The Painting of Tomorrow

,In a small town named Selima, known for its love of art and culture, lived a passionate artist named Richard. He had inherited an old mansion from his great-grandfather, which became his studio and house - a mammoth structure that hovered ominously on the outskirts of the town like a spectral presence.
One quiet evening, while exploring an unvisited part of the mansion, Richard stumbled across a hidden room. Inside, covered by layers of dust, he found an unusual color palette and a large canvas. The palette had a mystic allure, its colors vibrant yet unknown to Richard. The canvas, on the other hand, was old but in pristine condition. Intrigued by this inexplicable discovery, Richard decided to use them for his next masterpiece.
The very next day, impassioned by his new tools, Richard began to paint. The strokes flowed freely onto the canvas, like a dance between the brush and the colors, creating an abstract artwork. Pleased with the outcome, he set the painting aside to dry and retreated to his chamber for the night.
As dawn broke, he shuffled back to his studio to marvel at his creation. However, an uncanny sight left him dumbstruck. The painting he left unfinished the previous night was not the same. The abstract pattern morphed into a realistic artwork depicting a massive fire engulfing the local town church. He blinked at it, puzzled and slightly disturbed.
That very afternoon, a loud bell tolled from the town center. The church, the same venerable structure that stood strong for centuries, was engulfed by an inexplicable fire. Richard stood amongst the crowd, staring at the burning church and then at its replica in his painting, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.
Shaken, he returned to his mansion and decided to test the power of the palette and canvas again. He completed another painting, this time of vague waves. The next day, the painting depicted a violent sea-storm, and news of an unexpected tempest devastating the neighboring coastal town reached Selima that afternoon.
Richard finally made the connection - whatever he painted, morphed into a future event by the next day. The painting of tomorrow, he thought, aghast but also intrigued.
He was cautious of this newfound power; he could either use it for the woe or welfare of his town. He chose to save Selima from future misfortunes. Every day, he would create a painting and wait for it to transform by dawn to foretell the events of the day to come.
Richard soon became a local hero, preventing several accidents, warning people against storms and drought, saving lives, and the fortune of his town — all through his prophetic art.
For years, Richard carried on this unusual routine until one evening, the signs of his age caught up with him. He painted for the last time, and woke up to an image of his mansion with its doors and windows sealed, standing silent under the moonlit sky.
The very next evening, Richard peacefully passed away, leaving behind a legacy of mysteriously prophetic artistry. His story was told over and over among the generations, recycled in the hushed whispers of the evening winds that echoed through the empty mansion.
Yet, deep inside the desolate structure, the magical palette and canvas lay untouched, waiting for another artist to unravel the secret of the painting of tomorrow.