If You Love Me

If You Love Me
E. M. Areson

Mark considered the eyes of the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen; the only problem was that she was a painting. The painting was so real it defied explanation. How it had ended up in a forest cave was a mystery as well. The frame itself was wonderfully carved and the girl inside looked like she had just walked into the cave. The look in her eyes was incredibly sad, they were grass green contrasting with her pink lips set in a pale face. Her dress was a deep purple, and in her delicate hands, she held a pink flower of which three were in her mahogany brown near black hair.

“I think I love you,” Mark laughed and put his hand to her mouth. “This is crazy. You’re a painting, in a cave on my father’s land.”

The lady only looked out at him.

“You’re a wonderful lady, a princess maybe even. The blue of your background is so clearly painted yet you look like flesh and blood. I love you, look at how your hair curls over your shoulders. You’re so beautiful…”

Touch me. A voice echoed in his mind. Touch me and set me free.

“What?” Mark stepped back. “You live my lady?”

Yes, but only if you touch me and set me free. If you love me set me free. She seemed to reach out to him through the painting.

“I…I…” Something about this felt wrong but Mark pushed the feelings down. “I’ll do it.”

Good, my love. Just touch the canvas and I’ll be free.

Mark smiled at his love stepped forward and touched the painting. A disorienting pulling feeling crept over him and he tried to cry out but couldn’t; he felt a weight press against him like he was being flattened. When the felling stopped he looked out and saw the lady standing in the cave. Smiling at him, she stepped back.

“Thank you dearest. I’ve been trapped in there for over a hundred years. It’s not easy to get someone to love you while you turned into a painting. You have to get someone to love you and then touch the painting and take your place to get out.” She laughed, “I love you for letting me out of course but I’d like to live a while. Sorry again and thank you.”

She turned and walked out of the cave with Mark silently screaming at her. But she didn’t turn around or come back. Summer turned to fall then to winter. Occasionally an animal would nest in the cave but as the fifty-seventh winter went by Mark lost all hope. As he became less hopeful his painting slowly became gray until one day a girl of what looked to be twenty came into the cave.

She looked like the lady who had once inhabited the painting and after an examination of his painting smiled. “Hi, you don’t know me but I’m Modeerf my mother was once trapped in this painting. I’ve been looking for it my whole life to release the man she trapped in it.”

No! You can’t you’ll be trapped!

She blushed, “That’s sweet but I know how to do it. Trust me.” She said a few words of magic and Mark became so disorientated he collapsed.

“I can move.” He set up, as normal as if he had never been a painting. “I can talk, and you’re not a painting.”

She smiled, “No, but you’re probably tired. Come on let’s leave this cave for good.” Modeerf took Mark’s hand helped him up and together they walked out of the cave.


When someone says to do it if you love them, you probably shouldn’t do it.

Photo by Roksolana Zasiadko

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