The Old Guitarist

section of museum: Picasso

name of artist: Pablo picasso

title of the work of art: The old guitarist

date work of art was created: Late 1903- early 1904

source(s) used for your historical fiction: https://www.revolvy.com/page/The-Old-Guitarist

writing prompt: Write a story about a little boy who is intrigued by the old man, and how he gets into problems with his family due to bond he begins to build with the old man.

historical fiction (8-10 sentences): It was the year 1903 and I am from Barcelona Spain. On my way to school, I noticed a blind, homeless man on the side of street playing his guitar. He seemed very blue but played his guitar with such passion and emotion. I was so intrigued by the way this man was playing without being able to see, but I have been told that i cannot speak to strangers and as days passed, I tried to ignore that beautiful and passionate sound of his guitar until one day i went over to him and asked him where he learned to play so beautifly. He told me where he had learned and so much more, it is as if he had been waiting for someone to go over to him for years. It became a habit of mine to go over to the old man, give him what had been my lunch of the day and and listen to his many stories everyday after school. He once told me the story of how he lost his sight and his wife, in a fire that had occured some time back. I genuinely had a good time with the man, that was until one day when I arrived at home with the bad news that a family member of my dad’s had died due to suicide. None of us expected anything like this and my family was quiet devastated and did not want to live in Barcelona any longer. I had grown quite attached to the old man and had even gotten into arguments with my family because of it. I know that what had occurred was terrible but i did not think it was a reason for us to move, and i expressed this to my parents after some time even bringing the old man into the situation because he would certainly die if I left. I am only a kid so could convince my parents to stay. So i finally accepted we had to leave and went to see the old man before. I explained to him the situation and smiled, as I asked him to play one last time for me. He did and with tears in my eyes I left him there in his corner in which i had met him months ago. It is the year 1904 and i am back in barcelona. My family had decided to come back for financial reasons and the first thing I did when i got there was go around the entire neighborhood asking for the old man that played the guitar. No one had an idea of what had happened to him until I finally found someone who did, a barber who had seen how close me and the old man had gotten explained to me that not that long after i left he passed away. I was heartbroken but in the end I got to take with me his stories and I can sometimes even hear his music in my dream.