eFiction India eFiction India Vol.02 Issue.09 | Page 79

STORIES

78

PERFECT ESCAPE
    MICHELLE D’COSTA                                   

I

WAS LOOKING FOR a clue. A clue
to my life.

Many people told me I would never
find it in fiction. But I never gave up. I
would definitely find it in some book.
I hated when they stared at me while I read
a book. I went to the library and there too
people were fond of staring at me. One boy
even told me that he had never seen anyone
so engrossed in a book before. He said he
could see me living the lives of the characters in the book. Seriously? All that just from
my expressions?
One day when I came home with a novel
under my arm I saw a man in my room.
He almost looked like the late MF Hussain.
I cleared my throat to let him know I had
arrived. He smiled and told me that my
Mom had asked him to paint me!

Michelle D’costa is an Indian writer/
editor born and raised in Bahrain.
She loves to write as much as she loves
to breathe. She blogs at http://pikoomish.wordpress.com/.

I thought I heard him wrong.
That happens when I have just read a book.
My head is full of the dialogues and characters that sometimes I hear things I’m not
supposed to.

I asked in shock, “Paint?”
“Yes, your Mom said I must paint you while
you read. She specified that I must do a
close-up of your expression.”
I raised my eyebrows and my jaw dropped.
“I don’t have time to waste. I have been
waiting for you. And I would suggest
you read a new book so that your expression would be genuine,” he said, his beard
dancing.
I smiled and sat on my bed.
I removed the book from under my arm and
told him, “I’m ready.”
His canvas was already set. He was staring at
me for some time. Just before he could dip
his paintbrush into his palette I dropped the
lace curtain which hung on my bed post. It
hung loose just low enough to hide my face.
I stretched out.
“Take all the time you want. My Mom
shouldn’t be disappointed.”

eFiction India | June 2014