Sharon Williams was lost in her life. She began studying business at university, mostly because she did not know what to do. But, classes were boring and she couldn’t see any future for herself in the field. She spent a lot of time in the library to be sure that she had, at minimum, basic knowledge of what was required for her major. She was currently in the library. Her brain was about to become completely dry, due to all the cramming she had done that day, until the librarian came up to her to notify her that the library would close in ten minutes. She thanked him and gathered up her stationery.
It was eight o’clock and she was walking in the cold, a blue scarf covering her mouth. The wind was strong, so she decided to avoid her usual path home and take the longer way. Walking along, a building shielded her from the wind, and she could finally open up her eyes and look up. She had forgotten that there was an art museum near the library, and to her surprise, it had a night exposition that evening. She decided to go along with the unexpected, in hopes of adding some adrenaline to her night. She entered the museum.
The inside was warm and bright. She had to leave her coat and scarf in the locker-room. Once she entered the exposition, she didn’t immediately take interest in the paintings. It was modern art; she did not understand it. Nothing was really moving for her or made any sense. She was so tired and it had been such a long day. She thought to herself, “maybe I should have just gone home”, but she already paid for the entrance, so she was going to continue until the end.
The colors were both bright and changing. She now felt that things were different. In a way she was not wrong, as the painting styles had suddenly changed. This current exposition had a variety of paintings, from the renaissance to installations of Yayoi Kusama. While she did not really understand what connected all of these pieces of art, the more she walked down the corridors, the more she felt drawn to them. Eventually, she needed a break. She sat down on a nearby bench.
Her eyes were heavy, her back hurt a bit. Sharon’s breathing became slower over time. Her body was so hard to move. She closed her eyes, just for a second she thought.
Security woke her up. It was 6:50 AM, and the night exposition was about to close. They needed to clean the floors before the day exposition that started at 9:00 AM. She could not believe that she fell asleep in a museum! As the security guard walked away to another room, she got up and realized she smelled some warm bread. There had to have been a bakery not too far from the museum, but the fragrance didn’t appear to come from the entrance. She followed the smell out of curiosity, and suddenly found herself stopped right in front of a painting. She was confused on why she felt such a strong connection. The painting was of a kitchen in the morning setting. She could see a larger woman with tied up black hair taking bread out of her oven. There was a table with some apples right behind her, and she could see a menacing silhouette looking at the woman from the window. She was feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Sharon now heard steps coming closer to her. She thought that the guard was coming to ask her to leave at once, so she took one last look at the painting. The silhouette was now missing. No. It was at the entrance of the door, right behind the baker, holding a knife. Anxiety filled her body. Her heart was beating faster by the second. Her muscles started to contract. She took two steps back and something stopped her at the waist. Something had fallen. Looking down, there were apples at her feet. She looked back up quickly. The baker was against the table and the fruits on the floor. The silhouette was right behind the baker. Sharon was about to turn around when she felt something extremely cold in her throat, but as it began to warm up, she felt terrible pain. It was blood. Her vision blurred until everything went dark and cold.
Security woke her up. It was 6:50 AM, the night exposition was about to close. They needed to clean the floors before the day exposition that started at 9:00 AM in the morning. She could not believe it was all a dream. It had felt so real, but at the same time too crazy to be reality. She gathered up her things and started to leave. She wondered if the painting she had dreamt about was there. It was nowhere to be seen. It never even existed. She took her coat and blue scarf and decided to go to the bathroom before leaving. She had started to dress up in front of the mirror, but her scarf fell to the floor. Her eyes widened. She got closer to the mirror. In the same place she had felt the knife in her dream, was a huge scar. She touched it. It was real. She tied her scarf around her neck and left the museum in a rush.
It finally struck her. She went right to the university to drop her classes. She was the one who would paint the baker. She was no longer lost.
The end.
