This got me to thinking. What would trigger a person to attack a painting? Was the woman insane, or did she know something that the rest of us do not? What if the painting of Mona Lisa was more than a painting?
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Samantha Dowling was walking through the Louvre, enjoying her day off. After the high pressure job of securities exchange, she was allowing both her mind and her nerves to rest in the quiet and beautiful museum of art. She was well aware that this vacation was long overdue; her nerves and mind both were fast approaching the breaking point when her boss suggested she take some time off. Though her performance was not yet suffering from her stress-filled state, her department head, Tim Jones, could see that she was on the edge of a breakdown.
"Take some time off, Sam," he told her. "A week, maybe two. The break will do you some good."
And so, Samantha Dowling found herself roaming some of the most famous places in Italy and France. After touring the Vatican and all of the history that it had to offer, she was now seeing wondrous works of art by names like Donatello, Michelangelo, and now she was headed to DaVinci's masterpiece, the Mona Lisa. She had seen pictures of her since she was a little girl and was looking forward to finally seeing the enigmatic lady for herself.
As she neared the painting, she was surprised to see that no one was around it. She was going to be able to see it up close and personal all by herself. Now, how often did that happen to people?
As she got up close to study the painting, shivers of delight went up her back. She was in front of one of the most recognizable paintings in the world! She studied Mona Lisa's eyes, seeming so bright and alert for oil on canvas. He hair was a lustrous black that flowed down her shoulders. And her smile? Well, what could she possibly say about Mona Lisa's smile that had not already been said by countless people before her?
But despite Samantha having one of her dreams come true, the experience was being marred by her own internal voices. Seeing the serene and beautiful lady up close only served to remind her that soon, all too soon, she would be back in the stress-filled world of the securities exchange. Why couldn't she exist in a happy and quiet world? Why couldn't she simply sit, and smile, and enjoy life as Mona Lisa apparently had while still alive?
Getting as close to the framed painting as she could, Samantha Dowling whispered, "I wish I could be more like you, Mona Lisa, happy and smiling at the world."
"You can, mia caro," sounded a voice in her head. "All you have to do is want it badly enough."
Samantha jerked back and looked around her, embarrassed that someone had heard her whisper and even more embarrassed that they had answered.
"I beg your pardon," she began, but then didn't finish. As she looked around, she saw there was no one else there. She was still all alone by the painting of Mona Lisa. Looking around her yet again, Samantha could see no one even remotely close enough to her that could have spoken.
"Hello?" she whispered again. "Is someone here?"
She heard a soft laugh followed by, "Of course there is, mia caro. Were you not just speaking to me?"
Samantha paused. The voice she was hearing seemed seemed to be coming from the direction of the painting. Slowly turning to face the Mona Lisa, Samantha looked once again into the smiling face and saw the painted eyes in the beautiful face staring back into her own. One of Mona Lisa's hands came up and gave her a brief wave before being placed back on her lap.
"You desire a happier and quieter life, do you not? Or did I misunderstand what you were saying a moment ago?"
Samantha stood frozen in place. Was the painting of the Mona Lisa actually speaking to her? Samantha passed her hand over her face and took a deep breath. She was obviously under a great deal more stress than she had realized if she was imagining things like this! Shaking her head to clear it, Samantha chuckled at herself and rubbed her eyes. She wondered if she may just have to request an additional week off if she was that far gone!
Samantha looked at the painting again, knowing full well that she had imagined the picture talking. Now how crazy was that! As she continued to admire DaVinci's masterpiece, she found herself drawn once again to Mona Lisa's eyes. As she stared at them, the left eye winked.
Laughing softly yet again Mona Lisa said, "You aren't daydreaming, mia caro, nor are you crazy. I am speaking to you."
Samantha simply stood and stared. This couldn't be happening, could it?
"I wish to help you achieve your dream, Samantha," Mona Lisa continued, "to see you happy and content within your own world. Wouldn't you like that?"
Samantha nodded dumbly.
"And I can help you attain that dream, little one. All you have to do is follow my directions perfectly, and we can trade places."
Samantha gasped quietly. Trade places with the Mona Lisa? Was that even possible?
"It is more than possible, Samantha," the painting said as if it could read her thoughts, "it is easily attainable. You see, I am not who I appear to be. I am actually an angel, an angel trapped within this painting by Leonardo DeVinci hundreds of years ago. Acting on misplaced loyalties, he used magical paints and materials to capture my essence and lock it within this frame, trapping me here until someone released me. And I think that someone could be you."
An angel trapped in the painting? Samantha felt as if her grasp on reality was slowly weakening. None of this conversation could possibly be real.
The Mona Lisa slowly stood, her hands coming up in supplication. "It is real, Samantha, very real. You want the peace and serenity that can be found in my painting? The quiet and contemplative existence I have? It can all be yours. I just need you to do two simple things."
"What simple things are those?" Samantha asked curiously. A chance to leave the crazy and stressful world behind her? How could she possibly not find out more?
Mona Lisa's smile grew wider, and she said, "Two simple things, mia caro. Come closer to me, place your hand on the glass."
Samantha looked around nervously. Putting her hand on the glass could earn her a one way ticket to the local police department, yet there didn't seem to be anyone around who would notice. So, Samantha stepped closer to the painting and placed her palm against the cool glass.
Samantha could now see Mona Lisa's teeth, her smile had grown so wide, and she was surprised to see that they looked liked the teeth of a shark, pointed and jagged. She gasped when she saw them.
"Now, I will explain what you must do, little Samantha. For us to exchange places, I will need to taste a drop of your blood, and you will need to taste a drop of mine. Then, when we have both tasted from the other, you must crack the frame around the painting so that I can exit and you can enter."
Samantha was confused at these directions. Taste blood? Give up blood? What kind of an angel did that? And what about those strange teeth. Something was not quite right here, but Samantha was starting to feel light headed and was having trouble concentrating.
"Wait," she managed to get out. Even her tongue seemed to be slowing down. "Who are you? I've never heard of an angel with teeth like yours, or needing to drink blood. Angels are supposed to be good and protective, not fanged and bloodthirsty.
Samantha watched in horror as the bright brown eyes of the Mona Lisa began to shift color, turning from brown to orange and finally to red. The usually sublime smile was now a huge tooth filled grin, the jagged edges even more pronounced.
"Who said I was one of those angels, mia caro?"
Samantha screamed as one of the painted hands emerged from the frame and grasped her hand that was still placed on the glass cover. Claws emerged and sank into the soft flesh, a hollow laugh echoing around the gallery.
Samantha screamed and wrenched her hand away from the picture. What was happening here? She felt her stomach heave when she saw the blood dripping from her mangled hand. Screaming again, only this time for help, Samantha reached into the bag dangling from her uninjured hand and brought out a souvenir mug she had just purchased. Throwing the mug at the twisted and laughing face before her, Samantha began to back away from the abomination filling the wooden frame.
Just as she turned to run, she felt arms grab her and push her to the floor. Thank goodness, she thought, security was finally here!
"Look!" she cried, "Look at the painting! It's a monster, a devil trying to escape!"
As Samantha was pulled roughly to her feet, her hands cuffed in front of her, she looked at the painting again and gasped. There was no devil in the frame, no clawed hands, no fanged mouth. It was simply the Mona Lisa, calm and serene, smiling unfathomably back at Samantha. Looking down at her hands, she saw that both of them were whole and undamaged. There were no scratches, no blood, nothing out of the ordinary.
As security hustled her away, Samantha glanced back one final time at DaVinci's masterpiece. It may have been a trick of the light, but Samantha thought she saw Mona Lisa's eyes glint redly above her mystic smile.
