Monday, June 25, 2007


I'd heard they were a mixed couple, but that didn't bother me. I always try to keep an open mind. I knocked. He opened, and there was that fleshy smile of his - and those eyes that followed wherever one went. It unsettled me. He stood beaming and beaconing me to enter. I did.

"She's in the library," he explained, "reading the Kamasutra."

I followed him into the library. There she waited, a wooden monument next to his random build. Cedar she was - I could tell by the scent - or perhaps just the limbs were of cedar. I suspected a torso of oak, the noblest of woods. As I looked upon her we shared a meaningful glance. Her steady gaze put me at ease, for I did have slight inhibitions about the visit, considering their relationship.

"Did you bring the tools?" he inquired, expecting, perhaps, that I might have forgotten.

"They're in my case," I told him. "But could I ask you to leave the room while I work?" I knew it wasn't ethical in my profession, but I wanted to be alone with her.

"Is that necessary?" He seemed surprised. "After all, I am paying you for your services. I had thought to watch."

"All right," I acquiesced, but his continued presence was a source of unease.

We carried her to the bed. She was heavier than I had imagined, for her petite design.

"I'll remove her clothes for you, if you wish," he offered.

"No," I told him, "I'll continue from here."

I undid the clasps and zippers of the ankle-length dress covering her shapely form. But as I slid the article away I saw how blemished and raw the wood beneath had become. Secretly, I wondered what he had done with her to get her like that - I could tell she had been a careful work of art when first she was made. Wood should never be treated with neglect!

I activated the power sander and set to work. Sawdust sprayed from her midriff as I smoothed the roughened area. When I was finished I ran my palm across the midsection. How warm the wooden skin felt after the sanding! With a chisel I accentuated the navel, then I turned my attention to the remaining anatomy, sanded arms, legs and the artfully carved back. Soon the surfaces were restored, and the grain of her skin seemed to glow in the dim bedroom light.

I studied her intensely to see what work remained. There were still the erogenous areas to complete. The breasts I would have to do by hand - they might be ruined otherwise. So I selected the finest grain of sandpaper I had and began, slowly and steadily, to rub. It would take a few hours, but my hands and arms were firm and I was confident of their endurance. All the while I massaged those oaken orbs our gazes were locked and her smile never changed. And as I finished the delicate work below the waist I could tell she was completely satisfied. Then I was done.

I was sorry that my visit must finally end. But I had attended to the job conscientiously and well. She was a masterpiece to behold, as I was certain she had been the day she was created. We dressed her and returned her to the library.

"You may go now," he said, "I'll call you again if I need you."

As I left I could feel his roving eyes upon me, observing me with the condescension that creatures of flesh reserved for us beings of wood.

Story #396

(Read this story in Polish - translation by Joanna.

Note: Thanks everyone who contributed their own story to the above photo - more are welcome! Just leave a mini-story, caption or other impressions in the comments section. Tuesday night, NY time, I'll post a new found photo for a further set of stories.

P.S. I was tempted to caption this "Behind every good man there stands a woman." :-)

31 comments:

lasselanta said...

Andrei paused a moment to let his eyes adjust as he emerged from the overhanging shelves. He had finally settled on the right place for that torn copy of Tolstoy-- first edition, readable, but not in the best of repair. Certainly not something he wanted to display, but still one of the more valuable copies he had obtained lately. His animatronic assistant, book in hand, was tracking down the location. He could move on to that pile of books donated this morning by the Josefov estate.

He grinned as he reflected once more on all the splinters he would never get shelving thousands of books, now. That book someone had donated on the intersection of the fields of prosthetics and artificial intelligence had been a valuable find. The sleepless nights he had spent manipulating fake skin had paid off. And she was even rather pleasant to look at, if he did think so himself. Best of all, he could finally mail that photo to his parents in the village. If he just sent a small enough copy, maybe they'd stop bugging him about finding himself a woman and settling down.

Anonymous said...

"She will be my perfect bride" he thought as he walked down the poorly lit aisles of the library.
"She loves to listen to all my stories."

