[Interior: A dimly lit studio filled with canvases, sculptures, and half-burned candles. The smell of paint and smoke lingers in the air. Katniss Molotov pulls a cloth off a large canvas, revealing a fiery explosion of color—red, black, and gold colliding like a revolution frozen in time.]
Katniss Molotov:
Well, Joe… here it is. My latest piece. I call it Ashes Before Dawn.
Joe Jukic:
(steps closer, eyes narrowing)
Looks like a city burning… but also rising. There’s something almost alive in it.
Katniss:
That’s the point. Destruction and rebirth. Every empire falls, but the sparks always feed the next fire.
Joe:
(smiles)
That’s you all over, Katniss. Flames and fists. It feels like you’re painting a manifesto.
Katniss:
Maybe I am. I want people to feel shaken when they see my work. To stop pretending life is safe, neat, or quiet.
Joe:
(runs his hand along the edge of the canvas)
It’s raw. Like it was painted with gunpowder and tears.
Katniss:
(laughs)
Close enough. There’s charcoal from a protest fire mixed in the paint. Real smoke, real rage.
Joe:
Of course there is. You’re not the type to just buy paint off a shelf. You’ve got to make it bleed first.
Katniss:
(locks eyes with him)
And you—you’ve got to make sure people see it. You’ve got the words, Joe. I’ve got the fire. Together, maybe we can burn a hole through the silence.
Joe:
(nods slowly, almost reverently)
Then let’s do it. Let’s set the canvas on the world and see if it catches.