Chasing Shadows in the Dark
A Micro Fiction.
The show lights are eerie in the dark. Statues monstrous in the shadows, and painted faces appear tormented in their permanence. I’ve been on the job for months and the graveyard shift still gives me chills. The air-ducts creak, but otherwise it's so quiet my heartbeat echoes in my ears.
I start on my path, weaving through the displays. I swear I hear a scuffing somewhere but I find nothing save the rattle of vents and the hiss of purified air. I slice the darkened corners with my torch before returning to my circuit.
I pause at the panel, my peripheral certain it saw a flicker on one of the screens. It's like chasing a shadow in the dark- I find nothing. Each display case is undisturbed, priceless artefacts resting in velvet unperturbed.
It’s not until morning when the lights are all on, and the haunted shadows are evicted, that I realise something is missing. The artworks have all been cut from their frames.
I had avoided their eyes all night, hidden from their torment, blinded myself from seeing the blade of some miscreant thief. Investigation finds a loose vent as their egress.
I do not miss the haunted stares.
About the Creator
Obsidian Words
Fathomless is the mind full of stories.
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The Blind Woman at the Bus Stop
He was a callous bastard. This proved it all the more. I knew it from junior school. He'd take a kid's sandwich, bite into it, spit it out and crush the rest in front of them. His laughter would be maniacal, especially if the kid cried.
By Rachel Deemingabout 2 hours ago in Fiction
Comments (2)
Oh, I enjoyed this very much. I wrote a similar story, ironically; there's something fun about paintings, their stares, their potentially hidden lives. To pair that and thievery just seems natural (and fun), as though an art thief is called by the art itself, like an entity inside the frame is using a body to meet its desires. The speaker here is very interesting; missing a thief in plain sight because you're actively avoiding looking at the art you're there to guard is just very fascinating.
A wonderful micro fiction! Just whatever happened to the guard afterwards, I wonder...