Second Date

I'm not sure she gave any reasonable hints that she wasn't enjoying herself... but by the end of the date, she was. Though he certainly wasn't...

The Museum

“I’m not sure I understand whatever that is,” said Rafael squinting his eyes and turning his head sideways to catch a better look.

“It’s not meant to be understood,” said Laura, wrapping herself around his arm.  

This was their second date.  She had been cold to him most of the night, but had brightened when he had suggested they visit the new display of art at the museum.  

“I don’t really get it.  It’s just a bunch of splotches on a canvas,” he said.

“It’s an abstract painting.  It’s meant to mean whatever it means to you and nothing else.”

“Really?” He said playfully.  “It’s supposed to mean whatever I want, eh?  Then to me this is a meaningless blob.  There, I did it.  What do you think?”

“Oh, pooh. You’re such a spoilsport,” she said.  “Like you’ve never heard of abstract art.  Really, give it a shot.  They say that an abstract painting can reveal your soul.  I want to see what you’re made of.”

Rafael shrugged his shoulders and took a look around the room. No one was looking too closely.  They were all walking around the gallery admiring the other works on the whitewashed walls. At least this one, they had left alone for him and Laura to appreciate undisturbed.

He took a few steps closer and leaned forward, until his nose nearly touched the canvas.  He could smell the oil and thinner from the paint, almost as if the paint was still wet.  He had the irresistible urge to touch the pink, red and green swirls.  Just as he stretched his hand out, Laura slapped his arm away.

“What are you doing?” she said.  “You can’t touch that.  Didn’t your parents teach you how to behave in a museum?”

“I guess not,” Rafael said, grinning mischievously.  But he did not stretch his hand to touch the paint again.  He had intended to do so" to deliberately rebel against Laura’s rebuke.  And yet, his hand hovered limply over the painting.  And he backed away from the erratic swirls. The painting was moving.

Rafael felt a wave of nausea hit him as the pink swirls of paint settled onto a different pattern than what had been there before.

“What the hell was that?”  Rafael said.  “Did you see that?”

“Yes, I did.  Good job. You didn’t touch the painting.  I’m proud of you for having the self control to keep from harming a work of art.”  She spoke with sarcasm, rolling her eyes.

“That’s not what I meant,” said Rafael.  “The painting" did you see it move?  Is that part of the work?  Maybe it’s got some 3-D laser projection on it that makes it look like it’s moving…”  

Rafael scratched his head.  He didn’t  really believe that was the case.  The painting had moved.  The oil on the canvas had taken liquid form and moved on its own accord.  It gave him a sick feeling in his stomach.  

“Stop messing around Rafa,” said Laura.  She looked at him with concern, for he had turned pale, sick white and a cold sweat had manifested on his forehead.  “Are you alright, baby?”

“Yea, I’m fine.”  Rafael said.  “Lets just go. I don’t feel like looking at any more art.”

“Alright,”  she said.  

And they began to walk away.  

As they crossed the white hall, Rafael began to see other paintings come to life.  

A painting of a ship out at sea began to splash and crash as the waves undulated beneath it.  Another painting, of a bird in flight shifted.  Then it, too, was alive" the bird flapping its colorful over a vast mountain precipice. And many more paintings, of houses, of children at play, of women dancing" all came alive.

“Don’t you see that?” said Rafael, his voice nearing a shout.  “All the paintings!”

“I don’t understand,” said Laura, worriedly.  “Rafa, what’s happening to you?”

“Happening to me?  What’s happening to me?” Rafael shrieked.  “It’s the paintings! They’re alive.  They’re all moving! And look!  They’re coming out of the canvas!”

He pointed.  The painting of the ship at sea had begun to drip.  The water was pouring out of the canvas in splotches and the bow of the ship was peeking out of the frame.

The women dancing were beginning to climb out of the frame, their black and white painted feet leaving tiny footprints on the white walls as they scaled, one on top of the other down the wall and onto the floor.

Rafael looked around to see if anyone else was reacting to this supernatural display, and yet no one was.  They all just walked around, staring at the now empty frames as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

Suddenly several of the paintings that had made it to the floor began to charge at him at full speed.  The little women dancing sprinted, the bird flapped toward him, the ship and the water splashed along the ground in his direction.  

Rafael screamed and ran.  He tried to pull Laura with him, but she resisted, so he let go of her hand and left her behind.  Arms thrown up, then pulling his hair out by the roots, and charging out the front doors of the museum, shouting.  “The paintings are alive! The paintings are alive!”

Laura stood there for a few minutes, replaying the scene in her head.  Smiling her own mischievous smile, very pleased with her self.

Before long, a large fat man with a handlebar mustache came beside her and crossed his arms.  

“That wasn’t a very nice thing to do Milady,” the man said.

“Did you see that Henry?” said Laura, turning to face the man who was in her service as mentor and teacher in the ways of magic.  

“He just bored me to death,” Laura continued.  “And he was such a persistent guy, I gave him a second date" but he’s just not my type.  I didn’t feel like telling him that I just wasn’t that into him would be enough.”

“It still wasn’t a very nice way to dump a boy. It would have ben better to tell him not to call on you again. Now he’ll have nightmares of tonight for the rest of his life,” said Henry.

“Maybe,” said Laura, considering this.  “But oh, well… what’s done is done.  At least it was entertaining for me to watch.”

“You most certainly are a terrifying force, princess.  I believe that this city doesn’t stand a chance with you.”  Henry smiled grimly.  “May the streets of New York ‘ware you.”

“You know Henry,” she said winking at him.  “I like the sound of that.  May the streets of New York beware me.”

And she left the museum and prowled the bustling streets and nightlife of the big apple.

Reviews

[Taylor]

Interesting write. I enjoyed it, though found the first paragraph or so didn't "hook" me. However I read on and of course once the paintings came alive, my interest was captured.

[Navidson]

This is a quirky little story and a novel way to get out of a date! I particularly liked the way the pictures came to life. That was drawn very vividly for me.
You might want to have another look over this story as there are one or two spelling errors and area that could do with being proof read. Nothing major, but you might want to have a look anyway.
I get the feeling Laura is quite sadistic, otherwise it won't ring true that she wraps herself around Rafael's arm when they are looking at the pictures, unless she knows what is to come.
I get the feeling this could be a taster for a longer story or book.

[Delmar Cooper]

This is well written and thank you for displaying your craft - the dialogue was especially well done, bravo.
For me the ending was a bit like the Greek solution of having a god descend from above and sort out a writing solution, but that's just me. I'd have slipped the philistine a tab of acid.

[Michael Stevens]

Very interesting idea, I wish some of the girls I liked had done something like this, instead of the usual, "Go out with you? I'd rather be hit by a semi!"

[Marie]

Excellent. I wish I'd had Laura's talent for getting out of relationships.

I like the way you made the paintings come to life slowly...here and there...and then all of them out of the canvas and chasing Rafael.

He should never have said abstract painting was just a meaningless blob.

[James]

I found Laura to have zero redeeming qualities so I feel she would make a wonderful evil baddie in a Ghostbuster's type movie, nothing too serious.
I liked some of the wit in the dialogue - okay ...I just contradicted myself, Laura is funny.
I would like to think that this is a preamble to something bigger featuring Laura et al.

Good write