Ribbon of Light

(Excerpt from published short story)

When I entered the extraordinary building, I was struck by the utter stillness and silence. I couldn’t see anyone else on the first floor and I could barely hear any sounds from the street. The interior had all the markers of antiquarian charm and pretense: crown molding, dark wood, subtle signage, and low lighting. I noted a steep staircase to the left and toward the front of the shop at the right, not far from the window, a large, Louis XIV reproduction desk. Though not a style I generally admire, in this context I appreciated the extravagantly curved legs, highly polished, book-matched, walnut veneers and gold embellishments. A small medallion in the shape of a sun, identical to figures I had seen while researching the Palace of Versailles, was located in the center of the apron. (An emblem of The Sun King.) As the only significant piece of furniture, the desk drew attention to itself in a way that seemed too ironic to be truly pretentious.

A large writing pad in antique leather embellished with a distressed version of the same sun symbol on a larger scale, was in the center of the desk, and in front of the pad, an elaborate and very heavy looking, antique pen and ink set. It seemed implausible that sales were conducted with pen and paper, so I assumed that the most discreet of credit card readers was hiding in the drawer or invisibly imbedded in the desk. I imagined a kind of a sleight-of-hand protocol designed to distract the purchaser during the transaction to maintain the atmosphere of the shop. For a moment I also imagined a sophisticated form of hypnosis.

Note: Work page illustration is Lumina Rue by owen-c . More work by owen-c here.