Red Paint on Bare Skin

She felt a splash of water against her naked body.

She couldn’t look down, her eyelids frozen but her eyes darted towards the body - it was paint.

Stark red paint now smeared across her breasts, her abdomen & part of her torso.

She was shocked, but she wasn't surprised. This was only the beginning. 

There came another splash, this time her neck and shoulders bearing the brunt of it. 

She was cold, but she couldn't shiver. She was lost, but the ground beneath her was all she had to measure reality. 

She felt herself being picked up, for brief moment she felt the air between her and the ground and she relished it. 

She tried to look around her, but failed - shortly after she was put down on a wooden platform.

She could see outside this time, through a glass - it was snowing heavily and people walked past with plenty of bags in their hands. 

She felt a cloth drape around her neck, a heavy jacket following suit and for some odd reason a pair of sunglasses propped on the bridge of the nose. Finally, she felt a tuff of hair placed on her head, auburn red - she fancied to herself.

As she looked through the glass, the lights behind her switched off, and she finally saw her reflection in the mirror. Full red wig, sunglasses, a scarf and a jacket but nothing more. 

The life of a mannequin, she thought to herself. 

This was her life, to be used & reused carrying clothes on her body for the people outside to watch, like & purchase. She wasn’t sure if she would be good for anything else.

Then suddenly, she heard a creak. It was one of the others. She still couldn't move her eyelids as she was only 2 years from manufacture and the glue stayed strong for years - Some of the mannequins in the store were decades old. 

Through the reflection, she noticed a head of a fellow mannequin moving. It turned 30 degrees to face her. One by one, around the store, the rest followed suit - all facing her. 

In unison, they begin chanting. They prayed for freedom and hope she would be their saviour, like they did for every new mannequin that made its way into the store. 

Every night, until the light of dawn broke through the store - they prayed for freedom that would never come. 

The End.

By Prashanth Nayar