THE ART CRIMES: Hidden Things

THE ART CRIMES: Hidden Things

* A story by Beau Cyphre - with an illustration by Untold-Paige *


There's a risk in taking pictures of living things, and the greatest risk is when you don't know which ones are alive and which are not. I'd always been a hunter, and when I got my first camera I tried to hunt down as many things as I could. My pretty camera was oh so little, but thinking about all the secrets I kept inside I got the vision of a really big thing, and my camera first became a house, then a palace and at last a mighty kingdom in my mind.
Everything was made for this kingdom, and there was nothing I couldn't take. All mine for a while - and maybe forever. So I got all kinds of things inside my little box, and the hidden kingdom within grew and grew, and it was all so beautiful inside! My gardens were full of girls and boys, cats and dogs, flowers and trees, houses and castles, lakes and seas. Wherever I went I was my kingdom's first hunter, and I took pictures of everything. So it was natural that it became all mine, and in my heart I felt like a king. Taking pictures was my talent, and there was no better hunter than me in the whole wide world. But although I succeeded and made lots of money with all these things inside, there was one thing missing: A great thing, a very special one, the thing that made them all - and there was only one thing so bright, so mighty, so everlasting, so high above all that I wanted to capture it for my kingdom. And although it hurt my eyes when I looked up at the shining giant in the sky, I was sure that I'd make her mine, hunt her down and put this never-ending fire into my little magic box and hide her just for me inside the inner kingdom of my soul.
But every thing depends on something, and shame on me that I forgot. These rays of light build everything, and made by stars are our hearts. And when I locked her deep inside, my heart burned out...with a vengeance. This sinking feeling should never stop, so: Make it last, please, make it last!