Bee said...

There had been many rumors that there was something evil lurking amongst these old tomes. John however did not believe these tales and thought it just an urban legend passed on to scare off teenagers from making out among these isolated aisles.
He set up his equipment so he may photograph himself and dispel the years worth of story telling. Little did he know, something was watching his every move.
When he went home to download the image into to his blogspot, he noticed a slight discoloration in the background of his picture. Thinking he could alter the image he started his photoshop program only to notice there was an image taking form behind his left shoulder. As he squinted his eyes he became paralyzed by fear and his body started involuntarily shivering.
Before his very eyes, the image was changing into what looked like a mannequin. He shook himself out of his stupor and reached for his mouse in order to enhance the image. His hand felt heavy and awkward. He glanced down and noticed his fingers starting to stiffen and merge together. His last thought was, “Has my skin ever looked this waxy?”
Two days later his landlord opened his apartment door muttering something about grown men not returning their mother’s calls causing them to panic. He called out, “John…? John!”
The landlords screams could be heard across the alley to the neighboring buildings. For what he saw was too difficult for his brain to process. Sitting at John’s computer was a mannequin that looked exactly like John and standing behind his left shoulder was the mannequin of a woman dressed in blue.

She fell in love with him you see. She fell in love with him and now they were together!

M.P. said...

Hi there... Long time no commenting!! But today I passed by to CONGRATULATE you for the BLOG OF INTEREST note I saw in Blogger!
I'm not that much into blogging these days... I've been posting at http://palavrejando.blogspot.com for quite a good while now and I have a homepage in http://www.olhares.com/mnpta for my pics so Fotoaprendendo is in standby for a good while now.
Anyway .. hope you're doing fine!
I'll be visiting you more often now as vacations are getting nearer and the professional hectic has eventually been slowing down.
All the very best. Read ya soon!

Online marketing consultant said...

You seem to smile alot.Does that mean you are a very happy person.However great pictures and a good smile

CoralPoetry said...

Hi

I made her myself, moulded her with my own hands, my vision of loveliness, my soulmate, my blow-up partner. I designed her to be anatomically correct, politically correct and without vices. We went everywhere together, to weddings, funerals and dinner parties; she had miniscule running costs and she gave me so much pleasure, the perfect Wife who was rapidly becoming my perfect twin.

Then one day, I took her to the library and sat her in the corner. Whilst I was choosing some light reading matter, she started to peruse the books on her own, without my assistance or permission. She discovered that she was a speed-reader and read all the books in the entire science fiction section. She swiftly skimmed through the non-fiction section, which she enjoyed immensely. She consumed books like meals. She wanted to know about her Creator. She told me she wanted to go to Uni to expand her knowledge. She and I both had smiles on our faces as she realized there was more to life than dull dinner parties and shopping for shoes.

I hope you enjoyed my story.

Regards,
Coral

April's Place said...

He's a closet wanna-be fashion designer nerdy bookworm type, with a thing for maniquins that look like librarians and creating fashions for them. He just placed one in it's natural environment.

Anonymous said...

Al's life in the subdivision was going great . . . until he took his Stepford wife to the library.

Anonymous said...

I look forward to reading daily at this, one of my regular haunts.

"blogger of interest" sounds ominous, or maybe I've just lived to long in the USA. ;)

Carrie said...

A clip from the 1995 sleeper "Mutant Mannequins from Outer Space".

He may be smiling now...but carnage ensues!

Don't let her smile fool you. They are here to rule the world! A fabricated slew of synthetic, glassy-eyed mutants with a thirst for blood.

You will think twice next time you walk by that department store display!

My World said...

My intention today, was to find and loose myself in a romantic novel.
I started to do just that, when I came upon the most beautiful woman.

There she was, placing the well read novels of choice, back to their slotted homes.

I knew right then, that a novel would not be read today, I will be writng one of my own.

Sincerely,

The lucky Man...... :)

William Bunker said...

i like to work with indeterminants in my mathematical studies. also, congratulations on choosing Europe.

