Short Stories - {for Contests}

Lost in Art

I starred at the beautiful intricately painted cavas. The colours swirled and mixed with each other and it seemed to lift off of the canvas. It tempted me to touch it. My hands stretched out in front of me slowly moving towards it.

"We aren't allowed to touch the paintings in museums," Lenna whispered to me. It brought me out of my trance and my hands dropped to my sides.

"And these are Seurat's best peices." A brunette dressed in a pant suit came around the corner. A group of people trailed behind her, looking around with wide eyes. "Remember to not touch the paintings or else you get sucked into them."

The group laughed but the woman kept a serious expression. The laughter awkwardly died of as she continued down the hall to other sections of the museum.

"Do they actually think people believe that?" I shook my head, straight, black strands of hair fell into my eyes. "That's something you would say to kids."

"Yeah but you can actually get in trouble for touching them, so don't," Lenna scolded. We continued to walk down the hall looking at different paintings.

I paused to look at another painting by Seurat. People stood on green grass that stretched as far as she could see. There was a lake with white sailboats floating atop. It was beautiful and the more I stared at it the more it started to draw me in. Suddenly, I couldn't hear anything. And all my attention was on the painting. My hands started to reach out in front of me but I was not controlling it. It slowly extended until my fingertips felt the soft painting. Suddenly everything went black.

My body felt like it was floating. Soon the ground felt soft. I could feel the breeze blow through my hair and hear people talking. I wasn't in the museum anymore. I opened my eyes to see people walking around on fresh green grass. To my left there was a lake spotted with white sail boats. Women, men and children walked across the grass or sat on it. Some had umbrellas over their heads but the sky was blue. Most of the women wore Victorian style dresses and huge hats. I knew I wasn't in the 21st century anymore and I was in the painting.

A woman with a pink dress, that flowed down to the ground, a red overcoat worn over it and a pink hat on her head, walked towards me with a red umbrella. To her side was a small child with a white dress on and a white hat. They continued walking as if I wasn't there and they passed me without even glancing in my direction. Can these people see me?

I walked towards the woman sitting on the grass in front of me. A young girl sat beside her. Her blonde hair held up by a bow and a bouquet of white flowers in her hands.

"Excuse me. Where am I?" I asked. The woman continued to stare ahead and the young girl continued to look down at her flowers.

Did I actually get sucked into the painting? How do I get out?

I turned around looking for some way I could go back. My eyes met with a man on the other side of the grass. He leaned against a tree and he wore a black suit. I started to walk towards him as he continued to stare at me.

"How can you see me?" was the first thing I asked. He didn't answer but he was still looking straight at me. "How do I get out of this?"

He got up off the tree and leaned on his cane. Without a sound he raised his hands and made big sweeping motions through the air.

A black circle formed, suspended in the air. It grew bigger as the man's arms dropped to his sides. He continued to stare at me and still said nothing.

Maybe I'm supposed to go through it. I raised my arm and slowly touched the black circle. It cause the air around it to ripple and I quickly drew back my hand. I touched it again but then I shoved my whole arm through it. It continued to get bigger. It was almost as big as my entire body.

I stepped into it and it swallowed me whole. Everything was black around me and I wasn't stuck in the painting anymore.

Suddenly I opened my eyes to a woman's face looking down on me. Her brown hair hanged loosely around her face as she examined mine.

"Are you okay?"

"Where am I? Where's Lenna?" I tried propping myself up on to the cold hard floor. I looked around the small room. It looked like a storage room. It had a few canvas' propped into a corner and some equipment in another.

"You touched the painting. Do you think I was joking when I said you would get sucked in?" That's when I realized it was the tour guide from earlier. I didn't answer and swallowed hard. "Look these paintings take you back to the past. That's why we tell you not to touch them."

"What do you mean they take you back to the past?" I shook my head as I rubbed my temples. I think I was going crazy.

"The artists, they were not only artists, they had the power to create portals and a lot of them did when they painted."

"Wait so who was that man? The one that helped me get out?"

"What man? No one is supposed to see you when you go in." I stared at her my mind running with questions. I got up from where I stood my body feeling limp and not my own. She did the same and straightened her suit. After a while her eyes widened as if she realised something. "Y- you need to go back. It's not possible."

Her hands were shaking as she spoke. I furrowed my brows and asked, "What's not possible? What's happening?"

She looked at me with wild eyes and placed both hands on my shoulders as she shook her head. "He shouldn't be there. This is really bad."