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The girl woke to find herself in a large and warmly lit room. Across from her, she could see a wall adorned with rich paintings and antique rugs. The floor, what she could see of it, was carpeted as decadently as the walls, in deep reds offset by intricate patterns of various colors. In the far corner to her right stood a statue. It appeared to be made of marble and, despite its vulgar depiction, merged well with the ancient feel of the room. She had seen it before but could not recall where.
As seemed to always be the case, Jerry was there. He was directing the activities of the workers who were installing the frame she inhabited into the wall behind her. The whirring sound of drills brought her more fully awake and she realized that the frame was being fixed to the wall.
“Alright, bring in the back, secure it and we’re done”, said an unseen voice.
Behind her, she heard the scraping of metal against metal as the men pushed the back piece into place behind her. More whirring of drills could be heard as they fastened the back piece in place.
“Bill, check to see that the stimulator is working”, Jerry called out. A moment ticked by. Suddenly the girl stiffened, her body tensing from the low amperage current flowing through her body.
“That’s good. Now set the timer for regular nightly intervals”, he told the man. “We don’t want this piece to whither into atrophy.”
“Is it ready?” asked an unseen voice.
“Ah, Francis…yes, it’s ready”, Jerry responded. “Come see what we have wrought.”
She watched then, as the man who had commissioned her horror came to stand beside Jerry. For many moments they stood, silently admiring the girl. Then her eyes lost focus and she drifted into daydreams, thinking of the things she should and should not have done. She never should have been out alone on that night when Francis had picked her up, nor should she have accepted his offer of a ride. She should have turned him down. She should have been more cautious. Above all, she never should have cooperated with Jerry, no matter how much pain she suffered. It had been a terrible pain, but not so terrible as this.
“I deserve this”, she thought. Then she closed her eyes, praying for the release of sleep.
“I’ve one last thing to show you, Francis”, Jerry said to the man.
“What is it?”
“We needed an artists rendering of your drawing…something our engineers could more fully grasp. It seems that our artist got a bit carried away. At any rate, it was so strikingly beautiful that I decided to have it framed for you. I think you’ll like it”, he told the man, ripping the paper from the formerly unseen painting.
Within a frame exactly like the one that now decorated Francis’ wall, was a painting of brilliant tones. Set against a midnight background was a mass of three spider webs. Trapped within the strands of web was a girl. She was well shaped and beautiful, her muscles straining to free herself from her predicament. Spread out and clinging to the web holding her fast, were tresses of long auburn hair. Most striking, however, were the girl’s steely gray eyes. Filled with sad resignation, they held fast, staring into nowhere.
“It’s marvelous!” Francis whispered.
“Do you think she would agree?” Jerry asked the man.
After placing the picture within sight of the girl, Jerry reached out, tickling her right foot. Her eyes opened slowly at the surprised stimulation.
“I want you to see something”, Jerry told her.
She focused on Jerry, arm held out directing her gaze. Following Jerry’s
directing arm, her eyes came to rest upon the painting.. Slowly, the visual
of the artists rendering sank in. Staring into the depths of the painting, she
gave a brief inward chuckle. “How horribly and ironically artistic”,
she thought. Then she joined the girl in the painting, staring off into nowhere.
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