What began as a random thought soon became an obsession. Even the under-painting of the affair seemed like more than Christine could bear. She allowed her soul to suck into the madness of it knowing that she lost a little bit of herself with every indulgence.
She dipped a large brush into the crimson paint. The frenzied strokes seemed to heighten her vision. Expressing it on canvas satisfied her hunger. She felt her body tingle.
~~~
No one had seen her. The detective entered the empty studio. A large painting rested on an easel. It depicted a lifelike self-portrait of Christine gazing out with lustful eyes while reclining naked on red satin sheets alongside another lover. As he stepped closer, his fiancée turned her head away.
~~~~~
Have you ever seen a painting that you wanted to jump right into?
~~
Photo by Susie Lindau
Susie Lindau's Wild Ride 
I enjoyed your mysterious story–you packed a lot of clues very succinctly into the number count. It reminded me of the “Picture of Dorian Gray” movie——–somewhat. 🙂
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Thanks A! I am glad that you found the clues. A reader couldn’t skim this one! Hahaha!
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Mysterious and spell-binding. I loved how you “clued in” the reader within such a limited word count. Mine: http://vsta.pr/zMx9VT.
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Thank you so much! I am glad that you figured it out. It was a lot tougher than my other flash fictions.
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Dear Susie,
Do you paint (besides with words?) This one took a while to unravel and since the same could be said of mine I will leave it at that. I like the spirit, the fire of Christine. She is someone you should hang on to.
Aloha,
Doug
http://ironwoodwind.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/ask-ulysses/
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Thanks Doug!
This one was a riddle and the key words were “empty room”, “fiancee” and the ultimate heart wrencher, (once she was literally inside the painting), “turned her head away…”
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I enjoy mysteries, god knows i do! and this is mind blowing…many thanks for your good nature self and another thanks for linking me to this group of do-gooders. You’ve seen my story, yes! but here is it for others’ sake!
https://seewilliams.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/stuck-the-other-side-of-valour-100words-flash-fiction/
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Thanks Charles! I am so glad you joined us all the way from Africa.
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you are welcome
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Yes, I have seen lots of Paintings I would love to be able to leap into…
Another place and time… beautiful landscapes. Nice work.
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But no red satin sheet Paul?
Thank you!
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Haunting… I love your reference to the underpainting.. not too many know that painters have an underpainting first… Excellent flash fiction today!!
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Thank you so much Smidgen! I graduated in Art not English or Journalism.
It was complex, but I hope some understood it.
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It took me a bit, but I know you put a twist in your stories so I was looking about for it this time:)
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Excellent piece. I really got sucked into this completely. Loved the ending. Quite a Susan Hill style mysteriousness to it. Sorry the comments are so late!
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Thank you so much Lou! My comment is even later. I am so glad that you enjoyed it!
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I’m a little late, but I thought this was excellent. Very provocative, and with a satisfying twist at the end. Nicely done!
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Thanks Jake! I am so glad that you came by to read!
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Confident and clever, with a touch of Evanescence. What could be better?
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Thanks Edward! I love that group too!
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