Anonymous said...

After peeking through a copy of Letters to Penthouse XV in the darkest corner of the used bookstore, Lo Ming lustfully glided towards the first man she saw in hopes of loving long time.

Jessica Bettcher said...

She followed him, quietly. Watching him intentely, browsing through the books. He barely notices her, she is just white noise.

She watches his hands, open each book with care, with interest. She laughed to herself, thinking it silly to wish to be a book at that moment.

Ana Frantz said...

What is real? reality is a tiny little tissue that can easily fail in the air. What is truth at the end of the road any way? If not the way you look to things, and people and yourself. Who is more human being? Does animal have soul or not. Do we have one? When we can manipulate and become slvaves at the same time.

Frederico in reality is a dreamer and a slave of his own dreams. Every book he wrote, every book he bouth is just his own prison as he smiles and pretends he is a wise man, he just doesn't know that reality is tracking him down, hunting his soul like a woman ghost made of plastic.

Plastic feelings that's all he got.

Irene Grumman said...

I've just married my ideal woman! Her sweet expression and cheerful attitude always make me smile. She is modest, chaste, wholesome, fond of simple clothes and hairstyle that allow her true beauty to shine through.

I fell in love because she is such a good listener. She never interrupts, never nags or pesters. Her silence is so restful, and yet piques my interest because she is so mysterious in her self contained way. She enriches my reading because I can read aloud to her a passage, and I can speak aloud to her my thoughts about what I am reading.

A honeymoon in a bookstore; what could be more satisfying?

ADRIAN said...

Hello!
I was wondering if you want to make a review exchange. This will grow up our traffic, so it is good for both of us. I have to say that my blog it is not very old, so I will agree to write 2 or 3 review about your site, and put you on my blogroll, in change of just 1 review from you.
If you agree this partnership, just let me know. Contact me at nsfs_a@yahoo.com or on my blog.

Thank you!

Dâi said...

Hi,
very good You Blog
I would like to congratule you

greeting

Indeterminacy said...

Sorry, I am at work now, but tonight I will give my reactions to your wonderful stories. Thanks everyone for making this so cool!

Anonymous said...

hi indeterminacy!!!..is this just about making a story out of a picture?...interesting,indeed!

G-Thug said...

I love your stories!

Indeterminacy said...

Everyone: Newcomers and old friends, thank for stopping by and contributing such great stories! I've finished reading them all and will write my impressions, one after the other.....


Lasselanta: I need a woman like that who can take care of my books! On the other hand, I have a woman I can read the books with, which may be slightly better ;-)

Anonymous: Til death do they part. What a relationship!

Bee: Wow! This brings me back to Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone, like "Afterhours", and another episode where someone falls in love with a wooden doll, and in the end joins her in the doll house.

M.P. I've missed you! I stop by your German blog from time to time but I guess you've finished it. Let's look forward to mutual visits. I was very surprised about the Blog of Note thing, but it's very rewarding after all the time spent blogging.

Love and Immigration Crier: I think she will be happy forever. I don't know about him, though.

Coral Poetry: Wonderf story! And very positive. I love the phrase "consumed books like meals"!

April: You capture the eerie Twilight Zone mood I so love! Thank you for the feeling.

Mrs Weirsdo: Wonderful how you twist and turn in just one single sentence!

Cooper: I probably won't be able to keep this up long, but it will be fun trying. Today's story turned out sooooo loooooooooooooong. Not sure how it happened. But I had to stay up until 2 AM to get the ideas. You're always welcome here. Would love to sit and drink a glass of wine with you!

Carrie: I'll probably run, not walk, past the next mannequin display I see. Something truly eerie about the way they smile.

Lucky Man: She is lovely in a mannequin sort of way. I hope he is happy with her.

William Bunker: I forgot most of my computer science level mathematics, studied in USA. I studied psychology in Europe.

Special Sam: Oh oh. I hope they don't mess up the books!

Jessica Bettcher: Hopes, dreams and longing. It's a lovely vignette.

