"Never wait," Marcel scolded his best friend. "For you may never get another chance such as the one given you freely."
Antonio started, then paused. I've messed up big time, he admitted to himself. But it's probably too late.
He searched for her. She hid herself well.
By the time he found her, she belonged to another.
Antonio returned home, trying to forget. The thought love delayed pounded his chest as word came of her passing. Now, he could freely visit. As he entered the place where all must eventually end their individual journey through various routes, he walked stealthily looking from one headstone to the other.
Finally, he located her.
"While you were away, a voice in the distance warned, I, Death, claimed your love as my own. You and you alone are to blame for you abandoned her in her time of sorrow."
"I did love her. I did."
"As I said, too late. You should have admitted it while she was still among the living. You people are always the same. A day late with love delayed. It would have cost you nothing. Instead, you've lost everything."
Antonio stared at the hooded figure. All he could do was lower his head.
"Go from this place. There's nothing left for you here. She's under my protection now. I know what to do. I know what to say," the hooded figure taunted as he let out a hideous screeching laugh. His entire body doubled over as though he enjoyed witnessing Antonio's agony.
Tears flowed from Antonio's face and landed on his hand loosening the bouquet.
The bouquet slipped from Antonio's hand and landed on Bethany's forehead.
In the post, [nftshowroom X alienarthive challenge for February: nftshowroom X alienarthive challenge for February: love, NFTShowroom has featured all the month's love themed Art minted so far on the NFT Showroom's home page / twitter. Also, Alien Art Hive will be curating participants' blog posts. This challenge was intended for the full month of February. Participants are required to:
- make art incorporating love themes;
- mint it on https://nftshowroom.com/;
- make a blog post about it in Alien Art Hive; and
- use #nftshowroom in your tags
Below are my steps I took to create my third design for this theme.
The information for my mint on NFTShowroom.
Name: Love Delayed
Date Minted: 2/23/26
Link: Love Delayed
Number Minted: 5
Cost: 10 Hive/each
My Creation Process:
In creating the "love" aspect in this design, I wanted to portray love lost as a result of inaction. Humans are not mind readers; therefore, your expressions and outpouring of love and understanding may be the difference between happiness and sorrow.
With that in mind, I called upon one of the stable diffusion programs I use, StarryAI, to build me a scene from the description concept of love. I chose a cemetery setting from the four images I retrieved so as to depict the loss of a loved one. An awesome dark graveyard setting at night with copper glowing moon in the distance. Wooded trees complete the scene. Other StarryAI images include the crows and cemetery headstones.
I also included several pure fractals I created in the advanced fractal rendering program, Apophysis 7X. One fractal resembles a veil I like to use to create an ethereal quality to the scene. Finally, I chose a free-sourced image of a hooded figure with a scythe. He represents "death" who has struck down the female and took her life.
For the female, I chose another free-sourced image that gives the vibe of loneliness with her eyes closed. All the images came together perfectly to reflect the loss of a loved one. The man is visiting her gravesite.
Uploading all images into Canva, my design program, I began with a blank, white canvas. I then added layers of elements. I especially liked the ability to detach the female's head from her body to use as though she's peering from beyond the grave.
 |  |  |  |  |
I then decided to give the still image from Canva a vintage look, to took it to PhotoMosh Pro and applied the VINTAGE filter. The darkness around the edges was the perfect look for the graveyard setting.
Images included in my design:
Hooded figure ~ Female with head turned sideways ~ Pure Fractal titled "Bouquet Of Flowers in Blue" ~ Pure Fractal titled "Flower Incubator" ~ Pure Fractal titled "Veil Multicolored"
Thanks for taking the time to view my post. I hope you like my final mixed media project for the September Geometry challenge.
SOURCES:
a) JustClickindiva's Footer created in Canva utilizing its free background and images used with permission from discord admins.
b) Unless otherwise noted, all photos taken by me with my (i) Samsung Galaxy 10" Tablet, (ii) Samsung Phone, & (iii) FUJI FinePix S3380 - 14 Mega Pixels Digital Camera
c) Purple Butterfly part of purchased set of Spiritual Clip Art for my Personal Use
d) All Community logos, banners, page dividers used with permission of Discord Channel admins.
e) Ladies of Hive banner used with permission of and in accordance with the admin's guidelines
f) Thumbnail Image created by me in Canva.
g) "Flames." What is Apophysis 2.09. https://flam3.com/
If translation included, I use DeepL to assist my readers.
Thanks for your patience and understanding.
Si se incluye traducción, utilizo DeepL para ayudar a mis lectores.
Gracias por su paciencia y comprensión.