They stood on both sides of the picture, but their faces were blank. They formed a sharp contrast with the two people on the ground whose faces had been smeared black.
The background was filled with messy lines, and there were things that vaguely looked like windows and cabinets.
“Shanshan, what did you draw here?” Yin Tao couldn’t help but ask Shanshan curiously.
Yin Tao looked into Shanshan’s eyes and realized that she had no intention of answering her. She had no choice but to continue flipping the pages.
On the last page, Yin Tao saw that Shanshan had drawn an especially tiny girl in the bottom right corner of the entire page.
“Is this you?” Yin Tao deduced from the girl’s hair that Shanshan had drawn herself.
Shanshan nodded and didn’t say anything else.
Yin Tao felt that it would be difficult to understand what Shanshan was really thinking.
After flipping through a few more pages, Yin Tao found that the subsequent drawings were a little more normal. They were mainly plants and landscapes.
Closing the book, Yin Tao felt a gamut of emotions. Yin Tao was able to briefly communicate with Shanshan regarding those straightforward drawings, but she wouldn’t respond on the more disturbing ones.
Yin Tao felt that Shanshan was a bright child. Although her drawings were a little strange, she had a level of patience that was beyond her age.
“Shanshan, let’s play a game. You will draw what I say, ok?” Yin Tao had studied a little psychology before becoming a forensic doctor. She wanted to understand Shanshan’s thoughts and psyche better through her drawings.
Shanshan took out a black ballpoint pen from a small drawer beside the bed and sat obediently beside Yin Tao. She flipped to a blank page in her sketchbook and seemed eager to start drawing.
“Alright, Shanshan. Try drawing a house on paper.” Yin Tao described the scene she wanted Shanshan to draw while watching her draw seriously.
“Now draw the people living in the house.”
Shanshan drew very quickly. Yin Tao saw that she had only drawn a little girl in the house and had no intention of continuing.
“Draw a sun, two clouds, and a tree. You can draw these in any position you want.” After Yin Tao finished speaking, she stood beside Shanshan and watched her intently.
After Shanshan finished drawing, Yin Tao roughly analyzed her mental state.
Shanshan’s personality was just as she seemed. She was a little timid and sensitive. She would not take the initiative to communicate with others, nor would she ask others for help. She preferred to try to solve problems herself.
“Shanshan, don’t you want to add more people to the house? You can add pets too?” Yin Tao gestured for Shanshan to add more characters, but Shanshan shook her head.
She flipped over a few pages and pointed to the center of another drawing that Yin Tao looked at earlier. She said calmly, “Dad and Mom are here. They don’t live in the house now.”
“Dad and Mom?” Yin Tao was a little confused by Shanshan. She looked at the strange drawing again, and suddenly realized that there was a rather abstract eye in the gap of the cabinet door on the right side of this drawing.
Yin Tao felt that there was a hidden message in this drawing. She squatted down and held Shanshan’s hands as she asked, “Shanshan, can you let me keep this sketchbook for a while? I really like your drawings. I want bring this home and take my time to admire them.”