Slamming his brush down on the palette splattering paint all over his work, Amiel Pardo was so disgusted with the model he bellowed, “Will you get dressed and get the hell out of here! ” He stomped out of the studio and went down into his study screaming, “This is so frustrating, it is making me sick. There is never a model that doesn’t have something wrong with her. Oh, God, what I’d give for just one flawless creature and by all that is holy, I swear I could create a master piece. With this angry outcry he dropped down on the couch, took a slug from a bottle of whiskey, laid down and buried his head in the pillow.
The model, frightened and upset ran from the studio to escape from his temperamental tantrum. She was crying and slammed the door behind her. Amiel, normally a quiet man was apparently feeling the anxiety of just turning forty. This might be the reason for this unusual outburst, and not being able to master his craft before, as he put it, “Hitting the mid-life crises. ” Completely frustrated he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
His career as an artist had come to a sudden standstill and this last eruption was the straw that could break his will to continue. He slept half the night, awakened suddenly; half dazed, sat up on the couch and blurted out, “Why not conceive my own damn creature? I’ll show them I’ve still got what it takes. Yes, of course, I’ll create the perfect specimen. By God, I will do it. I’ll make it life size, and call it, – Portrait Of A Beautiful Woman. ” He quickly cleaned off the easel, hung a new canvas and began to sketch.
Enthusiasm ignited his spirit as he toiled with this new exciting idea. He worked endlessly night and day forsaking everything, including food and sleep. He shut himself off from the outside world and this burning passion kept him alive as he laboured for weeks on his new endeavour. At last it was finished. He was overwhelmed by the beauty he had mastered and knew that his objective had been accomplished. He had created the most beautiful creature in all imagination and was proud for it was truly – a masterpiece!
After hanging his new portrait up over the fireplace mantle he spent most of his waking hours in admiration of the breathtaking beauty of his creation. This heavenly creature just seemed to become alive before his very eyes and it was so captivating, he was cast under its enthralling spell. He becomes obsessed with her fascinating presence. One night during a heavy rainstorm, he was awakened by what he thought was a voice crying out for help. Going down to investigate, he found a window had blown open and the portrait had fallen from the wall.
He closed the window and lifted the painting up leaning it against the 1 fireplace mantle. As he left the room he thought he heard a voice mention his name. He turned and there she stood, out of the picture frame in all her beauty with outstretched arms beckoning him to come to her. He hesitatingly moved towards her and then melted into her embrace. In all his life he had never had a feeling that took over his entire being. He was so enraptured by her beauty and her soft warm touch he emerged into a lapse of uncontrollable delight.
She pulled him down onto the hearth and in that sweet moment of ecstasy he drifted off into paradise. The next morning when he awakened, strangely enough, he was back in his own bed. Concerned about the preceding night’s happening, he rushed down to the sitting room, and there she was, back in the portrait and as beautiful as ever. He was truly bewildered and was in a quandary as to what happened the night before. He got the gardener to help him and they re-hung the picture back above the fireplace mantle. Through all of this he was aware of her presence and could not get the lovely creature from his mind.
Nearly every night he would experience the same mysterious adventure, in fact he looked forward to this beautiful encounter. Their intimate relationship became stronger and more forceful to the point that he felt he could not exist without it. As time went by, she began making incessant demands. She wanted the housekeeper dismissed because she had glared at her and called her, “Satan’s Advocate. ” He let the housekeeper go. Then she wanted the gardener fired because he kept peering in through the window at her and the dog barking all the time was upsetting her.
He obliged her every whim, even got rid of the gardener and the dog. Soon after that, the garden and the house became almost unliveable and the rodents raided the premises, but still he lived just to be with her those few precious moments in the middle of the night. She increased her demands for more of his attention. He even lavished her with gifts and stole for her, an act that was basically against his nature. But, her dominance over him was too adamant to resist, as he became a thief and a conniver. More and more her ceaseless desires became intense.
He tried to rebel but her hold on him was just too compelling. Finally, after many weeks of this torment she demanded the ultimate of outrage – a murder! She told him there was an evil person she hated and wanted tracked down and destroyed. He tried to defy her but she threatened to leave. His resistance was so helplessly feeble he finally agreed to do this dreadful thing. With great reluctance he got a lead on the victim. It was a woman and he followed her to a remote area, a cliff high above the ocean beach.
He approached her with the thought of pushing her off the edge down to her death. He slowly crept upon her and as he came closer, he was horrified when he realized that the figure was the beautiful woman of his portrait. Stricken by the surprise he became furious and then violent. The torment was so overpowering he struck her and then embraced her, but when he tried to kiss her she resisted. As they struggled they both went over the cliff down to their doom into the sea below. They were washed out into the surf and the turbulent waves anxiously swallowed them up.
But, in a few moments a mysterious figure appeared walking out of the brine and vanishes into the mist. Was it the beautiful woman of his portrait? The waves washed Amiel’s body up on the beach and a local fisherman retrieved it. After a lavish funeral for the eminent painter the mansion was opened to the public for viewing. Curiously hanging over the huge fireplace mantle was a strange and confusing painting, entitled, “PORTRAIT OF A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN”, but what was missing from the canvas was any sign of the figure of the so called beautiful and mysterious woman.
