Captivated (Flash fiction) by BD Wilson

Captivated
By BD Wilson

I’m in the bathroom, doing what one naturally does there. No magazines or books, so I’m staring at this — picture, rug, craft-piece — hanging on the wall. The background’s rough brown burlap and it’s spread out on doweling at the top and bottom.

On it, a woman sits looking toward the rough, non-descript horizon. Her back is to me, her body bare, tanned wool, raised a centimetre out of the surface, just enough to invite touch. She’s very slender, with good curves. Almost life-sized, maybe a little tiny, she’s sitting cross-legged, level with me. Her back is straight, her arm stretched to rest on her left knee, holding a wooden fruit with a green silk leaf.

Soft as her wool-skin looks, it’s her hair that draws my attention. Blonde corn-silk, covers the back of her head, which comes out of the surface in a perfect half-sphere. It winds down her back in a braid, tightly woven, impossibly long, and pools beside her on a velvet bench. My eyes trace the length down and back up again. It’s beautiful.

Lost in the natural-seeming colours of yellow, brown, and white that hue her blonde, I can almost believe it’s real. I shift in my uncomfortable seat, drawn forward, trying to see around the edge of her head. It’s like it should be there, a face to match the tempting body. Just out of sight, but if I lean in, try to see...

She turns and looks at me.

Author bio:

BD Wilson is a writer from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. A firm believer in a virtual existence, BD’s home on the Web is located at BD Wilson