The branches on the tree outside his window swayed in time to the rhythm of the cold winter wind as he drew his curtains on suburbia, shutting out the glare from the street lighting. He sat down in front of the television, waiting to be entertained by the one-eyed monster staring unblinkingly at him in the corner of the room. He sipped his cup of Earl Grey tea slowly, savouring the flavour, when her heard the doorbell ring. ...
Installation 1: Mannequin It had been dark for few hours now. As an artists model she had been on some strange assignments, assumed some strange poses and worn some odd clothing but now she was being paid to be cast as a mannequin for a maker of shop dummies. She was to be the new shape, her face and body in shop displays, staring back at the strolling window shoppers. ...
Installation 2: Mermaid “Roll up, roll up. See the only genuine, real, live, Mermaid in existence.” droned on the American accent from the speaker for the umpteenth time. Above the speaker was a sign saying, “Amazing exhibit, Mermaid filmed off the coast of California.” in bright red and yellow lettering. Below these two the small wooden booth had a pair of red velvet curtains, which the brown haired woman pulled open to find that there was only room for a wooden seat and a television screen. She sat down but nothing happened. ...
Installation 3: Jellybaby Suzie squinted in an effort to see through the tinted lenses covering her eye sockets. It was dark outside her tank, only vague shadowy forms roamed to and fro across her field of vision. She tried to move her right arm. There was a little give but her arm sprang back into place, horizontal to her body which resided at an angle of forty five degrees with her head up above her dangling feet. ...
Installation 4: Ice Queen Suzie could feel all her extremities despite not being able to move a muscle and the temperature outside her twin-skinned suit below freezing. Inside her pristine white attire she felt warm and cosy. Carlos and Valentina had ensured that the fit was snug and air and watertight and had struggled to pour her into the suit. She peered from behind the mirrored eyepieces through the clear ice at the group of onlookers who looked back at her intently. ...
Installation 5: Furniture “Well I think it’s good, don’t you?” asked Carlos. “Yes. You know I do,” replied Valentina. “Yeah but I need reassurance,” added Carlos. “Right, but then don’t we all?” added Valentina in a quizzical tone. “Even though both of us created this, it still needed to be asked. Besides, it’s how it looks within its surroundings,” said Valentina. “That’s what I really wanted to know,” said Carlos. ...
Installation 6: Puppet Sabine Von Braun, blond and blue eyed, five foot five in her stocking feet, stared intently at the dangling, lifeless form in front of her. Its, well perhaps her, head hung forlornly, lolling about listlessly, arms hanging by the side of the torso, legs trailing just above the ground. “I love it!” she exclaimed. “I want one. That one.” she said pointing. “That’s the rough draft, the sketch if you like.” replied Valentina looking over at Carlos. ...
Installation 7: Carcass - Animal, mineral or vegetable “It’s frozen so it shouldn’t decay for quite a while.” Said Valentina admiring their handiwork. “Yeah but even so we’re only keep it here on show for a few days.” Said Carlos turning to Sabine. “It looks so real, hanging there from that meat hook, surrounded by all those other animal bodies,” Sabine said rubbing her hands together to keep them warm. ...
Early evening, the sun sitting low in the horizon, a burnt orange orb behind the low rise buildings of the suburban landscape. The first leaves of Autumn added to the colour of the sunset but struggled against the grey facades of the city. She strode through the streets, the bag hanging from her shoulder moving in time with her stride as flat heeled shoes trod on the carpet of seasonal debris. At last, her destination. She walked up the steps to the top, heart beating quickly, mouth dry and hands slightly sticky with sweat. ...
It was going to be a dull, lonely journey back to London after the fun of the now recently departed weekend. A cold, empty flat and cold empty fridge were the only things beckoning me back home. It was late, very late and thus dark when I boarded the last train for Euston at windy Crewe station. No matter if it had been a hot sunny day there would always be a cold wind blowing through the station. That must be due to some kind of giant wind tunnel effect was my guess. As there were some weekend first stickers on the window of first class as it slowly slid past whilst I was waiting for the train to come to a halt, I decided to saunter towards the first class carriage. I couldn’t see any one in there so I jumped aboard and sat behind a small table with only single seats facing each other. Just before the train departed a woman entered the carriage from the carriage ahead of mine and took a seat diagonally opposite mine on the double seats, the full price first class seats. ...
You are at home. You’ve just had a long, hot shower. You are wearing your dressing gown. You are lounging on your sofa, watching the television. The telephone rings. You pick up the receiver. A voice speaks slowly on the other end. You listen, carefully. You put the phone down gently but you haven’t hung up, yet. You switch the television off. The dressing gown slips to the floor in a heap by your feet. You walk to your bedroom and open your wardrobe and remove some packages from within the darkness. ...
“It’s gonna be an unusual party. There will be music, films, drink, food and dancing. Everyone all dressed up. You’ll love it. It’s in two weeks time. Be at my place by six and I’ll take you there.” That’s what she’d been told. Great a party, just what I need at the moment, a chance to let myself go. I wonder what was meant by being “all dressed up?” Is it going to be a fancy dress party. I wasn’t told. Perhaps I don’t need a costume as one’s going to be provided. Yeah, that’s it. Brilliant. I’m being taken there, even better, that means I won’t be driving. What a great night it’s gonna be. ...
Acknowledgements: Thanks to LatexDoll & Vickie for the ideas in this story. The words may be mine but the ideas are from their feverish minds! Friday afternoons always seem to drag on for eternity. The weekend is but a few hours away. In a low rise building, in the middle of a newly opened industrial park surrounded by tidy gardens and a lake, Doctor Victoria S. Tation and Professor Late X. D’oll, were hard at work in a Laboratory. “So, Late, what are we going to do tonight?” asked Vickie. ...
The basement was cool and well lit. There were no dark corners sucking in the available illumination. She stood on a rug by a wall, the only softness in the expanse of white concrete. On the opposite wall was a low table with a dark ovoid shape resting on top of it. She undid the dressing gown, took it off and placed it on the floor. There was a black garment drooping limply from a hangar on a mobile rail next to the table. ...
The basement was cool and well lit. There were no dark corners sucking in the available illumination. She stood on a rug by a wall, the only softness in the expanse of white concrete. On the opposite wall was a low table with a dark ovoid shape resting on top of it. She undid the dressing gown, took it off and placed it on the floor. There was a black garment drooping limply from a hangar on a mobile rail next to the table. On the floor beside her was a container of talcum powder. She picked it up and showered her body in the white cascading substance which fell gently onto her body and obscured the pattern of the rug beneath her bare feet. ...
The basement was cool and well lit. There were no dark corners sucking in the available illumination. She stood on a rug by a wall, the only softness in the expanse of white concrete. On the opposite wall was a low table with a dark ovoid shape resting on top of it. She undid the dressing gown, took it off and placed it on the floor. There was a black garment drooping limply from a hangar on a mobile rail next to the table. On the floor beside her was a container of talcum powder. She picked it up and showered her body in the white cascading substance which fell gently onto her body and obscured the pattern of the rug beneath her bare feet. ...
Doing the chores sometimes had compensating factors. This was one of those days when the job had to be done. Things were looking bad, the floor looked a mess. It needed cleaning all right. the fumes from the cleaning fluids would be noxious amd there would be some grubbing around on the floor required in order to scrub the place clean. “Oh well”, she thought, “I really must get on and clean this place up”. ...