Ana Frantz: She may be more real than he is. Reminds me of the Gary Wilson song that ends with G.W. exclaiming to the universe "She's real"

Irene: The honeymoon in a bookstore idea sounds great. Would love to do one. Well, maybe a second honeymoon. On the other hand I spent a lot of time in bookstores with previous girlfriends. Maybe that's why they're previous girlfriends.

Adrian: We'll see - I'm kind of overwhelmed at the moment with so much traffic.

Iraqphoto: Thank you very much. I hope you'll have time to stop by occasionally.

Anonymous: It's just about writing a story to a found photo. I don't think I could write anything without a photo.

Inquisitive: Thank you so much for the compliment!

Anonymous said...

Best blog writing I've read in a while!

Anonymous said...

"It's coming along perfectly. It will serve its purpose well." She peered around Odd's back and saw the mannequin. Its vacant face gave her the creeps. She thought again about the rumors that Odd might be going crazy and shuddered. "How long now? How many days until the magnificent plan goes into action?" Odd said eagerly.
"Oh, about a month," she said. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Oh, perfect, never better. I can tell, some people think I'm going crazy, but I can reassure you, I'm playing my full deck, and well. I'm playing with all 43!" She decided now was not the time to correct him and say that wasn't a full deck, as Odd was having a, well, odd moment. "You know, I have a new idea. All it would take is a tweak here and a tweak there, and we could rule the Empire!!"
"Really, Odd. I would suggest running that idea past yourself again later, perhaps at a more lucid moment, to see if you find it really possible," she said. Maybe she would have to scratch Odd and his craziness out of the Plan. It seemed like he was becoming more of a liability than an asset.
"Oh, I know you're writing me off. But I tell you, this is pure genius! And you aren't completely sane, either. Or else why would you have such a scandalous plan for us all?" Odd shot back. She paled. After all, who would want to have their sanity questioned? It was then that she realized that was exactly what she had been doing to Odd. Deciding then would be a good time to leave, she nodded curtly and walked off out of the alleyway, melting into the crowd.

Lorena's Blogbilingüe said...

Brilliant story!! Love this very creative and interesting Blog, Indie. I'll be dropping by frequently.

Check me out if you have time. My Blog is bilingual--Spanish/English.

Indeterminacy said...

Jessica: You're very kind. Thank you for the compliment.

Talespin: Never mess with Odd! You have to be a little crazy to achieve anything of interest, like taking over the Empire. Great story.

Lorena: You're welcome back anytime. I'm happy you could find something here to interest you. If I haven't posted anything the next time you stop by, feel free to browse the arhives, the index page, or the random story link (all in the sidebar). So many stories here I can't even remember them all!

Todd Vodka said...

I came here in search of the Most Beautiful Thing In The World. I'm not sure I would recognize anything like that anymore, but I just thought I'd say hello in case it was here.

Indeterminacy said...

Todd: Thank you for stopping by. Don't know if you will find the Most Beautiful Thing in the World here, but who knows? Most of my search hits are for a stupid story I wrote years ago about "strip poker" - I must be pretty high up for that search term.

Doug The Una said...

This should be published. Maybe on GepettoDreamsPygmalionSchemes.com?

Indeterminacy said...

You really think so Doug? Knock on wood.

Cie Cheesemeister said...

Phillip kept his blow-up doll Vanna hidden behind the shelves in his book store and every night he would bring her out and dance with her and make mad passionate love to her, always with the wish that Vanna would become a real woman.
One day Phillip acquired a bunch of new books from a mysterious fishy-smelling man with an unappealing face, written by people with names like Al-Alhazred and H.P. Lovecraft. He read the strange poetry he found in the one entitled Necronomicon aloud.
To Phillip's great joy, he saw Vanna emerging from the shelves, smiling. He wasn't quite sure what the words "Ia, Ia, Cthulhu Fthagn" that she was muttering met, but he couldn't wait to enjoy the pleasures of his plastic fantastic lover come to life.